2008 Woodie Awards
Is the liberal media losing its grip?
Mark Scirocco '10
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: Commentary
Several weeks ago, former President Bill Clinton appeared on "Fox News Sunday". When the host of the show, Chris Wallace, asked Clinton why he had not done more in his eight years in office to try to catch Osama Bin Laden, Clinton erupted into an angry tirade that lasted several minutes. What Clinton was really upset about, however, was not Wallace's question, but Fox News itself. Pointing his finger at Wallace, the same finger Clinton pointed when lying to Americans about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton said, "So you did Fox's bidding on this show. You did your nice little conservative hit job on me." Leave it to Clinton to turn a simple question about national security during his tenure as president into an opportunity to attack a news organization that would dare to question his legacy.
Up until the mid-90s, almost every major news outlet in America was run by those with left-leaning ideologies. Today, Democrats hold power over such major news outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post, the three major news networks of NBC, ABC, and CBS, as well as cable-news outlets such as CNN. Millions upon millions of Americans watch, read, and listen to these news networks every day. According to zap2it.com, a TV ratings source, Katie Couric's debut on the "CBS Evening News" drew 13.59 million viewers. When combined with the other two major news networks CBS, NBC, and ABC reach more than 30 million viewers per night.
Recently, however, the left's monopoly on the news has been challenged. Alternative news sources such as the internet and talk-radio now exist and are responsible for the declining distribution of newspapers such as The New York Times. Among cable-news networks, Fox stands alone as the outlet branded "conservative" by Clinton and others in the main-stream media. Although Fox is the highest rated of all the cable-news networks, the greatest number of viewers that watch the channel at one time is two million. Thus when compared to the main-stream media, Fox reaches only a small percentage of American homes.
Up until the mid-90s, almost every major news outlet in America was run by those with left-leaning ideologies. Today, Democrats hold power over such major news outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post, the three major news networks of NBC, ABC, and CBS, as well as cable-news outlets such as CNN. Millions upon millions of Americans watch, read, and listen to these news networks every day. According to zap2it.com, a TV ratings source, Katie Couric's debut on the "CBS Evening News" drew 13.59 million viewers. When combined with the other two major news networks CBS, NBC, and ABC reach more than 30 million viewers per night.
Recently, however, the left's monopoly on the news has been challenged. Alternative news sources such as the internet and talk-radio now exist and are responsible for the declining distribution of newspapers such as The New York Times. Among cable-news networks, Fox stands alone as the outlet branded "conservative" by Clinton and others in the main-stream media. Although Fox is the highest rated of all the cable-news networks, the greatest number of viewers that watch the channel at one time is two million. Thus when compared to the main-stream media, Fox reaches only a small percentage of American homes.