Bret Baier Profile…

NPR’s David Folkenflik profiles FNC’s Bret Baier…

I reviewed six months worth of Baier’s panels, and same mix typically prevailed: two clear-cut conservatives and one other analyst. That other person was sometimes a Democrat or liberal, say, former Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers. But usually it was a journalist from a nonideological news outlet, such as the Hill, Politico, the Washington Post or NPR. (Mara Liasson is a news analyst for Fox.)

As I told Baier, that would seem both to under-represent the left and also to cast reporters as though they’re surrogate liberals.

“I understand your point,” Baier said. “I think numerous people can make the case what the administration is trying to do (or) trying to say. That provides a perspective. Not advocating for that position but analyzing it.”

Baier and his boss, Clemente, also say they open to tinkering with the format of the panels.

McIntyre, the former CNN reporter, says Baier has prospered in his two years as an anchor.

“He’s cracked the code,” McIntyre says. “He’s figured out what it is he needs to do with the employer he works for, and I think he’s also trying to uphold his personal standards. And I think he does that pretty well.”