In remarks given as host of the Eric Breindel Awards ceremony for Excellence in Journalism, Fox News CEO, Roger Ailes, made a connection that would be shocking if it was in reference to anything other than Fox News:

“The candidates that can’t face Fox, can’t face Al Qaeda. And that’s what’s coming.”

So Fox and Al Qaeda have something in common. Actually, they much in common. By Ailes’ own admission, Fox’s adversarial attitude toward Democrats is analogous to Al Qaeda’s adversarial attitude toward America. That’s reason enough for Democrats to decline invitations to appear on the network. But Fox also shares with Al Qaeda a desire to terrorize citizens with panic-soaked reports designed to invoke a climate of fear. As previously reported here at News Corpse, Fox airs far less coverage of the war in Iraq than its peers, and far more coverage of sensationalized threats like the recent episodes concerning Fort Dix and JFK airport. Also like Al Qaeda, Fox promotes a philosophy of militant fundamentalism via its one-sided editorial stance and its advocacy on behalf of the war and its enablers in Washington.

The Breindel Awards, it should be noted, were endowed, and are sponsored by, News Corporation. They are awarded to…

“…the columnist, editorialist or reporter whose work best reflects the spirit of the writings by Eric Breindel: Love of country and its democratic institutions as well as the act of bearing witness to the evils of totalitarianism.“

Conservative author and senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, Max Boot, took this year’s professional award of $20,000. John Wilson of Claremont McKenna University received the student award of $10,000, and an internship at either Fox News or the New York Post.

I’m sure Mr. Wilson will find good use for the cash, but why sabotage this young man’s future with an internship that will likely stunt his growth as a reporter and instill in him a disdain for journalistic ethics? That’s just sad.