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John Stossel -- arguably the
highest-profile libertarian journalist
in the world -- joined Fox News Channel (FNC)
and Fox Business Network (FBN),
effective October 2009, to begin a weekly
show that may well be the most
consistent, intelligent, ongoing
presentation of libertarian views in
television history.
Stossel said Fox offered him the
opportunity to air his
uncompromising libertarian viewpoint
much more often than he was able to
do at ABC.
"I want to dig into the meaning of
the words 'liberty' and 'limited
government,'" Stossel wrote in his blog. "ABC
enabled me to do some of that, but
Fox offers me more airtime and a new
challenge.
Fox describes Stossel's show as featuring
"in-depth reports and discussions
surrounding libertarian issues in
the United States and abroad. Each
week Stossel will be joined by
experts to explore consumer-focused
topics such as free-market
economies, civil liberties, the
business of health care, social
security, and free trade."
Stossel
gained national fame through the
ABC news program "20/20". He began
there in 1981 and became a co-anchor
in 2003. He has received 19 Emmy
awards and has been honored five
times for excellence in consumer
reporting by the National Press
Club.
Along the way, Stossel became
increasingly skeptical of
government. Eventually he became a
full-fledged libertarian, and his
libertarian views became a hallmark
of his "20/20" reporting.
As
20/20 co-host , when he uttered his signature catch-phrase
-- "Give me a break!" -- there's a good chance
he's talking about some government program, regulation, or policy.
And he takes libertarian positions on just about every issue. Some examples:
• On why government doesn't work: "Government
almost never polices itself. When government agencies lose money,
or fail at their missions, they ask Congress for more money. They
usually get it, citing their failure to achieve their goals as proof
that they need more funds." (Chicago Sun Times, February
15, 2004)
• On the War on Drugs: "It's not like
the drug laws are keeping the stuff out of the country. We can't
even keep it out of prisons. How do we think we're keeping it out
of the country?" (Independent Institute, January 30, 2004)
• On the proper role of government: "We
need government to do a few things like keep the peace, enforce
contracts, create pollution laws. But government can never do anything
as well as the private sector, so anything the market can provide
effectively the government should stay out." (WashingtonPost.com,
April 9, 2004)
• On freedom versus safety: "Isn't leaving
us a choice what America's supposed to be about? Patrick Henry didn't
say, 'Give me absolute safety or give me death.' It's supposed
to be about freedom." (Independent Institute, January
30, 2004)
• On how his politics influence his reporting:
"I look at the world with the awareness of the benefits of
limited government and individual freedom in the back of my mind."
(WashingtonPost.com, April 9, 2004)
Stossel's increasing willingness to promote his pro-liberty beliefs
-- in speeches and on his TV specials -- has won him praise from the
libertarian movement. Anthony Gregor, writing on LewRockwell.com (January
11, 2005) described Stossel as a "heroic rogue... a media maverick
and proponent of freedom in an otherwise statist, conformist mass
media." The Republican Liberty Caucus hailed him for his "concise
libertarian messages." And investment analyst Mark Skousen said
Stossel is "a true libertarian hero."
But Stossel's pro-liberty viewpoint has won him few friends among
the elite. In fact, Ralph Nader called Stossel "the most dishonest
journalist I've ever encountered." Stossel takes such comments
in stride. In Give Me a Break, he wryly wrote: "I was
once a heroic consumer reporter. Now I'm a threat to journalism...
I did a terrible thing. Instead of just applying my skepticism to
business, I applied it to government."
Stossel did get his start in TV journalism as a pro-consumer muckraker.
As consumer editor for WCBS-TV in New York City -- and later on ABC's
Good Morning America -- he did exposés on the "dangers"
of exploding coffee pots, Alar-tainted apples, and secondhand smoke.
However, Stossel said, "The more reporting I did, the more it
dawned on me that government is often the problem rather than the
solution. Free markets, not coercive governments, are the consumer's
best friend." (Chicago Sun Times, February 15, 2004)
When Stossel joined the 20/20 team in 1981 -- first as a
correspondent, later as co-anchor -- he brought his libertarian perspective
with him. In his popular "Give me A Break!" segments, he
took a sardonic look at everything from corporate welfare to $300,000
government-funded outhouses. In 1994, Stossel began doing a series
of libertarian-themed prime-time specials for ABC, including Are
We Scaring Ourselves To Death? (about American's exaggerated
fears); Junk Science: What You Know That May Not Be So (about
misleading scientific claims); and Sex, Drugs, and Consenting
Adults (about victimless crimes).
Stossel's 2004 book, Give Me a Break... How I Exposed Hucksters,
Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media,
continued his libertarian streak. Part autobiography, part discussion
of the major media's anti-capitalism mindset, and part reiteration
of his belief that free minds and free markets "make good things
happen," it reached #3 on the New York Times bestseller
list. Stossel told the Washington Times (May 5, 2004) that
he wrote Give Me a Break because "I want people to learn
that freedom works, that limited government works... Let's celebrate
it rather than sneering at it the way intellectual elites of America
do."
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