You might think it's surprising that 20/20 anchor John Stossel is leaving ABC for Fox, but it's not really much of shock. It seems to me that there have been other high profile names that were once considered liberal firebrands -- Geraldo Rivera and Dennis Miller come to mind -- who've grown older and changed their stripes, finding a home at Fox. Stossel, whom I recall as a staunch consumer reporter and a man who liked to tear down hypocrisy at every turn, has been a regular at ABC News for nearly three decades. Now, he's moving on to Fox Business Network where he'll have a weekly show, and Fox News where he'll make frequent guest appearances.
Stossel calls himself a libertarian, not a conservative, so it's possible he might be a breath of fresh air at Fox, especially since he's not going to be doing politics. Stossel will be exploring libertarianism and consumer issues. As long as he steers clear of Glenn Beck, he should be fine.
ABC has previously lost anchors to Fox, including Brit Hume and Chris Wallace, but in the wake of Charlie Gibson's retirement, as well as Sam Donaldson's, the network needs to worry about familiar faces disappearing from their shows. Stossel has one of the most recognizable faces at that. He's known as the guy with the mustache.
Stossel wrote on his blog that he's grateful to ABC for his tenure there. However, he also felt he was overdue for a change. "It's been said that everyone should change jobs every seven years. I've been at ABC for 28 years."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-11-2009 @ 10:01AM
Hank said...
Stossel was never really a liberal. He was a libertarian. And still is last I heard him.
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9-11-2009 @ 10:04AM
Joel Keller said...
Allison mentions the libertarian part in her post.
9-11-2009 @ 10:20AM
Scott said...
He's not the guy you remember, the consumer reporter. He's spent at least the last decade producing specials that support the corporation over the consumer, ridiculing individual rights in favor of the more powerful. He's also been a speaker at countless right-wing conferences. It's no surprise at all that he'd go to Fox--he belongs there. Not that ABC News has much journalistic integrity left, but it just went up an iota with his departure.
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9-11-2009 @ 10:56AM
dean0677 said...
He's a nutbag, so he'll be right at home at Fox Noise.
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9-25-2009 @ 8:09PM
ray said...
Read !!!
some of his books and YOU will learn Something !!!
ANOTHER UNINFORMED '''LIBERAL"""
9-11-2009 @ 12:02PM
Michael said...
Great news no matter what the doubters say. Stossel has been the only REAL journalist on ABC for quite some time now and he's been criticized mercilessly for it. His specials reveal a lot of truth that is out there waiting to be reported on yet no one else has the guts to stand up to those critical of the subject matter he's reporting. I've given up on getting anything but propaganda from all the majors. They only report what their corporate masters want them to pitch to their viewers.
Oh, and Allison both John Stossel AND Glenn Beck are avowed Libertarians so I think your hopes that he'll steer clear of Mr. Beck will soon be dashed. Something tells me that John will be given a lot of freedom on the stories he chooses to report on now, something he never really had over at his previous network. Lord knows we won't hear much of it on ABC, CBS or NBC...
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9-11-2009 @ 4:48PM
Beth said...
Marry me?
Haha, great- and accurate!- comment.
As far as the comment in the original posting about Stossel's potential to be a "breath of fresh air" at Fox: I daresay he had been that breath of fresh at while at ABC. While Fox slants right, that in and of itself is a breath of fresh air amongst all other TV newsers that lean left (or waaaaay left in the case of MSNBC). And for what it's worth, Geraldo Rivera still seems plenty liberal to me...and from much of what I've heard him say, Dennis Miller strikes me as more of a Libertarian on any number of subjects...
I'm looking forward to continuing to watch Mr. Stossel, now on Fox News!
9-11-2009 @ 4:57PM
0megapart!cle said...
Stossel is a avowed conservative, through and through. Many of the personalities on Fox News profess that they are not conservatives, but people need to remember than their contractual agreement with News Corp states that 95% of what comes out of their mouth on air needs to be blatant lies. Unfortunately for Stossel, this means he will have to inject a little more truth in his reporting.
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9-11-2009 @ 5:21PM
Jim said...
Perhaps you can tell us how you are privy the the contents of the contracts at Fox News - otherwise you're just another liberal kookaid drinker
9-11-2009 @ 5:24PM
0megapart!cle said...
Perhaps you have heard of a concept called sarcasm. Try it out sometime, I think you'll find it quite useful.
Regardless, if you actually watched Fox News, you would agree 100% with my sentiment.
9-11-2009 @ 5:01PM
Aaron Vasicek said...
John Stossel won't be the only libertarian on Fox News, RedEye with Greg Gutfeld co-starring TV's Andy Levy are also libertarians. But in Bulgaria, Bill Schulz is a handkerchief. Fans of RedEye will know what I"m talking about.
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9-13-2009 @ 2:54PM
magnoliasouth said...
Um, Libertarians ARE conservative. Very conservative in fact.
Allison obviously needs a politics lesson.
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9-25-2009 @ 8:09PM
ray said...
good Luck to Him !!!
ANOTHER '''JOURNALIST"" (real one) WHO HAS HAD
ENOUGH OF A,B,C aka ALL BARAK CHANNEL !!!
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