>> Fox is run explicitly as an agitprop
>> organ for a highly articulated political formation.
> But so is NPR; the formation in question is called
> "liberals"(*). NPR helps organize and lead the liberals
> in their historic task of moving farther Right
I think that's a deeply unhistorical statement. Liberalism, however defined, throughout its history, has moved either left or right depending on the circumstances. The existence of a thriving left pushes liberalism (or at least a very large splinter of it) to the left. Other circumstances push liberalism to the right. The median US liberal in 1970 was much further left than the median liberal in 1955. And the median liberal had moved a lot further right by, say, 1995.
That goes for the liberal media, too. Look at John Oakes' tenure as editorial-page editor at the NYT. By the height of the 60's he had become a remarkably left-wing liberal. When the mood changed in the mid-70's he was canned, even though he was a Sulzberger. He was "out of step with the times" (and, hence, with the Times).
> (*) I might question "explicitly" in both cases.
> In fact Fox mendaciously claims to be "fair and
> balanced", and so does NPR.
Inside the organization, though, the outlet is run explicitly as agitprop. Google around for John Moody's daily editorial memos at Fox. E.g.:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200407140002
SA