It is not a mystery to most of us that Fox News is a political operation pretending to be a news channel. In fact, we're pretty sure most of the country is aware of that fact.
There are, however, a few well-meaning intelligent people in the media who have defended Fox from the assertion that it's a political operation first. The Baltimore Sun's TV critic Dave Zurawik is one of those people.
After Fox News aired their 4-minute attack ad aimed at President Obama this morning (above), Zurawik changed his mind.
But as the guy who challenged the Obama administration two years when it tried to deny Fox News access to interviews and other opportunities offered to the media on the grounds that Fox was not a legitimate news operation, I have to tell you even I am shocked by how blatantly Fox is throwing off any pretense of being a journalistic entity with videos like this. Don't be fooled by Bret Baier's Boy Scout smile or all the talk about how some shows are news and some are opinion on the channel. Any news organization that puts up this kind of video is rotten to the core.
Zurawik's whole critique is really worth a read.
UPDATE: Brian Stelter of the NY Times reports on the fallout from the video...
The video was broadcast one day after Mitt Romney officially secured the Republican nomination for president, having picked up the necessary number of delegates after a long primary campaign season. Asked whether the Obama campaign viewed the Fox video as a Romney campaign ad in disguise, a spokesman declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for Fox News, which is run by the former Republican strategist Roger Ailes, did not respond to requests for interviews. However, when asked about Mr. Ailes, she said, “Roger was not aware of the video. ”
