NY Post Editorial:
Liberals sure don't like losing their longtime monopoly on delivering the news.That's the message behind a recent rash of desperate reactions — from Al Franken's book and radio show to Robert Greenwald's new film screed "Outfoxed" — over the success of our sister company, Fox News Channel.
For years, liberals skewed coverage to the left, virtually unchecked, through outlets like The New York Times, CNN, PBS and NBC.
Then, in 1996, Fox came on the scene, offering "fair and balanced" reports — news that unabashedly permitted conservative as well as liberal viewpoints.
And whaddya know?
Fox became America's top-watched news channel.
Which, understandably, somewhat unhinged the Left.
Unfortunately for liberals, their attempts to dump on the network — such as through pretend-documentaries like "Outfoxed" — have been, at best, lame.
"Outfoxed . . . is neither fair, balanced nor especially effective," writes Chicago Tribune critic Steve Johnson.
The film takes "quotes out of context" and pastes them together "to make a partisan point," says Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center.
Other editing ruses are equally transparent, such as censoring Fox's reply.
"What the movie ignores is the real reason Fox has remained so popular," says Tina Brown. "It's the flair, stupid."
Of course, the film's quality can be judged just by looking at the confidence its own backers have in it:
Rather than release it to movie houses — or even TV networks — they decided instead mainly to have it shown on DVD at select private homes.
Private homes.
Call it "Not-Ready-for-Big-Screen Propaganda."
Still, the fact that it's being shown publicly raises a troubling issue.
Because one of the film's below-the-belt ploys is to steal unlicensed and unaired Fox footage, further defrauding naive viewers (there are many on the Left) into thinking what they're watching was, in fact, broadcast.
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