When Bret Baier took over Fox News' Special Report from Brit Hume in 2009, he told the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz that “Fox has a conservative reputation 'because of our opinion shows,' but that 'Special Report' and Shepard Smith's 7 p.m. newscast feature 'a straight-down-the-middle presentation.'” Similarly, Baier told the Fresno Bee that his show is “about being true to our motto which is 'being fair and balanced.'”
“Straight-down-the-middle” and “fair and balanced” certainly don't apply to the guest make-up of Special Report's “all-star” panel. A review of the last three months of programming (April 12 to July 12, 66 editions) shows that 67.5% of Baier's panel guests are conservative. Just 10% are progressive: Juan Williams (see coding explanations here), who made 19 appearances, and Kirsten Powers, who appeared once. The rest, 22.5%, comprise neutral Washington reporters and editors.
The Weekly Standard is prominently represented among the “all-stars.” 65.5% of all appearances are composed of people (Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes, Bill Kristol, Tucker Carlson and Fred Barnes) who appear on the masthead for the conservative publication.
Last October, the Los Angeles Times' James Rainey noted that Special Report frequently pits two conservatives against a third panelist that's less ideological, and that he “asked a Fox spokeswoman how this represented balance, and she said I seemed so set in my disapproval that it wasn't worth offering a rebuttal.” Howard Kurtz noted on Monday that another “fair and balanced” Fox News broadcast, America's Newsroom, has bookings that “tilt markedly to the right.”
Special Report panelists
Conservatives appearances: 135 (67.5%)
Neutral reporter appearances: 45 (22.5%)
Progressives appearances: 20 (10%)
(Conservative) Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post columnist and Weekly Standard contributing editor: 62 appearances
(Conservative) Steve Hayes, Weekly Standard senior writer: 32 appearances
(Progressive) Juan Williams, NPR analyst: 19 appearances
(Conservative) Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard editor: 16 appearances
(Neutral reporter) Mara Liasson, NPR political correspondent: 15 appearances
(Neutral reporter) Erin Billings, Roll Call associate editor: 15 appearances
(Neutral reporter) A.B. Stoddard, The Hill associate editor: 13 appearances
(Conservative) Tucker Carlson, Daily Caller founder and Weekly Standard contributing editor: 11 appearances
(Conservative) Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard executive editor: 10 appearances
(Conservative) Mort Kondracke, Roll Call executive editor: 3 appearances
(Neutral reporter) Nina Easton, Fortune Washington bureau chief: 2 appearances
(Progressive) Kirsten Powers, former Clinton administration official: 1 appearance
(Conservative) Rich Lowry, National Review editor: 1 appearance
“All-star” panel guests by date, retrieved from the Nexis database:
April 12: Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, Mara Liasson
April 13: Steve Hayes, A.B. Stoddard, Charles Krauthammer
April 14: Tucker Carlson, Juan Williams, Charles Krauthammer
April 15: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Steve Hayes
April 16: A.B. Stoddard, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer
April 19: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol
April 20: A.B. Stoddard, Fred Barnes, Charles Krauthammer
April 21: Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, Nina Easton
April 22: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Steve Hayes
April 23: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Tucker Carlson, Steve Hayes
April 26: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Stephen Hayes
April 27: A.B. Stoddard, Charles Krauthammer, Tucker Carlson
April 28: Charles Krauthammer, A.B. Stoddard, Steve Hayes
April 29: Mort Kondracke, Nina Easton, Bill Kristol
April 30: Charles Krauthammer, Erin Billings, Steve Hayes
May 3: A.B. Stoddard, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer
May 4: Juan Williams, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer
May 5: Bill Kristol, Erin Billings, Charles Krauthammer
May 6: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Steve Hayes
May 7: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Steve Hayes
May 10: Mara Liasson, Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes
May 11: Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams
May 12: Charles Krauthammer, Erin Billings, Steve Hayes
May 13: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Steve Hayes
May 14: Mort Kondracke, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer
May 17: Tucker Carlson, Mara Liasson, Charles Krauthammer
May 18: A.B. Stoddard, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer
May 19: Erin Billings, Fred Barnes, Charles Krauthammer
May 20: Bill Kristol, Mara Liasson, Charles Krauthammer
May 21: Charles Krauthammer, Erin Billings, Steve Hayes
May 24: Mara Liasson, Charles Krauthammer, Tucker Carlson
May 25: Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes, Juan Williams
May 26: Erin Billings, Tucker Carlson, Charles Krauthammer
May 27: Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes, Erin Billings
May 28: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Stephen Hayes
May 31: A.B. Stoddard, Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer
June 1: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Tucker Carlson
June 2: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol
June 3: Erin Billings, Tucker Carlson, Charles Krauthammer
June 4: Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, Juan Williams
June 7: Bill Kristol, Mort Kondracke, Charles Krauthammer
June 8: Rich Lowry, A.B. Stoddard, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams
June 9: Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, Erin Billings
June 10: Fred Barnes, Mara Liasson, Charles Krauthammer.
June 11: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Steve Hayes
June 14: Mara Liasson, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer
June 15: Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, Juan Williams
June 16: Erin Billings, Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes
June 17: Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams
June 18: Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes, Juan Williams
June 21: Charles Krauthammer, A.B. Stoddard, Tucker Carlson
June 22: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Steve Hayes
June 23: Charles Krauthammer, Erin Billings, Steve Hayes
June 24: A.B. Stoddard, Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes
June 25: Bill Kristol, Erin Billings, Charles Krauthammer
June 28: Erin Billings, Fred Barnes, Tucker Carlson
June 29: Tucker Carlson, Mara Liasson, Fred Barnes
June 30: Charles Krauthammer, Erin Billings, Steve Hayes
July 1: Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams
July 2: A.B. Stoddard, Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes
July 5: Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams, Steve Hayes
July 6: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol
July 7: Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes, Kirsten Powers
July 8: Steve Hayes, A.B. Stoddard, Charles Krauthammer
July 9: Erin Billings, Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol
July 12: Bill Kristol, Mara Liasson, Charles Krauthammer