Rick Santorum made some news earlier yesterday when he declared that he thought Fox News has been shilling for Mitt Romney. Later in the evening – after he won the Alabama and Mississippi primaries – he appeared on On The Record and explained to host Greta Van Susteren that she and Sean Hannity are “fair and balanced” but Fox’s news coverage is not. That’s pretty funny because according to Fox, it’s the news coverage that’s objective and the evening opinion shows such as Van Susteren’s and Hannity’s are likened to an editorial page.
In a lengthy interview, mostly about Santorum’s primary wins, Van Susteren brought up his remarks about Fox News at around 8:45. She said she was giving him “a good-hearted jab.”
“On behalf of my staff that’s been calling Governor Romney every single day to get him to come back on our air since our last interview in South Carolina, they want to know if you can help them a little bit. ‘Cause they don’t feel like they’re shilling. He won’t even do our show.”
Santorum: Greta, Greta, you’ve been awesome. And Sean has been awesome… I wasn’t talking your show or Sean’s show… Your two shows have been exemplar… Look, I’m just looking the news coverage that goes on at that network and the amount of domination of time that Governor Romney and his surrogates get on the air… You guys are great putting me on the air but I’m talking about your news shows… Look, I’m not complaining, I’m not going to be whining about this. That’s the reality… You are fair and balanced, absolutely. And I would say the same thing about Sean. He’s been terrific.
For the record, I agree with Santorum that Fox is in the tank for Romney – mostly. But even Fox News makes a point of saying that Hannity and On The Record are not fair and balanced. A 2009 New York Times article stated:
Fox argues that its news hours — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays — are objective. The channel has taken pains recently to highlight its news programs, including the two hours led by Shepard Smith, its chief news anchor. And its daytime newscasts draw more viewers than CNN or MSNBC’s prime-time programs.
“The average consumer certainly knows the difference between the A section of the newspaper and the editorial page,” (Senior Vice President for News, Michael) Clemente said.
Hannity airs at 9 PM on weekdays, On The Record at 10 PM on weekdays.
Tell every Saint Ricky supporter that Fox “News” is against their man and watch the chips fall.
Everything is falling nicely in progressive’s lap.
