FOX News and the mainstream media

Sunday, The Washington Post published an interesting piece by former New York Times editor Howell Raines.

The column harshly attacks FOX News:

For the first time since the yellow journalism of a century ago, the United States has a major news organization devoted to the promotion of one political party. And let no one be misled by occasional spurts of criticism of the GOP on Fox. In a bygone era of fact-based commentary typified, left to right, by my late colleagues Scotty Reston and Bill Safire, these deceptions would have been given their proper label: disinformation.

And he has similar venom for those of us in the mainstream media who have mostly stood by while FOX owner Rupert Murdoch changed the rules of journalism:

Why has our profession, through its general silence -- or only spasmodic protest -- helped Fox legitimize a style of journalism that is dishonest in its intellectual process, untrustworthy in its conclusions and biased in its gestalt?...

Why can't American journalists steeped in the traditional values of their profession be loud and candid about the fact that Murdoch does not belong to our team? His importation of the loose rules of British tabloid journalism, including blatant political alliances, started our slide to quasi-news.

The column has inspired debate here, here and here.

I have often wondered about the appearance on FOX News Sunday of NPR's Juan Williams and Mara Liason. NPR's ombudsman has even tackled the issue. NPR's attitude is that it's okay as long as reporters obey the network's ethics guidelines. Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin writes:

Nothing riles some public-radio listeners like NPR journalists appearing on FOX News television programs. Two prominent NPR correspondents, Mara Liasson and Juan Williams are regular panelists on FOX. What bothers those NPR listeners who complain to me is that the cable television network openly espouses conservative opinions as expressed by outspoken hosts. The FOX slogan, "fair and balanced" is deemed by many of the complainants as ironic, to say the least.

That's because NPR makes every effort to remain nonpartisan, and FOX, it appears, does not. Frustrated public-radio listeners tell me that the NPR presence only serves as cover for FOX's claim that it is "fair and balanced."