American Politics Journal

Guest Editorial
Faux News
By Zach Goldberg

Thursday, April 19, 2001 (APJP) -- In 1988, Roger Ailes ran the infamous media campaign for George Bush the Smarter. Political junkies remember that campaign for its heavy use of symbolism and ultra-negativism. Ailes' slash-and-burn ad blitz against Michael Dukakis gave new spin to phrases like "Willie Horton," "flag burning" and "the pledge of allegiance."

Four years later, Ailes signed up again for the Bush the Smarter reelection campaign. Bill Clinton won in 1992, but only because -- Bush's conservative supporters argued -- the "liberal media" slanted the news in Clinton's favor. Never mind the fact that subsequent studies have shown there was no slant in coverage of that presidential election.

Ailes -- a longtime Republican operative since the Nixon years -- learned a lot from those campaigns. For one, he knew what had reached the TV-viewing public. More importantly, he came away with an everlasting vendetta against the so-called "liberal media."

After '92, Ailes left the campaign business for the media business, becoming executive producer in 1996 at the newly-established Fox News Channel.

But just because Ailes left party politics doesn't mean he abandoned his party roots. In fact, quite the contrary is true.

With the backing of multi-billionaire media magnate and self-described conservative Rupert Murdoch, Ailes used his new position and his network to begin an effort to exert revenge against Democrats and his archenemy, the so-called "evil liberal media." The result has been the most biased television news outlet in history.

Ailes has tried to counter charges of bias with buzz phrases like "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide."

But promoting Fox News as "Fair and Balanced" is as deceptive as cigarette companies saying that the nicotine contained in their products isn't harmful to smokers' health -- or as valid as Michael Corleone describing his Mafia family as "completely legitimate" in "The Godfather."

Ailes and his Fox cronies, naturally, don't "see it" that way. Ailes, like the young Corleone in his attempt to convince his wife that his family was partaking in no illegal activities, still contends his network is truly 100 percent unbiased.

The facts, however, depict a different picture.

For starters, a vast majority of Fox's on-air "superstars" come with conservative backgrounds. Ailes' best and brightest stars -- Brit Hume, Tony Snow and Bill O'Reilly -- underscore the conservative bent of the on-air talent.

Hume, who hosts a one-hour equivalent of the nightly network news, has long held a reputation as one of TV's most conservative journalists. A former tennis partner of Bush the Smarter, Hume makes consistently conservative-friendly editorial comments on the air.

Snow, the host of Fox's Sunday talk show, has a background that raises the most eyebrows. A self-described conservative, Snow also writes a regularly syndicated column, has previously worked as a speechwriter in the "Bush I" administration, and occasionally fills in for Rush Limbaugh on the latter's sytndicated radio program. Fair and balanced? Not surprisingly, he runs his Sunday show like he writes his columns -- advancing the conservative agenda.

Then there is O'Reilly. The host of the popular "O'Reilly Factor," he likes to proclaim himself a fair and balanced journalist looking out for working people. The only way O'Reilly can be considered a reporter is if he operated in the era of the partisan press. He is not really a journalist, he is a de facto Republican Party hireling. O'Reilly's role on Fox is to bash Republican enemies such as the Clintons, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson and -- most recently -- Alan Greenspan. O'Reilly uses his guests to his advantage: those he agrees with (i.e. conservatives) he lets ramble on; those he disagrees with he interrupts at an alarming rate. The result is five hours a week of spin that is 99.9 percent pro-Republican/anti-Democrat.

The on-air talent isn't the only thing conservative about Fox. Ailes, a longtime media man, knows how to use TV persuasively, particularly the power of visuals. An examination of the network's use of visuals reveals a bias strongly favoring Republicans. For example, a discussion of President Clinton would be accompanied by photos of Clinton in a negative light (i.e. on the golf course); in contrast, visuals of Bush would depict him as a strong, patriotic leader.

Then there is matter of the "Election Night Smoking Gun." In the early hours of the morning after Election Day, John Ellis, a first cousin of Bush, made the "call" for Fox to declare Florida for Bush in the early Wednesday morning. That call, the first by any network, created the false impression that Bush had won the election. Subsequently, Ailes defended his decision to have a Bush relative -- someone with an obvious stake -- play a part in the outcome.

Despite all the evidence stacked against them, Ailes and his Fox peers continue to contend that the network is fair and balanced. Their favorite defense is that the network always gives airtime to a Democrat. They also point to the fact that they have many "Democratic" contributors including Juan Williams of NPR and Alan Colmes, who faces the ultra-conservative Sean Hannity on "Hannity and Colmes" in Fox's alternative to CNN's "Crossfire."

Truth be told, the Democratic voices come across as no match for the conservative guests and on-air personalities. When they attempt to make their points, the host will interrupt them to obstruct their opinion. The "Democrats" on Fox are often prone to criticize Democrats, something considered a sin by Republicans like Hannity.

That Fox is blatantly conservative wouldn't necessarily be a concern if it didn't deceptively claim to be "fair and balanced." But regrettably to those who still value honest journalism, there is no reason for Fox to change its conservative ways. The reason Fox has "surged" in the ratings against CNN is because they have been added to so many cable systems in the last 18 months -- and because it has locked in a largely conservative cable audience. If Fox went fair and balanced, chances are their viewers would simply turn off the television.

Since that won't happen, all liberals can hope for is that some rich liberal media magnate will give James Carville the keys to a new 24-hour cable network.



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