Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n
1. Fox News Watch<\/em> and “the subject we’re not talking about today.”<\/strong> From TV Newser<\/a>: Saturday\u2019s \u201cFox News Watch\u201d steered clear of one of last week\u2019s major media stories \u2014 News Corp. shutting down<\/a> UK tabloid News of the World as a result of a hacking scandal. Or did they? On the show\u2019s website, Fox News posts \u201cBehind the Breaks\u201d videos of the panel chatting during commercial breaks. In the first break, the panel \u2014 including Judith Miller, Cal Thomas and James Pinkerton \u2014 can be heard chatting about \u201cthe subject we\u2019re not talking about today.\u201d Thomas asked his colleagues if anyone is willing to bring up the scandal. \u201cSure,\u201d Pinkerton answered jokingly. \u201cGo ahead, Cal.\u201d As the panel laughs, Thomas responds, \u201cI\u2019m not going to touch it.\u201d<\/em> 2.\u00a0 Network TV audiences growing older.<\/strong> From Media Life Magazine<\/a>: We’re still two months away from the start of the new TV season, but one thing seems inevitable this fall: The broadcast networks will once again see their median ages rise. This longtime trend has been exacerbated by the fact that more and more young people are watching their broadcast shows via alternatives means, such as on-demand or online video, rather than on traditional television. Meanwhile their parents continue to age, which has sent median ages for the networks soaring, according to a new report from Horizon Media that wraps up the 2010-’11 broadcast season.<\/em> 3. Steven Spielberg brings Tintin<\/em> to big screen.<\/strong> The classic Belgian comic book character<\/a> (a sort of kid Indiana Jones<\/em>) hits theaters in 3-D on December 23rd.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YEj3UsAl0K8<\/p>\n 4. Former Fox News host Glenn Beck heads west.<\/strong> From USA Today<\/a>: (H)e’s loading up the truck and relocating his family to Dallas, where his media company is building a new television and radio studio, reports AP.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>Comment:<\/strong> Fox News, of course, is owned by News Corporation which also owned News of the World.\u00a0 No matter how you slice it, a journalistic enterprise that purports to be about even-handed journalism should not have ignored this story.\u00a0 In fact, by covering it (which the network did to at least some degree earlier in the week) the network actually adds to its credibility. <\/em>By attempting to sweep it under the rug, particularly on a show like News Watch<\/em>, the network forfeits valuable cred and gives fuel to its harshest critics. Bad call.<\/p>\n
\nComment:<\/strong> Of course, the median age of America is rising too.<\/p>\n