(no subject)
Letting Fox in the henhouse
DEMOCRATS are in an uproar over the national party's decision to let Fox News Channel host a presidential debate in Nevada later this year.
Moveon.org has created a petition, and Matt Stoller over at HuffPo says
The argument that we've made is not that the Fox News audience is bad in and of itself. It's important to talk to the whole public...No, the problem that we have is that allowing Fox News to singlehandedly host the debate gives that channel the legitimacy of claiming to be a real news source. If the Democratic Party places its highest and most valuable political debate - that over our nominee to the Presidency - on Fox News, we are giving a Republican partisan news outlet the ability to argue that they are not biased. We force thousands of diehard Democrats to watch a Republican propaganda outlet, and allow Fox News to spin and impute meaning to the debate. This is a serious problem."
It is unquestionably true that Fox News delivers its stories with a conservative twist, and its coverage is often far from the "fair and balanced" ideal. (Sometimes I think they just use that phrase to irritate the left-we can call it "annoying liberals for sport".) But it is also true that Fox News will "spin and impute meaning to the debate" no matter who hosts it.
The feelings of Mr Stoller and friends are understandable, but the success of their campaign (which may be inevitable now that John Edwards has pulled out of the debate) would be a disappointment. Do we really want to see a world where conservatives only watch Sean Hannity and the Fox News team, while liberals only tune into Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? Would it be in the national interest if the GOP only read the Wall Street Journal's editorial page and the Dems stuck exclusively to The New York Times? Isn't there some value in absorbing a little bit of the other side's propaganda from time to time?
With all this in mind, I would like to offer a modest proposal: the Dems will debate on Fox News, with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity asking the questions, but the GOP candidates must debate on Comedy Central, with Mr Stewart and Mr Colbert moderating. Now that would get some ratings.
Hell. Yeah.
DEMOCRATS are in an uproar over the national party's decision to let Fox News Channel host a presidential debate in Nevada later this year.
Moveon.org has created a petition, and Matt Stoller over at HuffPo says
The argument that we've made is not that the Fox News audience is bad in and of itself. It's important to talk to the whole public...No, the problem that we have is that allowing Fox News to singlehandedly host the debate gives that channel the legitimacy of claiming to be a real news source. If the Democratic Party places its highest and most valuable political debate - that over our nominee to the Presidency - on Fox News, we are giving a Republican partisan news outlet the ability to argue that they are not biased. We force thousands of diehard Democrats to watch a Republican propaganda outlet, and allow Fox News to spin and impute meaning to the debate. This is a serious problem."
It is unquestionably true that Fox News delivers its stories with a conservative twist, and its coverage is often far from the "fair and balanced" ideal. (Sometimes I think they just use that phrase to irritate the left-we can call it "annoying liberals for sport".) But it is also true that Fox News will "spin and impute meaning to the debate" no matter who hosts it.
The feelings of Mr Stoller and friends are understandable, but the success of their campaign (which may be inevitable now that John Edwards has pulled out of the debate) would be a disappointment. Do we really want to see a world where conservatives only watch Sean Hannity and the Fox News team, while liberals only tune into Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? Would it be in the national interest if the GOP only read the Wall Street Journal's editorial page and the Dems stuck exclusively to The New York Times? Isn't there some value in absorbing a little bit of the other side's propaganda from time to time?
With all this in mind, I would like to offer a modest proposal: the Dems will debate on Fox News, with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity asking the questions, but the GOP candidates must debate on Comedy Central, with Mr Stewart and Mr Colbert moderating. Now that would get some ratings.
Hell. Yeah.