re: #9 Killgore Trout

I wonder if Fox news can recover and be a semi-serious news network again. They’ve done so much damage to their brand that I’m not sure if they’ll ever get past the stigma of being lying nutcases.

It isn’t about credibility. It’s about ratings. Traditional, “serious” news shows suck like Hoovers when it comes to ratings; Fox News trumps them all.

It has nothing at all to do with diligence or accuracy or fairness. It’s all about entertainment. And FN manages to provide entertainment to not only the right, but the left as well. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the office liberals get together to guffaw at Glenn Beck’s latest antics on a regular basis - they tune in regularly, certainly not because of any great news value, but for the sideshow appeal. And I suspect there are many on the right and in the middle who do the same.

It may be that the portion of FN’s audience that actually agrees - or cares - what they say is a small minority, but that isn’t certain. It is certain, however, that they aren’t in the least bit interested in upholding the (mostly mythical) standards of journalistic excellence that are jawboned by so many, and that they’re extremely successful without such concerns.