FOX NEWS isn't

CW FISHER Rent Outfoxed. View, set aside. Awaken gradually to a series of alarming revelations that were all right in front of you yet obscured somehow, until their sudden implosion to one humongous gestalt: Fox News isn't news--it's pure propaganda--straight from Rupert Murdock to Fox News to You. Rupert Murdock owns not the world but its soul--a thing that comes only at a huge cost--paid monthly by billions. Murdock is a fascinating character who built for us a fascinating problem: if a man owns his own global cable system and all his own programming, which his subscribers pay to view, does he have an obligation to be fair and balanced not just in slogan but in actual practice? Or can a man just say whatever the hell he damn well pleases, no matter how outright the lie or ridiculously severe the angle, and call it "news," as happens now? The answer, as Bill O'Reilly might put it, is fundamentally a matter of you shutting up. Every morning Rupert Murdock, the man himself, issues a single paragraph of instructions to his reporters, ordering the stories, the spin, the tactics, the visuals; words to hit, throw, spread or call; people to promote, push, sell; people to destroy, defame, duncify--and every morning the same subtext: to make me believe this really happened--and so it is done. Murdock knows that deep inside every beat reporter is, yes, the desire to get the story, but even better, to just have the story handed to them--well, what could be easier? It's not reporting exactly, but it ain't exactly infomercials either. Plus, as actors, they get to play reporters that don't play by the rules. So it's easy to get that fresh enthusiasm, because it sure beats waitin' 4-tops. How powerful is Rupert Murdock? Could he take on George Bush? Pff. He already did. He owns and operates George Bush. He made George Bush. Some say he made Laura Bush. Some say he invented the phrase some say. But could he take on Dubya? Yes, he could. He could crush him like a bug, from his limo on his way to work. All he has to do is issue a briefing: Rumors persist regarding the competency of President Bush after he flatly refused "the rehab option," as some people say some people said the White House Communications Office put it. Vice President Richard Cheney remains sequestered and is prepared to take the oath of office should it become necessary. Some people say President Bush fell down the stairs, others say he threw up on the stairs, but I want MY people to tell me exactly who, what, where, when, how much and on whom he spewed--and if you can't get it on tape, reenact. Be bold! Fair and Balanced! -Ru Hearing Fox News describe itself as "Fair and Balanced" is kind of like meeting a man named Tiny.