In the old days, before news divisions were folded into the entertainment divisions at the networks, journalists were discouraged from even voting to maintain their impartiality. Few did. Some news organizations also forbid journalists exercising First Amendment rights, like participating in political rallies and marches. If you wanted the job, you weren't to cast aspersions on the news organization's reputation that you were working for by appearing the least bit biased.
That said, what happens at Fox (or CNN for that matter) has nothing to do with this, IMHO. Cable channel news has contaminated the ethical guidelines for news organizations. For half the day, MSNBC is a news aggregator, with on camera readers. I'd hardly call any of them journalists, with the exception of Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory -- Before anyone jumps on me, I'm not saying GOOD journalists, just that they are journalists.
The other half of the day, MSNBC is in the opinion business, and the 'sensationalist tabloid'-business with their s3x offender stings and 'Spend your weekend with us in a maximum security prison'-programs.
Neither Rachel, nor Keith, nor Ed Schultz, nor Lawrence O'Donnell, are journalists. They're on-air personalities, in the same category of Rush Limbaugh. They have a point of view and it's not unbiased. They would admit to that. They're in the entertainment business, making the events of the day entertaining.
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