Faux news Democrats

Great piece at Salon on what it means to be a Democrat at Fox News.  Read the whole thing but a couple of points tand oint:

But if one actually watches a lot of Fox News, the in-house Democrats don’t come off as effective evangelists for their party or for liberal politics in general. It sounds harsh, but think of most of the Fox Democrats, at least those who appear on the opinion shows, which take up half the network’s airtime, as one of three types. They are either scary liberals, losers or enablers. Representatives of each type may score some points for Democrats when they appear on-air, but ultimately they help further Fox’s larger narrative about Democrats and liberals and what they stand for.

 Charlie Reina, a Fox News producer from 1997 to 2003, says Fox is “not going to put somebody on there who’s very strong or very articulate in terms of advocating Democratic values or positions … It’s not to say that they’re not truly Democrats or articulate in their own way, but they have to get with the program so to speak.” Reina was once witness, along with “Fox News Watch” host Eric Burns, to an explanation from a Fox News vice president of why Alan Colmes was the right man to appear across from Sean Hannity. Reina paraphrases the Fox executive as saying, ” You know who the perfect anchor is here? Alan Colmes. Because he knows what his role is — he knows that he’s there to set Hannity up, and that Hannity’s the star of the show.”

It’s a pity.