It is no wonder that Fox News is the oldest skewing network in cable news. They have captured the curmudgeon demographic and completely abandoned any attempt to appeal to a young audience.

Today’s headline on Fox Nation is a good example of the animosity that drives away young viewers and readers: Obama Reduced to Writing Op-Eds in Student Newspapers.

Reduced? Since when is communicating with college students considered to be some sort of lowered standard of engagement? The student newspaper to which Fox referred is the Harvard Crimson from Obama’s alma mater. The President’s column addressed the steps his administration is taking to ease the burden of the crushing debt students suffer due to the high cost of education.

In one headline Fox has insulted students as being unworthy of attention, and diminished education as a frivolous endeavor. And the headline was entirely the work of Fox’s editors. There was nothing in the source article that sunk to such disparaging terms. In fact, the article offered an uplifting message of hope for restoration of the opportunity that was once so much a part of the American Dream.

Obviously the Fox Nationalists think that communicating such hope directly to the next generation of America’s leaders is a contemptible act that reflects poorly on the President. It is that condescending perspective that makes Fox a pariah amongst everyone but the codgers who drool over photos of Sarah Palin in red leather.

It is the same perspective that elevates ignorance as an aspiration. Fox is the nation’s preeminent purveyor of distrust for intellectual achievement. They are the partners of the Republican Party in an effort to dumb-down the citizenry by mocking education and promoting idiots to positions of authority. And make no mistake, it is intentional. They know that it is far easier to manipulate people when they are uneducated and uninformed. They know that it is the only way that they can advance their agenda that benefits the wealthy and corporations at the expense of those they are deceiving. And they are good at it. Studies show that Fox viewers are significantly more misinformed than viewers of other networks. What’s more, the studies show that the more one watches Fox News, the more misinformed they become.

So the next time you see Fox slamming the President for daring to lower himself to communicating with college students, remember that this is in line with their business model of targeting the stupidest and oldest segment of the audience. And so far as I’m concerned, they can have ’em.