Not long ago, Fox News’s Alisyn Camerota interviewed Fox contributor Karl Rove and committed one of those faux pas that can make viewing Fox so interesting. She asked Rove about the steady stream of Code Pink protesters who had been following him on his book tour. “These are sort of sad and pathetic people,” Rove explained. “Let’s not give them any more attention.” Some viewers who remember the separation between the role of journalist and “politician,” consultant and/or huckster might have been surprised to see a paid employee of a putative news organization admonishing a journalist on air for daring to ask a difficult question.
Of course, Karl Rove is no ordinary employee, just as Fox is no ordinary news organization. Fox also employs Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Dick Morris and many other Republican politicians and potential presidential candidates. Even its full-time journalists, like Fred Barnes, sometimes moonlight as Republican fundraisers. True, Fox did force Sean Hannity to cancel an appearance for a group of tea party organizers charging money to experience his aura. But a Media Matters investigation demonstrates beyond any doubt that such appearances are business as usual at the network, saying “at least twenty Fox News personalities have endorsed, raised money for or campaigned for Republican candidates or causes, or against Democratic candidates or causes, in more than 300 instances and in at least 49 states”—and they have been routinely advertised as Fox News personalities while doing so.
Story Courtesy Of The Nation.com
