My only theory about this over the years that gave some credit to these defenses was that none of these people ever watched Fox. Some of them worked with actual Fox reporters covering the White House, etc., and they seemed like reasonably "normal" reporters (and in some cases were), so they thought Fox was just that plus prime time opinionating, and also, too, so is MSNBC, so BOTH SIDES.
People had strong opinions about something they knew nothing about and ignored experts who did. Funny how common that is.
...related:
Going to find out what kind of org Fox is today. No serious news org would allow someone this conflicted to cover this story https://t.co/8KX1JLlzpx
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) April 17, 2018
Fox will do nothing about Hannity and Todd will continue to treat them as a "serious new org" because those are the rules.