Earlier this week, this blog considered a question from a reader about whether Fox News could be categorized as an organ of the mainstream media. The answer: In terms of reach and impact, absolutely. In terms of standards, no way. The trouble is that Fox News, seizing on a convention of mainstream newspapering, has set up a stark division between news and opinion divisions — with programs like "Special Report" in the former and "Fox & Friends," "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity" in the latter.
Sensing greater freedom because of their designation as "opinion" purveyors, anchors in these divisions have trounced journalistic norms. Think of host Sean Hannity doing a video promotion for then-candidate Donald Trump or paying for Newt Gingrich to fly to a vice presidential interview. Or think of this more prosaic example, when Hannity used online polling during the 2016 campaign to buttress positive Trump coverage, despite guidance from Fox News's standards-setters. Pressed on this discrepancy, Fox News said that Hannity is an opinion guy.
Spicer has reportedly assured British officials that he won't again cite Napolitano's work on this subject.
Bolding added to highlight the question — what Fox News viewer would be savvy enough to determine that this reporting didn't have the full weight and confidence of the news side of Fox News? Perhaps just Howard Kurtz.
How many other major U.S. allies can Fox News's opinionators alienate?
Then there's "Fox & Friends," which appears to plan out all the ways in which it can embarrass the news side. It's no wonder whatsoever that Napolitano's massively challenged claim about GCHQ first saw the light of day on this program, which is easily the worst in all of televised news.
There'll be no hysterics here about how Fox News cannot survive with this bifurcation between opinion and news. It has thrived with the split, ruling cable-news ratings. In fact, it's a mistake to overstate the sturdiness of the wall between the sides. Sometimes news segments kick off by citing the commentary of one of their opinion folks, and it's quite common that news anchors team up with conservative panelists against liberal panelists. Yet Smith's statement Friday about the news side's lack of confidence in Napolitano's "commentary" is a clear message to its colleagues across the wall: Standards, please.