Is Fox News Moving Left?

By Chris Ariens 

Politico’s Keach Hagey took the temperature of conservative Americans at CPAC last week, asking them if their favorite channel had changed.

“I’ve gone from all Fox to no Fox, and replaced it with CNN, which I think right now is giving me a much fairer analysis of what’s going on,” says Virginia radio talk show host John Fredericks. “I feel they’ve lost that independent conservative mantra that had drove people like me to them.”

Since Fox News founder Roger Ailes announced a “course correction” last Fall, the network has hired liberal activist Sally Kohn and may be testing the waters for a Web show fronted by liberal commentator Jehmu Greene. And these loyal viewers have complained it’s not a course they like. From Politico:

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“Something is happening at Fox News,” wrote one Red State blogger last month. “More often these days I hear the language of the Left entering their news programs. Conservative points of view are becoming more rare on Fox and/or treated with scorn…it may not be admitted, but I believe the left’s boycott of Fox is having an effect.”

But Fordham University media professor Paul Levinson says at the end of the day it’s about ratings. While Fox News still has more viewers combined than its competitors, ratings were down in 2011, while MSNBC and CNN were up. “It’s a smart move to get slightly less conservative and draw in some people in the middle and slightly to the left. If they just stuck to their staunch conservative guns, they wouldn’t go anywhere.” So we’re putting it to you:


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