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Defending a series of false statements by the official White House spokesman, a senior Trump administration adviser on Sunday suggested the official had been invoking alternative facts rather than untruths.

Meanwhile, Chris Wallace did his duty on Fox News Sunday. You talk about honesty, and say that this was about honesty, he told White House chief of staff Reince Priebus. Well, theres another issue, though, Reince, and thats the presidents honesty, because two things that he said yesterday were just flat wrong. Wallace showed photos comparing Trumps inaugural crowd to Barack Obamas in 2009, clearly proving that the latter was bigger.

That both the Journal and Fox News were willing to call out the administrations disinformation campaign is not only heartening, but vital. (Theyve done it before, but this weekend suggested the scrutiny will continue.) Trump, like conservatives more broadly, has convinced many Americans that mainstream outlets like The New York Times and CNN are effectively extensions of the Democratic Party. Yet, the Journal and Fox News, longtime conservative outlets overseen by Murdoch, are immune to such criticism, making them uniquely positioned to upholding truth under Trump. Thats why they deserve the support, not only of the media establishment, but liberals too.

Fox News was rightly criticized under President George W. Bush for being anything but fair and balanced. This criticism became a cottage industry on the left, producing Robert Greenwalds documentary Outfoxed, Keith Olbermanns scathing special comments on MSNBC, and Al Frankens brilliant book Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. (The Minnesota senators takedowns of Bill OReilly and Ann Coulter in his days as a satirist make his grilling of President Donald Trumps education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos look positively tame.)

Fox News hasnt gotten better since the Bush years. They otherized President Barack Obama, lionized the Tea Party, and largely promoted Donald Trumps candidacy (notwithstanding the occasional challenge from Megyn Kelly, Shepard Smith, and Chris Wallace). But these journalistic sins, and those of the Journal (mostly in its opinion section), pale in comparison to the daily output of Breitbart and the fringe pro-Trump, post-truth media outlets that have sprouted over the past year. As the biggest power players in conservative media, Fox News and the Journal can respond to this market challenge in one of two ways: Move away from reality to appeal to Breitbarts audience, or defend broadly accepted facts and evidencethat is, to defend journalism itself against an administration thats hostile to it.

At a time when only about 40 percent of Americans have a positive opinion of Trumpand most have an actively negative view, according to Fox Newss own pollingmany right-of-center news consumers will be receptive to fact-checks of the president, especially from these two outlets theyve long trusted. Viewers and readers might believe critical reporting of Trump from these sources that theyd otherwise reject from the Times or CNN. Plus, Fox News was the most-watched basic cable channel last year, averaging 2.4 million primetime viewers, and Fox Newss digital audience was 74,000 unique visitors in December, according to ComScore. The Journal reported 948,000 digital-only subscribers as of last August, and a print circulation of 1.3 million.

Theres a mountain of instances, collected over two decades, where Fox News has distorted truth or evaded it. Many of its pundits, like OReilly and Sean Hannity (one of Trumps leading non-Breitbart boosters), continue to do so. But Foxs news operation, like the Journals, is fundamentally committed to the truth. Both outlets reporters deal in facts. They issue corrections. They challenge misinformation. (And for the record, the Journal is far superior to Fox News in this regard.)

But adherence to facts only goes so far; these outlets opinion-makers matter, too. Hannity is a lost cause, but we can hope that OReilly and perhaps even Tucker Carlson are willing to take on the White House when the moment calls for it. The same is true for the Journals editorial board, which has already done so with a Sunday editorial criticizing Trumps CIA speech. This was not a presidential performance, they wrote. Such defensiveness about his victory and media coverage makes Mr. Trump look small and insecure.

Business pressures incentivize deference to Trump, but responsible journalism demands the opposite. This is the moment for Murdochs outlets to challenge every liberal stereotype about them. Fox News and the Journal are mainstream media, whether they like it or not, and they should stand up for the values that all mainstream outlets share. Theres no better moment to be truly fair and balanced.

Originally posted here:
Why Liberals Should Root for Fox News - New Republic