Can the Dems Ape FOX?

Democrats "are scouring the nation for a liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh and the many others on the deep bench of Republican friends," the New York Times reports. "They say their concerns have taken on a new urgency because of the rise to the top of the cable news ratings by the Fox News Channel, considered by many to have a conservative slant," adds the Times, considered by many to have a liberal slant.

One group of well-heeled Democrats "is toying with the idea of starting a liberal cable network." John Podesta, who served as Bill Clinton's chief of staff, "is discussing . . . the creation of a liberal version of the Heritage Foundation." Other Democrats and liberals are trying "to foster national liberal radio personalities" to counter the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

Well for crying out loud, guys, why not dare to dream big? American liberalism is pretty pathetic if its highest aspiration is to mimic Fox, Heritage and Rush. Here's a much more ambitious goal: Why not counter the vast right-wing conspiracy by taking over the "mainstream" media? And if it's research you want, maybe you should set your sights on America's system of higher education. If you could get liberals onto college and university faculties, they would have the opportunity to mold young minds as well as influence the political debate.

Imagine a world in which more than 80% of journalists vote Democratic, and in which left-liberal scholars vastly outnumber conservatives at colleges and universities across the country. It'd be a liberal dream, right?

Savvy readers will note that we are describing the world as it is, rather than as it might be. (And we haven't even mentioned Hollywood.) Fox, Rush and Heritage have been successful, and partly it is because they have set themselves apart from the liberal "mainstream." Similar liberal efforts are doomed to fail because they will not be able to set themselves apart.

Maybe there are people who would prefer to get their news from a network that openly acknowledges its liberal bias. But where would such a network find talent? Fox's success isn't just a matter of its alleged conservative slant; it also has an excellent lineup of anchormen, hosts and commentators. Talented right-leaning broadcast journalists--the Brit Humes, Tony Snows and David Asmans of the world--are, we'd venture, more comfortable working for Fox than in a newsroom where most colleagues view their political outlook with disdain.

In contrast, talented liberal broadcast journalists are right at home at CNN, PBS, NPR and what used to be called the three major networks. Why would they want to leave for a network that (unlike Fox) is openly partisan? Similarly, why would a talented scholar want to work for a left-wing Heritage clone rather than get a tenured position at a college somewhere?

Liberals find themselves in a tough situation. They no longer control any branch of government, and while they still predominate in journalism, entertainment and academia, these are not necessarily politically effective institutions. The news media must maintain at least an aura of objectivity. (This applies to "fair and balanced" Fox too, and its news coverage is no more biased than the New York Times' or CNN's.) Hollywood and the academy are insulated from any political accountability by great wealth and tenure, respectively; and the likes of Barbra Streisand and Noam Chomsky do more to discredit the liberal cause than all the Rush Limbaughs put together.

Is there a way forward for American liberals? Probably, but we can't imagine what it might be.

Article also accesses:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/01/politics/01DEMS.html?pagewanted=all&position=top

Democrats "are scouring the nation for a liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh

Leave it Democrats to think they are going to find a Central Planning solution to this problem. It probably does not occur to them that every program director in the radio business, from sea to shining sea, has been looking for "the next Rush Limbaugh" for ten years. They don't care if it's a liberal, a conservative, or a Martian. If such a person was out there, they would be syndicated by now, and we would all know about it.

Earth to Democrats: it's called "the market." It works. Try it some time.

The reason that Fox has risen to the top in the cable ratings isn't because it's "conservative," but because networks with a liberal bias do not represent the mainstream of thought and attitude in the nation.

Thats what I believe...do you think the overwhelmingly leftist biased media and entertainment community can stomach pretending they are conservative and balanced in an effort to remain profitable and fulfill their commitment to the shareholders?..It will be fun to watch them contort themselves in the effort...but ultimatley they I think they will fail, and what will remain will be mostly balanced and/or conservative opinion, and maybe one shrill extremist station (ala DU)...a sanctuary for radicals...

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