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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Krauthammer: 'there should be a special award for Fox News'

Dr. Charles Krauthammer wins the 2009 Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism.

Excerpted remarks from Krauthammer, via New York Post:

AT a time when awards in the humanities are a near-monopoly of the left -- Nobel peace prizes awarded to those, from Yasir Arafat to Jimmy Carter, who give the most succor to the forces of terror and tyranny; Pulitzers given to whichever newspaper can expose the more damaging national-security secrets -- it is important for there to be an award to recognize and encourage journalism and, more generally, political thinking of a different kind.

In that respect, there should be a special award for Fox News. Fox has done a great service to the American polity -- single-handedly breaking up the intellectual and ideological monopoly that for decades exerted hegemony (to use a favorite lefty cliché) over the broadcast media.

I said some years ago that the genius of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes was to have discovered a niche market in American broadcasting -- half the American people. The reason Fox News has thrived and grown is because it offers a vibrant and honest alternative to those who could not abide yet another day of the news delivered to them beneath layer after layer of often undisguised liberalism.


Read the rest.

He is right, Fox News gave voice to half the American people, a voice that had no outlet.

Whether one agrees with opinions of many of the top shows on Fox or not, any intellectually honest person will admit that it is healthy when voices from all sides of an issue participate in political debate and not have one side's opinions shoved down our throats.

Congratulations to Charles Krauthammer on his award. While I might not always agree with him, he brings honest discussion to the table every time he writes and in his night commentary for Fox.

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