Democrats for censorship

A gaggle of 38 Democrats sent a letter to Fox Corp. president Rupert Murdoch complaining that Fox News is a mouthpiece for the Republican party and President Bush. Unfortunately, a similar squawkgroup of Republicans has not sent a letter to NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, PBS, Time/Life and Newsweek complaining that they are mouthpieces for the Democratic party.

Here is what the Democrats (whose members include complete Leftist nutters like John Conyers, Fortney (Pete) Stark, and Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders) base their claim on: (1) a Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting claim that Brit Hume's show has a 5-1 advantage for Republicans in GUESTS; (2) A winter 2003-04 poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes that showed Fox News viewers had more "misperceptions" about Iraq than NPR listeners, CNN viewers, etc.; (3) the skewed documentary Outfoxed.

FAIR's claim is laughable: "If Fox is the 'fair and balanced' network it claims to be, then the guest list of what Fox calls its "signature news show" ought to reflect a diverse spectrum of ideas and sources." But FAIR is a partisan liberal organization.

All that FAIR is calling for is a re-establishment of the Equal Time concept that the FCC deregulated years ago. The guests do not determine whether the show is biased, the HOSTS do. If Hume grills his Republican guests and plays footsie with his Democrat guests (see: Couric, Katie; Lauer, Matt; Schieffer, Bob), then he's working FOR a Democratic agenda. Talk to me when FAIR complains about Bill Moyers.

As for the Program on International Policy Attitudes survey, one of the "misperceptions" is that an Iraq link to al-Qaeda had been found. This isn't a misperception -- it's reality. See here, here, here, and here. So the survey actually proves Fox viewers are either (1) more perceptive than PBS/NPR devotees and print media readers (the comparison groups in the survey) or (2) are getting more accurate news.

As for Outfoxed: that's a crock-shock-documentary supported by MoveOn.org. Go behind the scenes at CNN or Time and you'll get a mirror image politically.