Brit Hume Levels Reporter for Citing "Partisan and Dishonest" MMfA in "Hatchet Job" on Bret Baier

Washington Free Beacon

Most of us haven’t had a chance to stop our guffaws since yesterday, when CNN senior media reporter and deputy Fox News watcher Oliver Darcy cited progressive activist cabal Media Matters for America as a reputable source to attack Fox News — something which our friends at Twitchy captured for all to point and laugh at.

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Not to be outdone, the Hollywood Reporter has now published a “hard-hitting” piece on the biased reporting of… Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who hosts the network’s long-running, news program, “Special Report.” And I’ll give you three guesses (first two don’t count) who the writer, Jeremy Barr, has as his source. That’s right, MMfA!

Barr wrote, in part:

But those who work with Baier at Fox News, have worked with the anchor in the past, and those who watch the channel increasingly question his impartiality in this polarized media landscape. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to more than a dozen cable news insiders and industry observers….

A former on-air colleague adds: “He leans pro-Trump now.”

Wait, what? By that definition – “those who watch the channel” – Oliver Darcy might be one of his sources. Thing is, there’s no way to know: all of the sources are anonymous.

The writer also took a gratuitious swing at Mollie Hemingway, whose bestselling book, Justice On Trial, a scathing rebuke of the Bret Kananaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, has made her a top target of the progressive groups like MMfA:

A former colleague who sees him as one of the last remaining news pros at Fox admits that Baier’s nightly panels clearly skew conservative, with several people mentioning the commentary of The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway.

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But the most damning and discrediting aspect of what Barr does here is to give credence to MMfA like it’s some unbiased watchdog organization.

Barr continued:

Unsurprisingly, Baier’s toughest critic is Angelo Carusone, the president of Fox-monitoring advocacy group Media Matters for America. “He’s supposed to be the news guy, and there are quantifiable illustrations of him advocating for conservative, partisan politics and ideas,” he says.

Now, the man who ably commanded the “Special Report” anchor chair for more than 10 years, before Baier took over in 2009, has something to say about it.

In a tweet Thursday morning, Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume hit back at the reporter for what can only be called a blatant hit job on one of the best in the business:

He wrote:

This lame attempt at a hatchet job relies heavily on anonymous quotes and comments from the notoriously partisan and dishonest Media Matters for America. It fails to lay a glove on Bret, whose reputation as a straight shooter is richly deserved.

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While Barr managed to weave in a few positive quotes from former Fox News colleagues, like Eric Bolling, who called Baier “the most unbiased of any anchor on cable news,” and Greta Van Susteren, who echoed Hume’s characterization of Baier “a straight arrow,” and even high praise from White House Correspondents Association head and ABC News chief White House correspondent, Jonathan Karl, who said Baier “is one of the most respected guys in the business. He is a straight shooter and a true reporter,” it’s a matter of too little, too late.

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