Home
In this issue
Nov. 25, 2009
Daniel Pipes: Islamism 2.0
JWisdom.com: No God … No You! Know God, Know You! with Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (8 minutes)
Nov. 24, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran : The Atheists' unintended gift
JWisdom.com: You are a Philanthropist with Aliza Bulow (5 minutes)
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Oct. 9, 2006 / 17 Tishrei, 5767

Happy Birthday, Fox News

By Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly
Printer Friendly Version
Email this article

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | This week marks the tenth anniversary of the Fox News Channel (FNC), and because of an early gift by President Clinton, the operation is getting maximum exposure. As you may know, Mr. Clinton became very annoyed when Chris Wallace, the anchor of "Fox News Sunday," pressed him as to why Osama Bin Laden did so much damage on Clinton's watch without being held to account.


The president responded that Mr. Wallace was conducting a "right-wing hit job."


Having lived through the past 10 years anchoring a news analysis program on FNC, I found Mr. Clinton's annoyance amusing. The Bin Laden question is certainly valid, and while Larry King would not have asked it — most other CNN correspondents, I believe, would have. So what's the real beef here?


To understand what's going on we begin with the founder of CNN, Ted Turner, who greeted the arrival of FNC a decade ago with the quote: "We'll squash them like a bug."


That squishing sound you hear is Mr. Turner's prediction ground into pulp. FNC hammers CNN in the ratings all day, every day. That is not making the liberal Turner and his fellow travelers very happy, and that is the heart of this matter.


For decades the left in America was treated with deference by the electronic media. As I chronicle in my book "Culture Warrior," nearly every past and present network anchor and commentator is either a committed liberal or leans left. Just look at what Walter Cronkite and Bill Moyers have done since they left CBS News; both men allied themselves with the far left and are proud of it.


So there was certainly room in America for a network that gave equal time to the conservative point of view and actually hired, God forbid, some right-leaning commentators. To those used to getting information from enterprises like CNN, PBS and NPR, this sudden departure from liberal orthodoxy was shocking and terribly annoying. There was a new kid in town, and his game plan allowed the right to be heard as well.


As Fox News gradually began dominating the cable news landscape, bitterness grew, along with FNC's ratings. The media establishment was aghast; it was being openly challenged and, worst of all, it was losing influence to a bunch of outspoken barbarians. So the attacks intensified.


FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


Hollywood put out a hit movie about FNC, liberals like Howard Dean openly disparaged the network, and the far left blogs did everything they could to damage those working at the network. It was, and is, very nasty.


But think about it, what is the beef? Even if FNC is a conservative think tank, which it is not, there are five other networks that give enormous benefit of the doubt to the left. So what if one operation leans right? Shouldn't there be room in this country for one newsroom that doesn't think like Ted Turner?


Last week on my program, I challenged Democrat strategists James Carville and Paul Begala to give me one example of an unfair presentation on FNC. They could not cite one. Certainly, Chris Wallace's questioning was professional. The liberal Alan Colmes balances the conservative Sean Hannity, and the rest of the FNC cast is evenly split between the right and the left. The guest list is the same way.


That's why FNC is so lively and, yes, so loud. We embrace robust debate and want to hear all sides. We challenge the powerful and do it with panache and a sense of humor. Like us or not, Fox News has changed the entire broadcast news business and provides a trusted service to far more Americans than every other cable news channel.


Sounds like a great recipe for success and I, for one, am glad President Clinton could be a part of it. As with all our guests, Mr. Clinton had his say, was challenged, and is free to think whatever he wants.


He doesn't even have to be nice to us on our birthday.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," and author of, most recently, "Who's Looking Out for You?" Comments by clicking here.


Bill O'Reilly Archives

© 2006, Creators Syndicate

Insight (Our Columnists)

 Arnold Ahlert
 Mitch Albom
 Michael Barone
  Dave Barry
 Tony Blankley
 Andy Borowitz
 David Broder
 Stratfor Briefing
 Mona Charen
 Linda Chavez
 Ann Coulter
 Greg Crosby
 Larry Elder
 Suzanne Fields
 John Fund
 Frank J. Gaffney
 Lloyd Garver
 Jonah Goldberg
 Julia Gorin
 Jonathan Gurwitz
 Paul Greenberg
 Lewis Grossberger
 Victor Davis Hanson
 Betsy Hart
 Nat Hentoff
 David Horowitz
 Laura Ingraham
 Cheri Jacobus
Jeff Jacoby
 Paul Johnson
 Jack Kelly
 Ed Koch
 Ch. Krauthammer
 Michael Ledeen
 John Leo
 David Limbaugh
 Kathryn Lopez
 Rich Lowry
 Michelle Malkin
 Jackie Mason
 Dick Morris
 Bill O'Reilly
 Jim Mullen
 Clarence Page
 Kathleen Parker
 Dennis Prager
 Wesley Pruden
 Tom Purcell
 Jonathan Rauch
 Celia Rivenbark
 Robert Robb
 Cokie & Steve Roberts
 Pat Sajak
 Debra J. Saunders
 Culture Shlock
 Roger Simon
 Michael Smerconish
 Thomas Sowell
 Mark Steyn
 John Stossel
 Cal Thomas
 Bob Tyrrell
 Diana West
 Dave Weinbaum
 George Will
 Walter Williams
 Byron York
 Mort Zuckerman

'Toons
 Robert Arial
 Chuck Asay
 Baloo
 Chip Bok
 Dry Bones
  Lisa Benson
 John Branch
 Gary Brookins
 John Cole
 J. D. Crowe
 John Deering
 Brian Duffy
 Everything's Relative
 Mallard Fillmore
 Jake Fuller
 Bob Gorrel
 Joe Heller
 David Hitch
 Jerry Holber
 Steve Kelley
 Jeff Koterba
 Dick Locher
 Chan Lowe
 Ranan R. Lurie
 Jimmy Margulies
 Rick McKee
 Michael Ramirez
 Kevin Siers
 Jeff Stahler
 Ed Stein
 Danna Summers
 John Trever
 Gary Varvel
 Kirk Walters

Lifestyles
 How 2
 Lori Borgman
 The Savvy Consumer
 Elder matters
 Fixit
 Dr. Peter Gott
 GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
 Richard Lederer
 Tech Maven
 Every Monday Matters
 Nutrition Myths
 Bookmark These
 Bruce Williams
 How Stuff Works