Beware! T.V. viewers might be "Outfoxed" during tonight's debate

With images of Richard Nixon looking sweaty and uncomfortable and George H. W. Bush glancing at his watch, we've been reminded ad nauseam over the past several days that one unfortunate camera shot during a presidential debate can swing an election. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, I hope we can all agree that the camera operators filming tonight's presidential debate have a duty to treat both candidates fairly. Unfortunately, this article from Reuters about the networks' plan to disregard the Orwellian ground rules laid out by the Bush and Kerry campaigns includes the following:

Fox News Channel, whose turn it is under a rotation system to operate the "pool" cameras for all the networks in the first debate on Thursday in Coral Gables, Florida, said it would follow its own editorial judgment in operating its cameras.

In the recently-released documentary "Outfoxed," a litany of former Fox News reporters and producers explain that Rupert Murdoch enforces strict editorial rules at every level of the Fox News organization, requiring Republicans to be presented in the best possible light and Democrats to be presented in the worst possible light. With Fox controlling the "pool" cameras, every network in America will be subject to Fox's editorial judgment. I urge you to keep that in mind as you watch tonight's debate and the post-debate coverage over the coming days. This is likely to be the most watched of the three debates, so please don't let Rupert Murdoch decide this election!