Fox's Rant and Runt Show

Hannity & Colmes, Fox News Channel's primetime debate show, figures prominently in the network's campaign to market its right-leaning programming as "fair & balanced." Actually, the program exemplifies the way Fox jiggers the balance to favor conservatives. "The show pairs the aggressive conservative Sean Hannity with the mildly liberal, often conciliatory Alan Colmes," writes Steve Rendall, in "a format where conservatives out-number, out-talk and out-interrupt their liberal opponents." Moreover, Colmes "seems to see his role as one of policing liberal excess," actually taking conservative positions on many issues and rushing to the support of conservative figures such as Rudy Giuliani, Trent Lott and Rush Limbaugh. "Colmes appears to have no goal other than to maintain the illusion of debate on a univocal network," Rendall states.