The debate over Fox News' politics is heating up, after New York Times columnist Paul Krugman accused the cable channel of buying influence in Washington by hiring powerful Republicans as on-air commentators. Krugman says that, as Politico recently pointed out, Fox now employs every "2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn't currently holding office and isn't named Mitt Romney" — a list that includes Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum. A channel that was once the GOP's "Ministry of Propaganda," Krugman says, is becoming the party's guiding influence. Is Krugman just taking a partisan potshot, or is Fox really trying to take over the GOP? (Watch an MSNBC discussion about Fox News' role)
Fox is taking its partisanship to a new level: "It's hardly news that Fox News is more propaganda outlet than news organization," says Ryan Chittum at the Columbia Journalism Review. But this new tactic of putting presidential contenders on the payroll is particularly "troubling." As Politico pointed out, this essentially makes it impossible for news organizations to cover these politicians, since they have exclusive contracts with Fox. And even more "insidious" is the leverage it gives media mogul Rupert Murdoch over these potential presidents.
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