Yet another sign that the Obama Administration’s war on Fox News isn’t working:
Reporting from New York – It’s been a long time since Fox News, which avidly cultivates its outsider status, got to play the underdog. But after White House aides recently labeled the top-rated cable news channel “a wing of the Republican Party” and argued that it is not a news network, Fox News found itself back in a spot it relishes: firing back at a more powerful adversary.
The salvos by administration officials have rallied liberals who complain that the channel has a conservative agenda. The activist group MoveOn instantly jumped in the fray, urging Democrats to stay off Fox News programs.
But the White House’s stance also gave extra lift to the network at a time when it is on track to record its best ratings year ever. This year, Fox News has averaged nearly 1.2 million viewers across all its programming, a 16% increase over the same period last year, according to Nielsen. In the two weeks since aides to President Obama took after the coverage, the audience has been 8% larger than the previous two weeks.
If anything, the Obama administration has succeeded in reinforcing Fox News’ identity as a thorn in the side of the establishment — a role the network loves to play.
As Bill Clinton himself once said:
“Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.”
Or, who have access to basically free bandwidth.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Below The Beltway ยป Fox News Ratings Up Since Obama Administration Picked A Fight…
Thank you for submitting this cool story – Trackback from PunditKix…
October 27th, 2009 at 10:04 am
More evidence for the theory that Obama is actually Ronald Reagan in disguise.