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Fox News Watch is proving to be one of the most disappointing programs airing on the Fox News Channel. Purporting to be media critics, the show's panelists make accusations about the media that are themselves in dire need of correction. In a show during the presidential campaign, a panelist and "media writer" named Neal Gabler astonished the audience by claiming that a "secret email" proved that a New York Times reporter was actually biased against John Kerry. Despite repeated requests to provide the explosive evidence, he refused to do so. Host Eric Burns also refused to respond to several requests for comment about the matter. But the February 26 edition of the program showed Gabler, Burns and other panelists going even further off the deep end, giving viewers a grossly distorted view of the affair that has been labeled "Gannongate." If the past is any guide, don't count on Burns & Company to correct the record in this case.

The segment concerned the conservative journalist, Jeff Gannon, who got into White House briefings and press conferences, and whose real name is James Guckert. He was forced to resign from Talon News, an on-line conservative-backed news operation, when his personal life came under scrutiny and he was linked to homosexual activity. The far left, which claims to respect peoples' privacy, just won't let go of this story.

Fox News Watch panelist and columnist Jim Pinkerton, who is fairly conservative on most issues, turned in the worst performance on the February 26 show, insisting that Gannon had gained access to the White House under a false name and that this constituted a major security threat that requires an investigation. This is precisely what liberal Democrats are demanding.

Pinkerton, who worked under two Republican presidents, said, "I worked in the White House for 6 years. I can tell you that clearing somebody in under a false name with the Secret Service takes an incredible amount of intervention from somebody high up in the White House to do that." Host Eric Burns asked, "So somebody was complicit?" Pinkerton replied, "Yes."

Yet Pinkerton offered no evidence for this sensational charge-and there is none. Those concerned-Gannon, his former employer, and White House officials-all say that he got into the White House under his real name, and no evidence to the contrary has been produced. Gannon got a daily press pass in the same way that Ralph Nader associate Russell Mokhiber has been getting access to White House briefings and asking questions about such off-beat matters as industrial hemp and the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. AIM broke the story back on February 11 about Mokhiber's access to the White House, which he advertises on an obscure far-left website. In contrast to Gannon, who went through a journalism training program at the Leadership Institute, Mokhiber has never taken a journalism class.

To his credit, Pinkerton brought up the Mokhiber case, saying that the media never issued a protest about his bizarre line of questioning and that the almost exclusive focus on Gannon proves a double standard. Pinkerton neglected to mention that AIM had brought this case to the attention of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and others who have commented or written about it.

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