Fox News Sunday- The Sunday Morning Gold Standard
Fox News Sunday celebrated its 10th Anniversary yesterday with its Sunday morning show & a Sunday night special on its history, including the secret to why their roundtable is the best in the business. There's numerous reasons why it's the best Sunday morning political talk show. Here's my reasons for that opinion:
Most importantly, Tony Snow and Chris Wallace, the only hosts the show's known, are the best interviewers in the business. They've never been afraid to ask pointed questions, and more importantly, pointed followups of any guest that they've had on. Talking points answers and monologues don't cut it with this show. The show didn't lose a thing when Tony or Chris were on vacation, either, with Brith Hume anchoring the show.
Secondly, their roundtables are always lively, informative and insightful. Brit, Mara, Bill and Juan are all talented reporters. They aren't just pundits. As Juan said on last night's special, Brit holds people to such a high standard, that "you'll get exposed" if you don't have proof for the point you're making. He's 100 percent right about that.
I've watched pretty much every FNS show the past 5 years and the sloppy comments that you see on other roundtables don't cut it there. As far as I know, Bill Kristol was the only person predicting John Kerry's Iowa Caucuses win, additionally saying that "Dean might finish third or fourth."
While Mara is a liberal apologist, she's still a valuable part of the roundtable. Whatever her political leanings, it doesn't deter her from being one of the best White House reporters around.
Bill Kristol's connections from his time as Dan Quayle's chief of staff and Bill Bennett's chief of staff during Bennett's time as Education Secretary have served him well. Sunday after Sunday, he consistently tells the panel of some important piece of news that he's learned from one senior White House official or another. You can't find that on other Sunday morning shows.
Brit and Juan often have very heated debates but they're both old school reporters. They both know the turf they cover backwards and frontwards. Brit's logic-based, Juan's emotion-based. It's made for quite a bunch of battles.
When the regulars are away, the roundtable doesn't suffer a bit. Their 'second team' is outstanding, better than Meet the Press's or ABC's This Week panels. FNS's 'second team' of Fred Barnes, Mort Kondracke, Charles Krauthammer, Paul Gigot and Nina Easton is star-studded and smart.
When you put it all together, the product is great. You've got hosts who don't let people of either political party get away with just reciting their talking points. Instead, you get Chris Wallace getting Mike Brown to say that Michael Chertoff, his boss, was interfering with 'Brownie's' work in Katrina's aftermath. You get Carl Levin saying that he thinks Iraq shouldn't have been fought.
You get a roundtable that routinely breaks news and often sets the tone for the week. No longer does the NY Times alone set the tone.
NBC's Tim Russert used to ask the toughest questions of his guests, regardless of political party. No more. He hasn't asked a serious follow-up of a Democrat in ages. That's how the mighty fall from their perch. Meet the Press still attracts the most viewers but their impact is minimal.
I predict that FNS will eventually overtake all the other Sunday morning shows but that won't happen overnight. Still, it's the best source for news most Sunday mornings.
Cross-posted at California Conservative
Posted Monday, May 1, 2006 7:44 PM
No comments.
Most importantly, Tony Snow and Chris Wallace, the only hosts the show's known, are the best interviewers in the business. They've never been afraid to ask pointed questions, and more importantly, pointed followups of any guest that they've had on. Talking points answers and monologues don't cut it with this show. The show didn't lose a thing when Tony or Chris were on vacation, either, with Brith Hume anchoring the show.
Secondly, their roundtables are always lively, informative and insightful. Brit, Mara, Bill and Juan are all talented reporters. They aren't just pundits. As Juan said on last night's special, Brit holds people to such a high standard, that "you'll get exposed" if you don't have proof for the point you're making. He's 100 percent right about that.
I've watched pretty much every FNS show the past 5 years and the sloppy comments that you see on other roundtables don't cut it there. As far as I know, Bill Kristol was the only person predicting John Kerry's Iowa Caucuses win, additionally saying that "Dean might finish third or fourth."
While Mara is a liberal apologist, she's still a valuable part of the roundtable. Whatever her political leanings, it doesn't deter her from being one of the best White House reporters around.
Bill Kristol's connections from his time as Dan Quayle's chief of staff and Bill Bennett's chief of staff during Bennett's time as Education Secretary have served him well. Sunday after Sunday, he consistently tells the panel of some important piece of news that he's learned from one senior White House official or another. You can't find that on other Sunday morning shows.
Brit and Juan often have very heated debates but they're both old school reporters. They both know the turf they cover backwards and frontwards. Brit's logic-based, Juan's emotion-based. It's made for quite a bunch of battles.
When the regulars are away, the roundtable doesn't suffer a bit. Their 'second team' is outstanding, better than Meet the Press's or ABC's This Week panels. FNS's 'second team' of Fred Barnes, Mort Kondracke, Charles Krauthammer, Paul Gigot and Nina Easton is star-studded and smart.
When you put it all together, the product is great. You've got hosts who don't let people of either political party get away with just reciting their talking points. Instead, you get Chris Wallace getting Mike Brown to say that Michael Chertoff, his boss, was interfering with 'Brownie's' work in Katrina's aftermath. You get Carl Levin saying that he thinks Iraq shouldn't have been fought.
You get a roundtable that routinely breaks news and often sets the tone for the week. No longer does the NY Times alone set the tone.
NBC's Tim Russert used to ask the toughest questions of his guests, regardless of political party. No more. He hasn't asked a serious follow-up of a Democrat in ages. That's how the mighty fall from their perch. Meet the Press still attracts the most viewers but their impact is minimal.
I predict that FNS will eventually overtake all the other Sunday morning shows but that won't happen overnight. Still, it's the best source for news most Sunday mornings.
Cross-posted at California Conservative
Posted Monday, May 1, 2006 7:44 PM
No comments.
