Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of
How Fox News Beat CNN by Scott
Collins
Cnn Just Doesn't Get It;...Nor Do They Even Care!
How brutal is the cable news business? When Fox News CEO Roger
Ailes learned that Paula Zahn was negotiating with archrival CNN, Ailes
fired Zahn immediately. When a reporter pointed out that Zahn had
boosted ratings for Fox, Ailes replied, I could have put a dead raccoon on
the air this year and gotten a better rating than last year. Crazy Like A
Fox tells one of the most dramatic business stories of the past decade—
the war over cable news. In 1991, with its coverage of the first Gulf War,
Ted Turner’s CNN reinvented the television news business and became a
global brand name. In 1995, NBC and Microsoft pooled their enormous
resources to create MSNBC. But by 2003, both had been dwarfed in the
ratings by Rupert Murdoch’s seven-year-old Fox News Channel. How did
Fox News pull off this amazing victory and how is its success— and its
alleged right-wing slant—changing the entire media world? Scott Collins
provides a shocking account of corporate arrogance and intrigue, with all

the brash personalities and back-room dealings involved in the war for
ratings. He offers inside tales about a virtual Who’s Who of American
television: not just corporate players like Turner, Murdoch, Ailes, Walter
Isaacson, and Bob Wright, but also on-air talent like Paula Zahn, Bill
O’Reilly, Connie Chung, Phil Donahue, Sean Hannity, Greta Van
Susteren, and Larry King. Collins also shows what happened behind the
camera during the biggest news stories of our time, including the 2000
election, September 11, and Gulf War II.
Personal Review: Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox
News Beat CNN by Scott Collins
Right off the bat,I think the publishing date of this book is important. It was
published in April,2004 and that is a relatively a long time ago for a book of
this nature;and on top of that had to be written sometime before that.
Therefore anything in the book is 4 years ago or longer. In a world where
events , communications and technology are moving so fast,sometimes
the old maxim ,"It's hard to see the forest for the trees",sure applies. For
that reason,I believe reading this book now,really shows how well the
author analyzed the subject.
The title and line on the cover is misleading. It is more about CNN than
Fox.A book like this should ,just like the news,be as free from bias as
possible.If not free,then at least balanced. That cannot be said about this
book. If you look at the background of the author;you see he has a strong
Liberal leaning and it comes through over and over again throughout the
book. It is evident where the author discusses, on page 192 and 192 ,that
Phil Donahue had a homey reassurance,was ernest and nonthreatning,an
unmistakable liberal "bent",with frequent guests like Jesse Jackson,Ralph
Nader and Gloria Steinmen;but that his show featured a less than stirring
debate with a conservative firebrand Pat Buchanan.He doesn't use the
same sort of name calling when talking about ,as Hannity would say,"his
Liberal friends".
In the early days,CNN had the "Jump"on the competition in News
Chanels,for the simple fact that there was no competition.As a matter of
fact ,I enjoyed CNN in the early days,especially in world coverage.
However, as time went on,this success was taken for granted as a birth
right and then we really saw the Chanel take on the left wing,European
favoring,UN admiring,US bashing,agendae.The disappointment of their
leader,Clinton desecrate the office of President.Bush's election,and the
Government's necessity to deal with Teeorism,left them full of hate.Since
that time,the liberal left became obsessed with hate so much that any
success, internationally or domestically ,angered and disappointed
them.They went looking for bad news wherever possible and ignored, or at
best glossed over anything positive.Unfortunately ,since the mainstream
media is heavily weighted with people of liberal bias ,that is where it
went;and CNN lead the way and still does.
The liberal left idea that everyone hates Bush, everyone around the world
hates America,Europe is much more enlightened than America,any
conservative thought is objectionable and only their ideas are worth

discussing,prevailed. The concept of fair and balance,is totally foreign to
them.
Enter Fox,with differing points of view,and you have competion in the
world of ideas.And Lo and Behold!,not everybody who does not agree with
the left,find Fox serves them better than CNN.
This is the point that the author, intentionally or not, misses in this
book.Whether the left understand this or not,it seems that they victims of of
something or other, and its got to be the viewers who are stupid ,because
it can't be themselves.
It is a shame that agendae have come to be such an important factor in
news;but the viewer will be the one who will decide what can be trusted
and what can't.When you see the "new kid on the block" getting more
viewers than all the other "main stream press" combined, it should tell
them something;assuming they are listening.
If you think it's bad in the US; try watching Canadian Newschanels.We
have the Government supported CBC,which is as liberal, if not more so
than CNN.It has no concern whether it gets viewers and viewer
support,because,quite frankly ,the Government ,which is heavily slanted
Liberal and Socialist,likes it the way it is and supports it regardless whether
it is watched or not by the majority.Their idea of balance has been to bring
in the BBC; that's right;I'm serious,we need the enlightened,european,
socialist anti-american viewpoint! But listen to this,there is now talk of
bringing in Al Jazeera...now there's balance for you!
Until last year ,one could not even get Fox News here in
Toronto.Finally,the government allows it, and guess where I go now for my
news! Can you believe it? We get CNN with our Bacic Package;but if you
want Fox,you gotta pay extra. That's my choice,so I do!
I haven't seen a similar book dealing with Talk Radio.The same thing
applies there,There has been a series of failures to get support for left wing
radio,despite a ton of money and several attempts.Conservative talk radio
does very well both in popularity and finacially as Rush Limgaugh says "in
the arena of ideas debate" One day he had Al Sharpton on his show.He
explained why the liberals were failing,why Siros and Al Franken were
going to fail as well.He offered to show Sharpton how to succeed because
Limbaugh thought there was a need for a balanced view---Sharpton
wouldn't take him up on it.
It isn't books that will provide the answers;the viewers will,though!
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