Fair and Balanced, My Ass!

Book excerpt: Ten years ago, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel premiered to millions of cable subscribers across America. Murdoch's grand experiment was operating on little more than faith and an unswerving conviction that it could fill a niche CNN and the big three networks either could not or would not satisfy. We know the rest of the story. Since its relatively modest premiere, Fox has become a true force. By most ratings measures, in fact, Murdoch's network has surpassed Ted Turner's CNN. Of course, this would all make for an inspiring Cinderella story if the character living happily ever after wasn't the ugly stepsister. Fox presents itself, without perceptible irony, as a trusted news source. Its familiar slogans "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide" suggest an informed, skeptical viewership. But Fox's viewers are, empirically speaking, less informed than other, comparable news consumers-and there's some evidence that it's Fox itself that's made them that way. Fair and Balanced, My Ass is a wide-ranging, irreverent, and humorous look at America's No. 1 cable news network. In addition to examining Fox's phony patriotism and piety, its dishonest crusades, and its well-defined agenda- and ratings-driven techniques, the book delivers a hearty slap-down to the jewels in the Murdoch crown, including Bill O'Reilly, John Gibson, Hannity and Colmes, Neal Cavuto, Fox & Friends, Brit Hume, et al. The result is a hilarious and bracing read: red meat for liberals and food for thought for anyone who is both amused by and concerned about journalism's continually eroding standards.