Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeRemember when Fox News Channel launched in 1996 with the slogan “Fair and balanced”?
Believe it or not, early on, the channel at least pretended to follow that idealistic goal, providing straight news during the day and balancing conservative voices with liberal ones on primetime opinion shows.
Hell, even Sean Hannity shared a show with Alan Colmes, at least giving the impression of equal time.But it was always a facade, with much of that “balance” more on paper than in reality.
Colmes was there, but Hannity usually got the last word. Fox News was Rupert Murdoch’s and Roger Ailes’ attempt to shift the national conversation and muddy the waters of discourse in the nation — and it has been successful.
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