It's still possible to divide the news calendar into BF and AF—Before Fox and After Fox. Much of what you see on TV news exists because of Fox, and not just the opinion shows. The graphics, the sound effects, the general tone of news is set by Fox. The zipper—the visual signature of the anxious too-much-information era—was first introduced by Fox on the morning of 9/11. First by moments, but in TV news, moments are everything. As with so many things, Fox was slightly quicker than its rivals to detect, and direct, the next crank of the dial in our cultural volume level.

I thought like I do even before Fox News came along. Fox finally came to our city during the 2000 election. It saved my sanity. I realized, then, that there were a lot of people with my political persuasion. Though they do have Jane Harmon, Bob Beckel, Dick Morris, Charlie Rangel, and such on regularly, there is usually one rightie/one leftie in their debate and discussion sessions...and I do admit that, as a whole, it is more center and to the right. That makes it more in line with the traditional values of, say, 50 yrs. ago; which gives me a place to get my news and journalism that doesn't have me pulling my hair out as much.