'Fair and balanced' in the eye of beholder
Back in the day: Former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro and host John Sununu face off during broadcast of CNN's "Crossfire" on Feb. 16, 1996. Credit: AP Photo/CNN
I take exception to Daniel Akst's column, "Get out there and listen to an opposing view" [Opinion, June 27]. It is quite obvious that Akst is a political liberal and opposes Fox News and its point of view. He would have you read and watch his choice, someone or something that agrees with his political point of view.
How far do you think the tea party movement would have gotten without Fox News? Nowhere. The mainstream media ignored the tea party.
Akst, as do many liberals, tries to pass off his opinions as being fair and balanced.
James J. Hanrahan, Farmingville
I do believe that we all congregate around media outlets that support our existing viewpoints. I must say in all honesty that I do, however, regularly listen to commentators who make my "blood boil."
But Akst is guilty of some false equivalency on this issue. One of the brilliant strategies of the right, and in particular Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, is to label other media outlets as unworthy of trust. Rush says liberals always lie, and other news outlets should not be listened to. This has worked. I have family members who only get their news from Fox.
Here is what the right has effectively done, and Akst in a tangential way supports with his article: They have convinced people that Fox and Limbaugh are the same as CBS, Cronkite and Williams. And their respective listeners are the same. That is laughable.
Jim Finlay, Bohemia
