One Nation Under Fox

Michael Wolff has some interesting things to say about Fox News in this article from New York Magazine. He writes, "Fox really isn’t in the service of the Republicans. [Chairman Roger] Ailes can say this baldly and confidently. (The Republicans, more and more, follow the Fox line.) Fox isn’t in any conventional sense ideological media. It’s just that being anti-Democrat, anti-Clinton, anti-yuppie, anti-wonk turns out to be great television. Great ratings make for convenient ideology." And continues,

Part of the explanation of the conservative-media success is that in a liberal nation, they have had to develop a more compelling and subversive story line. They’ve fully capitalized on the outsider, tough-talking, Cassandra thing. Accordingly, while the country remains unenthusiastic about Republican policies, as the Times reported last week, Republicans get positive ratings (go figure).

And a part of this is the dancing-dog advantage. Conservatives have been hired by the heretofore liberal media to be, precisely, conservatives—hyperconservatives, even; eager exaggerations (wink). Whereas, when liberalish people are hired by liberalish media organizations, the issue is to be neutral, unliberal. The main challenge for George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week is never to let on that he once worked for the Democrats.