The Fox In the Hen House

Charlie Reina, former Fox News Channel producer, spills the beans on how FOX cultivates and creates conflicts that aren't there:

It’s no surprise, of course, that this phony call to arms, this “Christmas (ergo, Christians) Under Attack” hysteria, emanates from the bowels of Fox News Channel. The network is, after all, ground zero in the culture wars that polarize so much of America these days. Make no mistake about it: Fox is on a mission. Its slogans say, “Fair and Balanced” and “We Report, You Decide.” But in the six years that I worked there, what I heard most from Fox management were mission statements – about turning things around, taking news back from the liberals, and giving “middle America” a voice long denied it by the “east coast media elite.” In other words, using its news report to bring about change -- in the media and, ultimately, in the direction of American culture.

As FNC’s man at the top, Roger Ailes, knows well from his years as a political operative, there is no more effective wartime strategy than to divide and conquer. That’s why so much of his network’s programming is confrontational. The “us against them” gambit animates not only FNC’s night-time entertainment shows, like “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes,” but the network’s daytime “news” report, where anchors regularly browbeat guests who are on the wrong (Democrat or liberal) side of issues.

Sadly? Not shocking just sad. So sad.