As a longtime viewer of Fox News, I take issue with the March 25 letter by Andy Wright (“Harmon’s Fox News claim undermines his own credibility”). Wright argues that the Fox News channel is politically narrow in its presentation.
The politically diverse Fox program anchors, who even to this day are often drawn from the other networks, present a wider variety than does the other cable news offerings taken altogether.
Last summer, Fox’s second-highest-paid anchor displayed astonished disbelief that President Obama would actually send American soldiers back into Iraq. “Right-wing”-type news anchors welcomed and promoted that event.
The continued appearance of National Public Radio reporter Mara Liasson as a guest analyst on Fox News programs – along with Juan Williams (a former NPR news analyst) and reporters and editors from National Journal, The Associated Press and many other news organizations – belies the view that the network has a narrow perspective.
Note that the Fox viewership is several times larger than that of the other cable news channels.
Offering a politically broad appeal accomplishes that. The much lower viewer ratings of the other channels result from a politically narrow presentation that necessarily is of limited appeal.
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