Non-dry by post.
What is the problem with a left-leaning news network? Aside from being a bit redundant given how much of internet new media already leans left, I don't see how having a left-leaning bias innately warrants a comparison to Fox News.
Ultimately, I think the news should report facts. Facts aren't always politically neutral however.
Basically, I think the problem with Fox News is kind of displayed by this election. Fox News has three major traits that cause problems for the GOP:
* They have no incentive to present facts that might challenge their viewers and make them change the channel. So lots of information that you and I might take for granted is just not shown to anybody who only watches Fox News. Taken to its extreme, this leads to the epistemic closure problem we see now, where lots of Republicans are genuinely convinced that Obamacare has hurt healthcare, reduced the number of Americans with coverage, etc., because the actual stats aren't visible on their chosen news source.
* Similarly to the above, they have a strong incentive to tell their viewers that all other news sources are deceptive, because it keeps them watching Fox (and it keeps them from worrying that Fox might be deceptive). So it leads not just to trusting Fox but distrusting all other information sources.
* Ultimately, they have no particular investment in any policy outcomes. Not even GOP policy outcomes! Fox generally does better when Democrats win than it does when Republicans win. So although they act as somewhat of a propaganda apparatus for the Republicans, when it comes to actually winning elections and getting their policies enacted, Fox is better off when the GOP fails. As it just did by nominating Donald Trump.
So basically when somebody says a "partisan news source" this is what I hear. I'm already worried about the development of epistemic closure -- to pick one example, it really concerns me to keep seeing RedState, Blaze, Washington Times, etc. articles posted by Sanders supporters*, because it suggests that they've failed to curate their own information feeds and have not identified that these are not just unreliable sources, but sources that hate their own cause! So I definitely don't want to see that continue to expand, because not only does it make us dumber and less data-focused, it actually makes it harder for us to win elections.
* And yes, the one time I saw it in PoliGAF from adam I did give him a licking.**
** Never mind.