The rise of FOX News Channel to its place as a dominant source of news on television is easily one of the most consequential journalistic developments of the past 25 years. The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik has written a timely column taking note and paying tribute to FNC’s steadfastness along the way.
As the channel’s Washington managing editor and anchor of what he turned into the best news program in the land, Brit Hume had more than a little to do with the success of the enterprise. Bill Kristol has just posted an 80-minute Conversation with Brit Hume (video below) covering the start-up of FNC and Hume’s work there. The conversation then reviews Hume’s career in journalism and considers the state of media today (the interview is broken into chapters at the link above). Suffice it to say that if you are an interested consumer of political news, this is must viewing.
One key passage occurs at 55:00-59:00 as Hume discusses his desire to overcome the “Times-centric” view of television news, first as a reporter at ABC, then as a managing editor/anchor at FNC. Quotable quote: “After you got the hang of it, it was like picking up money off the street.”
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