Unfair and Unbalanced

I used to be a fan of Fox News. I first started watching Fox News Channel during the 2000 Presedential election. Over the years, I was impressed with their fair and balanced reporting, and that they seemed to live up to their motto, "We Report, You Decide." Having grown up watching news reported by the mainstream media, FNC was a breath of fresh air. During the past several months, though, I have started seeing a difference in the way FNC has been covering politics.

FNC has not been fair nor balanced in their campaign coverage. Here are just a few examples. First, in the Republican debates, the so-called top tier candidates such as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani were given the majority of the questions and therefore had much more air-time. Mayor Giuliani must not have thought he had enough time, because he always spoke after the bell, and was given every opportunity to do so by the moderators. Candidates such as Governor Huckabee were not given nearly as much time. I would have expected that from CNN, but not the "Fair and Balanced" network. Second, when Mike Huckabee started rising in the polls, he was a guest on "The O'Reilly Factor." That interview was so bad, I lost all respect I had for the "humble" correspondent. The only topic covered was religion. I wouldn't mind a question or two on the topic - after all, he was a Baptist preacher - but the whole segment? It was intended to make Governor Huckabee look like a religious fanatic that happened to be running for president, instead of focusing on his qualifications such as his 3 years as lieutenant governor and his 10 1/2 years as governor, which gives him more executive experience than any other candidate. Third, one of his first appearances on "Fox and Friends" he was supposed to be on at 5:30 Central, which is way too early as it is. You wouldn't see them give that time slot to Giuliani or Romney. To make matters worse, I woke up early to watch it, only to find out I missed all but the last 30 seconds, as they put him on 15 minutes earlier.

Now that Governor Huckabee has risen in the polls and he is getting more coverage, I am noticing quite negative coverage, especially from Fox News Channel, in particular Sean Hannity. On Friday, Governor Huckabee was on Sean's radio program to answer questions on Wayne Dumond. The governor did brilliantly, answering with clarity and conviction every question asked. An hour later, Pat Buchanan was on the show, and Sean brought up the same questions about the Dumond case with him. Wasn't he there when he asked the questions of Governor Huckabee? Was the interview with Pat Buchanan taped before the interview with the governor and played afterwards? Or, is Sean really on the "Stop Huckabee Express" accentuating the negatives and eliminating the positives. Yesterday, Mitt Romney was on the radio program, and he was given two segments to distort and defame Huckabee's record, with Sean joining in. On H&C last night, the "Stop Huckabee Express" continued. Sean continued to attack Governor Huckabee on the Dumond case and on pardons and commuted sentences. I don't think Sean was interested in the answers, because he kept cutting Huckabee off. Sean's favorite thing to say about Governor Huckabee is "I like Mike Huckabee" followed by some more attacking him with distortions of the truth. I would really hate to see the level of the attacks if he didn't like Mike. I can't wait to hear Fred Thompson talk about Mike Huckabee on Hannity's show this afternoon.