Delusions Abound as Fox Anchor Decries MSNBC's Supposedly "Biased" Reporting

Posted by Digby, Hullabaloo at 6:22 AM on July 16, 2008.

Serious People, making very serious money, guiding our political discourse and determining for us who is allowed to lead our country:

Continuing Fox News' war of words with MSNBC, "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace accused its rival of being "in the tank" for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, while further pressing the news channel's case that the mainstream press exhibits a liberal bias.

"I think MSNBC's coverage went so far over the line that it lost all credibility," Wallace told reporters Monday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour.

Wallace accused MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann of inappropriately mixing anchor and opinion-making duties, and said Fox News drew a distinction between its reporters and opinion-minded hosts.

"There's a reason why Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity won't be anchoring the election night or the conventions," he said during the sesh at the BevHilton hotel.

Although the session was far from contentious, Fox did receive several questions regarding the propriety and terms of former Bush administration official Karl Rove's role as a Fox commentator given the ongoing dispute with Congress -- he ignored a committee's subpoena -- and his unofficial relationships with advisors to John McCain's campaign.

"I have not been personally subpoenaed," explained Rove, before descending into arcane explanations of executive privilege.

After the session, John Moody, Fox News exec VP of editorial, addressed the kerfuffle over the channel's morning show, "Fox & Friends," which recently altered the images of two New York Times journos, reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe, and featured them on air as retaliation for a Times article that cited the ratings gains by Fox's competitors.

"Our news programs are not permitted to do it," Moody said of the photos, while characterizing "Fox & Friends" as an entertainment show with news. Without directly saying whether the doctored photos violated network policy, he said, "I wish they hadn't done it."

The article goes on to say that Fox handed out buttons that said "hugs and kittens" on them at this confab. The so-called serious news operation, that is, not the TV network that broadcasts cartoons.

This is what we've come to. The unofficial propaganda arm of the Republican party is sanctimoniously calling out MSNBC for being biased, even as they employ the former political guru of the Bush administration who is avoiding congressional subpoenas pertaining to stories the network is covering. The media are caving in on themselves.

As far as election night coverage is concerned, I think I would rather sit through Waterworld four times in a row than endure another one. It's always been pretty bad. I recall in 1984 when Dan Rather was doing his usual incomprehensible schtick (like "you can stick a fork in it and call it mommy, but this election is going, going, gone!") that I realized election night was always going to be something of an ordeal for me. Russert with the tote board in 2000 and 2004 was insufferable and the recent primary coverage was excruciating. It's all awful, biased or not.

Watching this cable news spat unfold promises to be slightly more entertaining even if it is ultimately dispiriting. Is this the best way for a mature democracy to choose its leaders?

Tagged as: fox, msnbc, cable news

Digby is the proprietor of Hullabaloo.