Fox Reminds DC Staff They're Journalists

Ad sparks network tea party war

(NEWSER) - Rival networks were quick to go on the counterattack after being accused by Fox of ignoring last weekend's tea party protests in the capital, Mediaite reports. A full-page Washington Post ad from Fox asked, "How Did ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC And CNN Miss This Story," prompting the irate networks to make it clear that—as millions of viewers could attest—they had indeed covered the protests in detail. More»

(NEWSER) - Evaluations of the effectiveness of yesterday’s anti-tax “tea parties” are split predictably down partisan lines, Chris Cillizza writes for the Washington Post. Republicans touted the protests, which brought out tens of thousands and garnered major media coverage, as a success. “I think something is going on out there,” said South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. Newt Gingrich likened the populist demonstrations to Ross Perot’s 1992 campaign. More»

It's part of Roger Ailes' 'course correction'

(NEWSER) - Is Fox News shifting to the center, relatively speaking? Politico thinks so, tracing it back to a "course correction" ordered by Roger Ailes last fall. He wanted Fox to move away from Tea Party "cheerleading" and to tone down the far-right rhetoric, writes Politico's Keach Hagey. "A casual Fox viewer might barely notice the changes since the network remains critical of the Obama administration and reliably conservative opinion voices, like (Sean) Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, still anchor key spots in the Fox firmament. But the changes are there." More»

Roger Ailes' plan was a winner, anchor says

(NEWSER) - Fox News has plenty of critics— including Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy —but it also has more viewers than its two closest rivals combined, according to the latest Nielsen Ratings. The figures show that Fox is the most-watched cable news channel for the 10th year in a row, averaging 1.86 million viewers in prime time, while MSNBC had 775,000 and CNN had 689,000, the New York Daily News reports. More»

CNN, MSNBC, and Fox say they won't air his response

(NEWSER) - If you're hoping to watch Herman Cain deliver the Tea Party response to President Obama's State of the Union Address tonight, you're going to have to do it online , because none of the three major cable news networks tell the Atlantic Wire they plan to carry it. "We don't plan on taking it," an MSNBC spokesman says, and a CNN spokesman says much the same. Even conservative bastion Fox News says it won't broadcast the speech live, though it will stream it on FoxNews.com. More»