Does Fox Ever Play The Anti-Bush Ads As News?
Reported by Ellen - August 17, 2004 -
Although I can't remember seeing or hearing a single anti-Bush ad as part of a Fox news show or discussion, they seem to play anti-Kerry ads ad nauseum, then spend as much time as possible discussing each one. Thus, no matter how spurious the charges, they get legitimacy by becoming bona fide news items. Monday's (8/16/04) Fox News Live with Alan Colmes was no exception.
The entire second hour of the radio program was devoted to this "issue" which also allowed the latest ad, distorting Kerry's record on intelligence, to be played twice in its entirety.
I give Colmes credit for a thorough job researching and debunking the ad and for going the extra mile in comparing Kerry's record to Cheney's and Bush's. Colmes even provided a running commentary during his second play of the ad, inserting "not true," and the like at the appropriate moments. As he has many other times, Colmes provided a credible and intelligent presentation of the liberal side. The fact that so many of his callers (usually more conservative than liberal) agreed with him is testament to that.
Nevertheless, at another point in the show, Colmes responded to a caller who heard Bush was taking psychopharmaceuticals by saying that he (Colmes) could not give the claim legitimacy because it was not "sourced." But is an ad he so effectively demonstrated as untrue and unfair more legitimate?
I have long suspected that many of the issues and guests on Colmes' show are more a function of Fox preferences than his. My guess is that this is another example. Will we have an hour devoted to an anti-Bush ad complete with a double-play? I doubt it but we'll see. Until then, we appreciate the spirited defense, Alan.
