Fox News

Sen. Rand Paul is recruiting plaintiffs - and seeking donations - for a class-action lawsuit against the National Security Agency. “Dear Patriot,” the Kentucky Republican wrote Thursday in an e-mail to supporters. “I'm looking for ten million Americans to stand with me and sue the federal government and TAKE BACK our rights. “Can I count on your help? “Without it, I truly fear where our fragile Republic could be headed …” Paul, who is expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, told a Fox News interviewer this week that he would be asking Internet providers and telephone companies to join him in a lawsuit against the electronic eavesdropping agency based at Fort Meade.

Two years ago as he was about to take over a ratings-battered and beleaguered newscast from Katie Couric, Scott Pelley told me he thought great journalism in the traditional sense of that term could still be good business despite the epic change rocking TV news. Today, on his second anniversary in the anchor seat once held by Walter Cronkite, Pelley and the folks at CBS News can point to a record of solid growth at a time when most in the legacy media business are just hoping to stem the rate of decline.

Two years ago as he was about to take over a ratings-battered and beleaguered newscast from Katie Couric, Scott Pelley told me he thought great journalism in the traditional sense of that term could still be good business despite the epic change rocking TV news. Today, on his second anniversary in the anchor seat once held by Walter Cronkite, Pelley and the folks at CBS News can point to a record of solid growth at a time when most in the legacy media business are just hoping to stem the rate of decline.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. " That's the full text of the First Amendment. But (with apologies to the old Far Side comic), this is what many in the press, academia and government would hear if you read it aloud: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, blah blah blah, or abridging the freedom of the press, blah blah blah blah.

Letter writer Elizabeth Fixsen commends The Sun for hiring conservative columnist Ron Smith by contrasting it with the difficulty of finding a liberal voice such as Thomas Schaller's in conservative media such as The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal and Fox News ("A conservative voice on a liberal page," Nov. 26). Evidently she does not listen to Fox News, or she would certainly have heard the liberal views often expressed there by such commentators as Leslie Marshall, Alan Colmes, Juan Williams, Bob Bickel and others who appear on the network.

I have often noticed biased reporting from television's Fox News, but last night's report was outrageous. Many media reported about a scurrilous political ad sent out in Fairfax, Va. with a picture of President Barack Obama that seemed to promote violence. Only Fox displayed the offensive ad itself. After stating that this ad provoked bipartisan criticism, Fox showed the actual ad for a long period on the screen. Of course, I could complain directly to Fox, but their "mailbox was full.

Comedian Jon Stewart acknowledged on-air Tuesday night that he was wrong in saying Fox News viewers are the "most consistently misinformed media viewers. " He had made the statement in a much-discussed interview with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" three days ago. Read about it here from my Tuesday post. But the comedian then pivoted on a punchline and used his apology to hammer Fox News on what he sees as its lack of credibility. The ultimate message of the segment essentially boiled down to this: OK, I lied, but Fox News lies a lot more than I do, and they never acknowledge their mistakes or set the record the straight.

Comedian Jon Stewart lied when he said that "every poll" shows Fox News viewers to be the most "consistently misnformed" of all news consumers, PolitiFact says. Stewart made that claim in an interview on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace that is still be debated all over the place two days later. I have been dragged into the fray in part because Wallace used a quote from me to challenge Stewart about his lack of accountability as a media critic. You can read about that and see the Fox News video here . I applaud PolitiFact, ans its Pulitzer-Prize-winning truth-o-meter, for holding Stewart accountable for his false statement about Fox. By the way, in its well-researched and thoughtful analysis of what constitutes true and false statements about news audiences being poorly or well-informed, PolitiFact quotes my analysis of a deeply flawed University of Maryland "study" on the matter.

Jon Stewart's war with Chris Wallace and Fox News is still raging on. Stewart returned to his favorite target last night, insisting that Fox apologize for its 21 false statements as documented by PolitiFact.  He also alleged Fox engages in a double standard, in which commentary that favors Democrats is considered part of a vast left-wing conspiracy, while analysis that favors Republicans is seen as evidence of fairness.  In the end, Stewart...

I would like to respond to "No amount of spin can explain Obama's abundant failures" (letter, Aug. 2). The letter states that the country is not better off than it was four years ago. Now, I know telling people that things are really, really bad and that it's all President Obama's fault is Fox News 101 mantra, but if you examine the facts, things are gradually getting better. If we can step into the "way-back" machine and return to the Fall of 2008, the economy was hemorrhaging jobs, financial institutions were reeling with bad debt, foreclosures were running in the millions.

The Obama White House has been trying to de-legitimize Fox News almost from the day it took office. Remember the media blitz of 2009 launched by then White House Communications Director Anita Dunn? I stood with Fox on that one on principle and came away impressed with the almost tribal unity that Roger Ailes inspired in his troops in the face of White House pressure. Ailes showed more of that Thursday with a memo sent to the Fox newsroom. Read it below, and try to tell me he's not right.

I am sitting here open-mouthed at your editorial regarding the Benghazi hearings ("Benghazi deserves a real review," May 9). Maybe you should let one of your staff actually watch them before making fools of yourselves. You state that the administration's claim that the attacks were connected to protests over a film was not really a leap. It wasn't a leap, it was actually a lie. Foreign Service officer Gregory Hicks stated that they knew immediately that it was a terror attack. You say that the Republican talking points are designed to discredit Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

Reviewing national media coverage of the Black Guerrilla Family's virtual takeover of the Baltimore City Detention Center, it's impossible not to feel the pressure mounting on Gov. Martin O'Malley who is expected to return this week from a trip to the Middle East. And how he handles the scandal could go a long way in determining how well he does or doesn't do with those national aspirations we've been hearing so much about the last year. I can see the image of Black Family Guerrilla gang leader Tavon White, who is alleged to have held virtual control of the detention center, haunting O'Malley in attack ads throughout any future campaigns.

The Sun editorial board never fails to agree with every tax and fee our governor thrusts upon the citizens of Maryland ("The rain tax sham," April 18). The governor has created 37 new taxes and fees during his seven years in office, and though he claims to have made cuts in the state budget, the facts show the budget has increased substantially. Rather than ask questions, The Sun prefers to take a few cheap shots at a report done on Fox News, which actually researched the story.

Within an hour of the bomb explosions in Boston I noticed that the word "Muslims" was trending on Twitter ("'Horrific,'" April 16). As an American Muslim who has experienced bigotry first-hand, I was a bit apprehensive as I clicked to view the tweets. To my pleasant surprise, with the exception of maybe Fox News contributor Erik Rush, an overwhelming number of people - Muslim and non-Muslim - were tweeting in defense of Islam and condemning stereotyping and bigotry. America has indeed come a long way since the days after 9/11, and I couldn't be more proud to be an American and a Muslim.

Just when it was starting to look like cable news might have actually learned something from its rush-to-judgment sins in covering the Newtown massacre, John King, CNN and Fox News showed Wednesday how shaky and journalistically confused even the genre's biggest dogs are these days when confronted with a major, ongoing news story. It doesn't get much worse than it did for CNN Wednesday afternoon when quoting unnamed sources it reported that police had arrested a suspect in the Boston marathon bombings.

Fox News Friday afternoon acknowledged showing a man committing suicide on-air despite the channel being on a five-second delay that should have allowed producers to cut away. Here's video of show host Shepard Smith trying to explain what happened. I am not sure there is an explanation for this kind of gatekeeping ineptitude. Unless it's that channels like Fox that masquerade as news operations make no real commitment to being responsible gatekeepers. So, when called on to actually cover news in a responsible manner, they regularly fall short.

After dumping Sarah Palin and Dick Morris, Fox News has hired Scott Brown and now Herman Cain as a contributor. The first three moves made some sense, especially the two firings. Palin's fling with fame was over, and the sleaze attached to Morris had reached the point where it was seriously hurting the Fox brand. But the hiring of Cain, which was reported Friday, feels like an act of desperation, a move made in reaction to sinking ratings rather than one done as part of a larger vision.

In stepping down last week as a speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine commencement, Dr. Ben Carson again took on the role of media/culture critic and martyr to "political correctness. " "Someday in the future, it is my hope and prayer that the emphasis on political correctness will decrease and we will start emphasizing rational discussion of differences so we can actually resolve problems and chart a course that is inclusive of everyone," he wrote to Hopkins Medicine Dean and CEO Dr. Paul B. Rothman.

I have looked over that Mercatus Center report on freedom in the 50 states ("The 'Free State' isn't so free anymore," April 3). I suspect that the majority of Marylanders would rather live in any of 17 or so of the 20 "least free" states than in any of most of the top 20 "most free" states. However, if you are a Fox News addict, you might feel differently. James Weston, Baltimore Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts