Defending The White House

The White House has found at least one defender in its war against Fox News; while the rest of her media colleagues pounced on the administration's gall in attacking the organization, Politics Daily Editor in Chief Melinda Hennenberger writes:

My own reaction, on the other hand, was: Finally! And: How about saying some more true things, now that you're on such a roll?

Of course, the rest of the media hasn't shared this reaction--which, in some ways, has been surprising. A significant chunk of the media itself has been known, from time to time, to complain about Fox: people who work in the media share most of the complaints everyone else has about the industry's own tics and tendencies--including the often vapidity of the 24-hour news cycle and, yes, the conservative leanings of Fox News, though most of the criticism is aimed at Fox's pundits, not its straight-style reporters.

But those who work in the media are also media apologists, and, if there's one thing they dislike more than a perceived ideological slant, it's the threat of a freeze-out and the leveraging of public office's powers--e.g., the White House's bully pulpit--against a news outlet.

More media figures probably shared Hennenberger's opinion of Fox before all this started. A lot of them probably still do, even as they criticize the White House.