There was a subtle but significant tinge to Fox News’s lineup of moderators for the big debate of Republican presidential contenders last week: Bret Baier, Chris Wallace and Megyn Kelly don’t hail from the network’s robust lineup of red-meat, all-American conservatives.

Apparently that casting was part of a larger “course correction” Fox News has been undertaking as the nation moves heavily into 2012 campaign mode. Fox News head Roger Ailes has “quietly adopted” a bit of a tack toward the center recently, according to media reporter Howard Kurtz in The Daily Beast – a move that also has included parting ways with bomb-thrower Glenn Beck and paying less attention to the Tea Party movement.Continue reading...

Maybe it's time for straight news on cable to throw in the towel. In an increasingly noisy environment, cable television has become a place for loud, opinionated voices rather than reasoned, objective reporting. Think of it as talk radio with video.

As we've reported, that trend leaves CNN uncomfortably in the middle, leaning neither toward MSNBC's left nor Fox News Channel's right on the US media spectrum. The result is a squeeze play that has seen CNN losing viewers—and talent, with high-profile departures indicating a venerable TV brand in danger of losing its identity and audience.

Last November, acerbic anchor Lou Dobbs left the network, followed by veteran global correspondent Christiane Amanpour's departure in March (although she doesn't pop up on ABC News until August).

Now anchor Campbell Brown is out, of her own accord, and she has made it very clear why: "she was unable to compete with the opinion-mongers that dominate cable news in prime time," reports the New York Times.

Campbell feels she doesn't have the heart for the posturing and vitriol that's dominating cable news these days—or as the above clip during the Haiti earthquake aftermath shows, perhaps it's a case of having too much heart.Continue reading...