There's a war in media circles between FOX News and press sympathetic to a committed left wing agenda. Crazy left Web sites like moveon.org have told liberals that if they appear on FOX News, they're be disparaged. -- The hatred toward this network is unprecedented.
There are two reasons for that: First, FOX News dominates the cable news ratings. And this drives far left nuts. So far this month, "The Factor" at 8:00 p.m. beats CNN, CNBC, Headline News and MSNBC combined with 300,000 viewers left over. Incredible.
The second reason is that FOX takes a more traditional view editorially than the mainstream liberal press. As we've seen, many liberals are absolutely intolerant of opposing points of view.
Now this media hostility toward FNC actually affects how some people think, especially those who don't watch us. Last week, actress Angelina Jolie allegedly ordered FOX News banned from the coverage of her new movie. But why? We've been very kind to Ms. Jolie.
So we sent "Factor" producer Porter Barry out to see her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PORTER BARRY: Ms. Jolie, I'm with FOX News. Why did you ban -- Ms. Jolie, why did you ban FOX News from your premiere last night?
JOLIE: I didn't. I didn't.
BARRY: Could you tell us what happened, Ms. Jolie?
JOLIE: There was a memo that I went out and I did not see.
BARRY: Yes.
JOLIE: And I am sorry for the excessive manner that it was done in. And I had my representatives apologize to me this morning for their manner.
BARRY: So did you know that they were banning FOX News last night?
JOLIE: I did not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
All right. Now we'll take Ms. Jolie at her word but there's no question the far left media has raised hostility toward FOX News to a whole new level. Yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle, for example, perhaps the nation's most liberal paper, editorial writer John Diaz wrote this about some opponents of the immigration bill.
"The rhetoric was ugly, playing to resentment against immigrants. Bill O'Reilly suggested the reform bill was being promoted by people who hate America, and they hate it because it's run primarily by white, Christian men."
No surprise Mr. Diaz took my words completely out of context. I actually support the bill with revisions. What I actually said was this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: There is an element in America that hates Latinos. Let's be honest. OK? They're there.
On the other side, you have people who hate America. And they hate it because it's run primarily by white, Christian men. Let me repeat that. America is run primarily by white, Christian men. And there is a segment of our population who hates that, despises that power structure.
So they, under the guise of being compassionate, want to flood the country with foreign nationals -- unlimited -- to change the complexion, pardon the pun, of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
All right. Now that, of course, is true. If you don't believe me, ask La Raza. They'll tell you.
Finally, the reason FOX News continues to dominate is we back up our opinion with facts and don't use stealth tactics to demean opposing points of view. In the next editorial meeting, "The San Francisco Chronicle" might take note.
And that's "The Memo."
Most Ridiculous Item
We've told you for years the BBC is a very liberal news agency, not fair and balanced at all. Well, a new study commissioned by the BBC itself agrees! While day-to-day issues, they say, are covered in a fair way, the study concludes, "the BBC has failed to promote proper debate on major political issues because of the inherent liberal culture of its staff". Ridiculous, perhaps, but the BBC isn't alone.
Yesterday, CNN again discussed my comments that covering random bombings in Iraq is useless and helps the terrorists. I stand by those remarks and point out the CNN discussion, moderated by Howard Kurtz, featured four liberals, no conservatives or moderates. Hey, Howard, come on. Fair and balanced? Come on.
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