David Waldman, Contributing Editor at Daily Kos and Editor of Congress Matters, took on two challengers earlier today on CNN.com's "Blogger Bunch" panel, debating the whether or not the White House did the right thing in saying Fox is not a news organization.
As David wrote about the panel's debate topic:
Seems conservatives want a Fairness Doctrine for presidents (of the other party), but howl like mad if anyone suggests (which I never have and never do) that there should be a Fairness Doctrine for the networks.
And the idea that the Obama White House deciding not to humor FOX is "Nixonian?" Please! Nixon's secret enemies list was supplemented, as was mentioned in the segment, by contemplations of firebombing the Brookings Institution or tearing down the Washington Post building. Obama's communications strategist says she thinks FOX kind of sucks? Same thing! Just like Hitler! Aiieeeee!!
Indeed, the real issue here isn't about the White House coming down on Fox. It's about the fact that Fox is the unofficial media arm of the Republican Party.
Nobody says that should illegal, or even that it's wrong. The thing that's wrong is when Fox lies (which they do all too often) and when the mainstream media treats Fox like a regular news organization, chasing stories "broken" on Fox as if they had the same news value as a story reported in a non-partisan news outlet.
In Fox's ideal world, we'd be talking about ACORN and Ayers 24x7. That's their choice, and it's their right to make it, but everybody knows that they are motivated by a combination of political ideology and the business imperative of catering to a right-wing audience.
Fox isn't going anywhere, in fact, it will probably continue to thrive. After all, there's always going to be a market for those who want to tune into hosts who believe President Obama is a foreign-born Marxist hell-bent on destroying the U.S.A. But for the rest of us, Fox might as well be a comedy network, because the stuff they put on the air sure as hell isn't news.
