The Fox News network takes a lot of unfair criticism because it’s opinion shows (Hannity and Colmes, The O’Reilly Factor etc) are predominantly of a conservative bent.  All opinion shows have a bias.

Their actual news is as close to being actually balanced as anyones is.  They tend to report more sides of an issue, whereas the other cable and network news shows tend to tailor their news to the left, in my opinion.  They do so by reporting for the worst and ignoring the positives or Iraq, and ignoring or down playing some stories that are unflattering to Liberals and their causes.

That said, I still tend to skip around on the news as much as I can, to get a generous blend.  Not even fox gets a free pass of presumption.

Hot Air posted this video today of Fox News Chairmen Roger Ailes spoke at the Radio-Television News Directors Association awards ceremony where he was one of the recipients for the First Amendment Award, and this is the speech he delivered.  It is a powerful reminder of the real nature of our First Amendment freedoms.

Ignore the typically lame speech jokes at the beginning, and really listen to the meat of it.

Only people who understand different points of view can exercise an informed decision in the voting booth. Freedom of the press did not invent democracy. Democracy invented freedom of the press. For saying that, I sometimes get accused of being too pro-American or too pro-Israeli. I just happen to like democracies. But it don’t mean we can’t cover the news fairly. Bias is not necessarily what you believe in, but it can be reporting a story and leaving out other people’s valid beliefs. The first amendment also guarantees freedom of speech, which is linked to another favorite word in today’s world, ‘diversity.’ But diversity is not just skin color, economic status, geography and religion. It is also diversity of thought.

The greatest danger to journalism is a newsroom or a profession where everyone thinks alike. Because then one wrong turn can cause an entire news division to implode. We must respect and encourage diversity of thought and speech in the newsroom.

Brilliant.  Bloody brilliant.  My hat’s off to you Roger, for saying what has been long overdue to be said.

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