defending Fox News in its catfight with the president isn't going to help. Today Campbell Brown of CNN came leaping to the aid of poor, picked-on Fox News by pointing out that if the President is going to go after media outlets for being biased, he should call out MSNBC as well.
How unfair, she states, for the President to single out Fox for their conservative slant when MSNBC is just as slanted, only they're liberal. In other words, hypocrisy, thy name is Obama.
Not so fast. True, MSNBC's overall editorial position is indeed liberal, and highly favorable to the new president, but unlike Fox News, where a negative word about George W. Bush never passed a talking head's lips, both the regular and guest commentators on MSNBC frequently criticize the Obama administration and its policies. Rachel Maddow in particular, a proud, card carrying liberal, is often hardest on the president using her gentle, but cutting wit to eviscerate him and his administration when she believes they're screwing up. Joe Scarborough certainly has no problem taking on the president. Heck, even tweety bird Chris Matthews lets Obama and his minions have it on a weekly basis.
Also, you will never catch anyone at MSNBC, no matter how left leaning they may be, altering, editing, or changing facts in a news story to reflect their liberal bias. Fox News, unfortunately cannot say the same. How often have we seen their "news reporters" either deliberately distorting, taking out of context or making up out of whole cloth facts about the president and his administration just to stir up their conservative audience? Actually, it would be easier to tally up how many times we haven't seen that on Fox News.
MSNBC made no secret of its disdain for the Bush administration, but that never stopped them from televising a George W. Bush press conference, address to the nation or an address to congress. Those things are, after all, news. Fox News, on the other hand, has declined to do all three with the Obama administration, arbitrarily deciding that the leader of the free world taking questions from the press, speaking to his country, or addressing the members of a co-branch of government are not worth bothering their viewers with.
Which brings us back to Campbell Brown. She's a very smart woman who is surely aware that nothing remotely resembling journalism takes place on Fox News, and comparing it to MSNBC, even with its admitted liberal bias is absolutely ridiculous. Unlike Fox News, MSNBC features real, credible experts, respected and ethical sources, and commentators reflecting opposing viewpoints. It dispenses news.
One can't help but wonder if Ms. Brown's indignation on Fox News' behalf has less to do with Obama's hypocrisy than it does from the fact that MSNBC is trouncing her and CNN in the ratings.