Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff, old-style liberal and a stalwart defender of the First Amendment, takes time out to defend Fox News Channel from its empty-headed critics.
I wonder how many of those clamoring to shut up Fox have actually watched the channel. To be sure, Fox houses an array of such bristling conservative commentators as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. But their hosts continually welcome direct, on-air combat with guests of vigorously opposing views. I've been on Mr. O'Reilly's show, and I didn't have to be carried out.Posted by Alan at September 14, 2004 06:40 AMMoreover, having covered Congress and the presidency for more than a half-century, I rate Fox's Carl Cameron and Jim Angle as among the fairest and most illuminating broadcast correspondents on the beat. Also, Fox reporters in the field, around the world, are professional, resourceful journalists, not apparatchiks for the Republican Party.
Fox News is watched by more Americans, on many nights, than CNN. On the first night of the Republican convention, an average of 3.6 million viewers watched Fox, compared with 1.2 million CNN viewers. Fox continually trumps MSNBC. On three nights, Fox beat NBC, CBS and ABC. Its coverage does indeed appeal to conservatives, but not only conservatives. When I teach, I advise students to watch Fox from time to time, and judge for themselves. They might be quite surprised.