In the 2000 and 2002 elections..none of the big name Dems would appear on Fox...O"reilly is still mad that Gore wouldn't come on his show..Daschle won't appear on the station...and Kerry has refused all requests...The Dems are boycottting because tey fear getting asked hard question..OTOH..Fox outdraws the othercable nets by 3:1..so, if the Dems don't come on, they lose a platform..I suspect FOX's kinder gentler image is designed to convince Kerry to drop in..
Is it because of their single-digit-percentage of actual news-time, or for their chatting-about-news shows for the balance ('balance' - get it?) of the day?
It's basic human nature: we drive slowly past auto accidents to try to catch every detail, and we watch Fox's chain-collision-of-clown-cars-style NewsChat shows when we get home.