CHRISTOPHER C. THRESHER
Opinions Writer

Since its inception as a broadcast television network, Fox News has become one of America’s highest rated networks, dominating and — in some cases — obliterating networks that once represented the pre-eminence of American news media, such as NBC, CNN and CBS.

While CBS still remains one of Fox News’s greatest competitors in the crucial 18 to 49 age demographic (for the entire network, as opposed to just news programming), the real story behind Fox is its controversial foray into the 24/7 news cycle where it holds ratings that easily surpass its competitors. 

Fox is so overwhelmingly dominant that the cable network now reaches over 102 million American households and retains 12 out of the top 15 rated cable news programs. Despite an already beleaguered news industry, Fox has grown its most popular programs by double digit percentages. All of this translates into an estimated $700 million in profit — more money than MSNBC, CNN and the evening broadcasts of NBC, ABC and CBS generate combined. 

At the helm of Fox News is president Roger Ailes, former Republican media consultant, executive producer, director and newspaper owner.

Ailes has proven himself as a deft media strategist, guiding the once fledgling network to its now preponderant position. The New York Times recently described Ailes as “the most successful news executive of the last 10 years.”

Of course, Ailes’s pay is a direct reflection of his ability — and at $23 million, he is the highest paid employee of News Corporation. 

Ailes’s successful business model has proven its prowess by not only generating ratings and capital, but also by generating seemingly limitless controversy. Widely seen as one of the few corporations willing to challenge the establishment media, once represented by powerhouses such as CNN and MSNBC, Fox is now largely painted as a pseudo-news organization with a blatant right-wing bias. Critics, however, have long failed to realize the connection between Fox’s success and its supposed political bias.

Ailes revolutionized cable news by combining the unadulterated and politically-charged aggression of talk radio along with the strength of polished, minute-by-minute, 24/7 cable news reporting.

These two distinct segments — pundits and professional news coverage — work together under one name, but are hardly similar. The most ardent critics of course, will not recognize this distinction, instead branding the entire Fox network as a speakerphone for opinionated hosts such as Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck. 

Fox, however, is not as simple as many critics would like to have you believe. In addition to talking heads, the professional news coverage of Fox is also a dominating force. Professional journalists such as Bret Baier, Brit Hume, Megyn Kelly, Shepard Smith and numerous others have graced the network. These individuals have proven themselves by providing unbiased coverage of significant historical events in the same manner as the former big three networks have done for decades. 

Meanwhile critics often fail to concede that other networks also display similar biases, or worse, present news in a more subtly biased way in order to blunt criticism.

Shows such as Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Rachel Maddow Show, and Hardball with Chris Matthews are all opinion shows and represent the far left of television personalities.

CNN, which recently overhauled its lineup, was once derided in a similar fashion throughout the ’90s as the “Clinton News Network.” In fact, Ted Turner’s former wife Jane Fonda — actor and well known left wing activist, affectionately known as Hanoi Jane to the American right — often exerted strong pressure on Turner’s network. In addition, newspapers, magazines and until recently, the Internet have all been leading media bastions for the American left. 

The sensationalist political media has long been a facet of American news. In addition to this, an almost never compromising, “wave the flag” American exceptionalism has long been a proud American tradition and is not a new creation of Fox News. Sensationalism itself, while newer, is also a common American style when presenting the news, speeches and commentary.

Fox News, however, has managed to combine these elements, bringing together a business model that focuses on American exceptionalism, sensationalism, aggressive punditry and professional news journalism. While none of its subfields are new, the combination of all four is new — and that’s why Fox News has become the most dominating media force of the last decade. These qualities have unfairly raised the ire of many political enthusiasts from the United States and elsewhere, making Fox News misunderstood, on the defensive, and constantly diligent in securing its success.

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