A recent question has been asked by the White House as to whether or not Fox News is a legitimate media outlet.

Over the last couple of weeks, the Obama administration has gone so far as to un-invite Fox News from a round-table interview with Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg. The other mainstream media outlets, including MSNBC, CNN, ABC, and CBS, came to Fox’s defense and said that if Fox didn’t participate, neither would they. Fox News has since been added to that interview and has used this victory as evidence of its newsworthy stature.

So is Fox a news station? It’s a complicated question with a complicated answer. You first have to look at which Fox correspondent is giving his/her opinion about the news. It is possible to give an opinion about the news and still be a responsible journalist. Day in and day out, we see impassioned journalists give powerful opinions about the rescue efforts for Katrina victims or American efforts in Afghanistan, yet who are still able to effectively deliver the news to the public.

The opinion of a reporter does not negate her ability to effectively do her job. The difference between Fox News and other news sources is that Fox is systematically forming a protest against the government. Fox has even gone as far as using its own airtime to promote Tea Party rallies in several states. Glenn Beck, a Fox news personality, has even helped organize the 9/12 project designed to “protect American values and principles.”

These protests are completely legal and are truly American; however, this type of activism makes Fox News more of a political opposition than a news outlet, and thus the White House treats it as such. This is what many people fail to see.

It is not the opinions that make Fox unworthy of a White House invitation, but rather Fox’s actions to promote its ideological views.

– Kyle Spencer

Senior journalism major