Brit Hume & Alan Colmes Leave FOX "News"

I've been on a FOX "News" diet. . .or i guess you should make that a fast for several months. Other than occasionally tuning it in as background noise while I'm on the computer, I've barely watched the channel since the debut of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show.

But I watched quite a bit of FOX over the last--I'm guessing--six or seven years (I don't remember when our right-wing talk radio station strong-armed our cable company into carrying them, exactly). My exposure to the channel has mostly consisted of Hannity & Colmes, but I've caught a good deal of The O'Reilly Factor, Greta Van Whatsername and most of their lineup. It's no secret that I'm no fan. I consider it opposition research.



The protestations that FOX "News" is fair and balanced, or only slightly canted to the right are of course, ridiculous. And the proofs for that are self-evident. A tip-off would be that a Las Vegas right-wing talk radio station LOBBIED to get FOX "News" on the air! And that happened in many cities in the early years, when FOX "News" was playing catch-up to CNN.

Once they got a high saturation rate, though, FOX became number one in cable news. Which is a dubious distinction, and also only accurate if you separate "cable news" from "actual news." Through all (or at least most) of their existence, two of the regulars on the channel were Brit Hume and Alan Colmes. Both are leaving the channel, and possibly just at the right time. Though, whether the timing is better for Colmes and Hume, or FOX itself, has yet to shake out.



Cable news ratings have taken a nosedive since the election, and over the holidays. Sure, FOX still beats CNN and MSNBC, but the numbers are down by half or more. Hannity (without Colmes) could be a disaster. Or, in a heavily Democratic political season, he may have so much to attack that he does great. I doubt Hume's show will lose or gain viewers, but that is the show I have the least familiarity with. But I've seen him many times on FOX "News" Sunday, and if any show needs a shakeup, that is it. Now, if they'd only dump the ludicrous name "Power Panel," for their group of pundits.

Videos from: Johnny Dollar's Place

Brit Hume to Leave FOX "News" Show?

Photo from source, Los Angeles Times

Brit Hume is one of the personalities (another being Shepard Smith) on the FOX "News" that the channel points to as "unbiased." Most people with eyes, ears and a brain know otherwise of course. It is because of his alleged credibility that he irritates me more than most of the others in FOX's roster (and believe me, that's difficult to do).

Now, Hume is seemingly going to settle into semi-retirement. Umm, good? I don't know yet. I haven't seen his replacement. . .

[Excerpt]

Brit Hume reportedly leaving 'Special Report' on Fox

Brit Hume, one of Fox News' leading on-air figures, plans to leave his political news program, "Special Report," at the end of the year and serve as a senior political analyst at the cable channel, according to sources close to the situation. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

Olbermann, FOX, News and Opinion

This is kind of interesting. I found this video while trolling a right-wing site or two. I know, it's a sickness. Anyway, the point of the clip is to point out how biased and wrong it is for Keith Olbermann to be a partisan news commentator, and also to be contributing to a hard-news story (in this case, the State of the Union Address).

They may have a point. The line between news, opinion and entertainment has been blurred, probably irrevocably. But the irony missed by the maker of the video (Johnny Dollar of Olbermannwatch.com), is that this is a roundtable of FOX "News" pundits discussing the topic.

As Cal Thomas says in the video, FOX is to blame for this sort of thing. Where the commentators lose me is when they try to alledge that anyone at FOX is a straight-news reporter. Shepard Smith may usually report the news, but the slant is still there. And who else? Chris Wallace? Uh, no. Brit Hume??? Are you kidding me, man? And I could be wrong, but didn't those two participate in a Presidential debate?

Another Video Bashing FOX "News"

And no, not just for the sake of bashing. I don't just go, "oooh, Republicans. . .I hate me some Republicans, let's SMEAR them!" I truly believe that FOX "News"--as Jon Stewart might say--is hurting America. Here's why. . .

FOX "News" Sunday: A Review

Yes, more FOX "News"-bashing, and this time two posts in a row! The timing is sheer coincidence, however, as I've been watching the Sunday political shows this morning, and FOX "News" Sunday is the one that puts the "ick" in ridiculous.

As Media Matters has reported, these shows all tend to skew right, particularly over the last six years. But no Sunday show tries so hard to steer the ship rightward with so much effort.

Let's start with Chris Wallace. Admittedly, he does throw in a tough-to-answer question to Republican guests once in a while (one could argue not as often, and not as hard as those lobbed to Democrats). On a merely superficial personal level, he just creeps me out, I can't put my finger on why. But in the show's wrap-up segment (ludicrously called The Power Panel), Wallace often becomes an obvious and serious Democrat-basher, as he did today, out-and-out calling Democratic nominees for President "panderers."

All of the Sunday show hosts tend to treat guests with kid gloves, offering the occasional sharp jab, only to let the guest wander away from the question, or reframe it by saying, "let's talk about this," or simply go off on a totally unrelated topic. Wallace, on the other hand, sets up (in my view) Republican talking points, or nearly holds up a target of a Democrat and let's his guest shoot metaphorical arrows at it.

And finally, the afore-mentioned Power Panel. Where to start? Wallace and his obvious partisanship is number one. Second, Brit Hume, the host of FOX's alleged "hard news" show, who is such a foaming-at-the-mouth partisan, he seems like a rabid basset hound. There's William Kristol--neocon cheerleader of the Iraq War--with his perpetual inappropriate smirk and condescension. Not to mention he's a man who has been wrong about everything and is still treated like his analysis and predictions have any relevance.

Shoring up the "left" side, and presenting the illusion of "balance," are usually two people from NPR, Mara Liasson and Juan Williams. NPR is pilloried for being as liberal as Air America by wingnuts, which I'm not sure is a foregone conclusion. My theory is that right-wingers see any media that doesn't have an obvious right-wing cant as automatically left-wing biased. They seem to have a left-right, black-white, on-off approach to everything, don't they?

Anyway, Williams is pretty good at summing something up, and also can swat down some of Kristol's, Hume's and Wallace's more obvious omissions or falsehoods. But he's an Alan Colmes-style "liberal," more a moderate who only looks liberal by comparison to his colleagues.
Neeson seems centrist, with a slight rightward tilt, and is in the same boat with Williams by default.

What I find by watching the Sunday shows is that if you are well-versed in a political topic, you can punch holes in any of the interviews and discussions. The whole political process starts to feel phony and slimy. It makes you lose respect for many politicians, as well as the TV personalities. But FOX "News" Sunday lost my respect a very long time ago. Only Juan Williams has any right now, as he seems the only one willing--on a regular basis--to point out uncomfortable facts for both Republicans and Democrats.

So let's sum up. You have a Wallace who's clearly conservative, Hume who's aggressively so, and Kristol, who makes both of them seem moderate. Then you have Liasson who's merely less right-wing (and she's occasionally replaced by a lady from that far-left loony FORBES Magazine) and Juan Williams who dips his toe off the fence onto the left side on occasion. Sound's "fair and balanced to me," doesn't it to you? Ha!

And I really want to smack that Cheshire Cat grin off of Kristol's face, but here I am being petty again. . .

FOX "News" Unmasked

While reading "The Huffington Post" this morning, I happened to glance at the title bar across the top of the window, and here's what it said: "Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post."

It occurred to me that FOX "News" should be required to change their mottos ("We Report, You Decide" and "Fair and Balanced) to something like that. "FOX News and Opinion Channel" as a new name for the network would actually accomplish the same thing.

It is astonishing to me that Conservatives will get all up in arms when FOX "News" (no I will not dispose of the quote marks) is blasted for it's heavy conservative slant. They get very defensive, and then sling mud at the other news outlets. Um, hello, if you're getting that defensive--about a cable channel--clearly there's something to it. You have some sort of vested interest there.

When painted into a corner over FOX "News"'s blatant bias, Conservative fans will often switch to an argument that says, "well, Liberals have CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, The New York Times. . .yada, yada, yada." This is said as though it was well established fact, and that these news organizations are as blatantly and obviously slanted left as FOX "News" is to the right. I for one am not sure that case has yet been made.

But let's say it was. Let's say that Keith Olbermann wasn't alone in the Liberal/Progressive wilderness, and that these news outlets were peppered with left-wing loony moonbats. Fine. Label all of them "News and Opinion." In fact, at least on the cable news outlets, that's what they are anyway. Make them behave like newspapers do, have an opinion section (editorial section) clearly separated from the news.

Only on FOX "News," that means you have to can the editorializing on your alleged "hard news" programs. Do it straight, Shepard (oh, sorry, bad choice of words) and Brit! FOX "News" is run through with a hard-right slant in virtually every program, from their obvious opinion shows, to their "straight news" shows, even into their "newsbreaks." For chrissakes, they even have a Daily Show/Weekend Update knock-off "comedy" program, The ½-Hour Newshour, dedicated explicitly to conservative "humor."

Either sort it out or change your name. End of rant (for now).