Jeff Pelline posted an interesting item on his blog yesterday about a mildly scatological but spirited defense of the indefensible Fox News by a couple of local bloggers. Jeff calls their comments “entertainment, masquerading as commentary” (aka “infotainment”), which of course precisely describes Fox News itself.

The White House for the last few days has been calling attention to the obvious, that Fox News is not really a news organization. Others have rightly termed Fox, run by former Reagan and Bush media consultant Roger Ailes, an arm of the Republican Party.

I’m delighted to see the Obama administration refer to Fox News as an opinion organization, a proposition which — outside the right-wing mental Beltway — is not especially controversial. The following short (8+ min) video features data from the now famous PIPA (Program on International Policy Attitudes) poll, “Misperceptions, the Media and the Iraq War.”

Here’s a little table from that study, to give you a sample of its content: