White House fuels Fox’s fire in an attempt to put it out

There’s tough reporting, and then there’s outright journalistic antagonism. After taking a verbal beating from the alleged “fair and balanced” news network for close to a year now, the White House has apparently decided enough is enough, with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs calling FOX “a wing of the Republican party” and Communications Director Anita Dunn describing FOX as “opinion journalism masquerading as news”.

While not unmerited, this official denunciation of the cable news channel did little more than provoke the conservative media giant. In one swift move, the white house has simultaneously satisfied its school-yard quest for revenge and also driven three and a half million viewers further into the FOX-hole.

From promoting tea party rallies against big government, to outright opposing the White House’s agenda, and even calling the first black President of the United States a “racist”, there is no denying that FOX oversteps its boundaries as a news organization. But for the three million plus Americans that watch it religiously, Rupert Murdoch can do no wrong.

Most of these viewers would defend the content of FOX’s news shows as intently as they would their own political beliefs. For that reason, the White House is seriously misguided if it hopes that their formal criticism of the network will help these loyal viewers see the errs in FOX’s ways.

One FOX executive told the NY Times that the jabs by the White House could solidify the network’s audience base, a viewership that continues to expand in response to the party shift in office. Bill Shine, senior vice president for FOX programming, said that Obama’s first year is on track to be the news channel’s highest rated year. Appropriately put by the Chairman of FOX, Roger Ailes, “Don’t pick a fight with people who like to fight.”

But the White House is coming out swinging.

In an interview with CNN, Dunn announced that the White House would not be a “passive bystander” as opponents [FOX] try to “tear down the president and his presidency…we will push back.” As comments like this one continue to come from Obama’s press team, FOX characters rejoice that the democrats are practically handing over content for their shows. Sean Hannity recently took pleasure in labeling his show “Not White House Approved”, while FOX’s newest star, Glen Beck, proudly unveiled a red telephone on his set so that the White House can call and directly voice their complaints.

While I personally commend Gibbs, Dun, and others for finally saying what every responsible media consumer has been thinking, this sense of gratification comes at too high a cost. Conservative viewers and journalists alike now claim that the White House can’t handle the heat that comes with hard-hitting investigative reporting. The move to defend itself is then rapidly spun, at the very capable hands of FOX, into what appears as a press cop-out.

At this point, the most responsible war the White House could wage against FOX news is a silent one. Attacking an opponent with clear philosophical differences, a massive public platform to express those differences, and several million people eager to listen, is not a battle the White House has the time or ability to win.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Obama must reach out across the aisle if he is to accomplish anything on his mounting to-do list. This relationship is going to have to include even the loudest appendage of the conservative party: the media.

With very little hope of changing the minds of FOX viewers, the White House would be smart to avoid further engaging them in a manner that almost certainly guarantees negative backlash. And for those of us who do agree that FOX News is a “wing of the Republican party”, we do not require spoken validation of this opinion from the Obama administration. In fact, we would prefer it if the White House would just be the bigger party, and do whatever it takes to get the job done.