'Fair and balanced' rejection

The Federal Trade Commission wasted no time in deciding not to investigate a complaint over Fox News' use of the slogan "fair and balanced."

Left-wing activist group MoveOn complained Monday that the slogan amounted to "deceptive practices in the advertising and marketing of cable television programming," charging that the news organization was neither fair nor balanced.

Acting in what can only be described as Internet speed, the FTC rejected the request within hours.

In a statement, FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said he knew of no instance in which his agency had weighed in on what slogan a news organization should use.

"There is no way to evaluate this petition without evaluating the content of the news at issue," Muris said. That is a task the First Amendment leaves to the American people, not a government agency.