Guest Blog By:  HEATHER DIETRICK

In an era where Fox News seems to have embraced the irony of its slogan, it appears as if the other news organizations are following suit, albeit in a more surreptitious way.  Take for instance this week's "Room for Debate" post on the New York Times' website:  http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/obama-beyond-the-beltway/.  The segment's tag line suggests that it will feature competing viewpoints from ideologically opposing sides.  To the contrary, this week's post features five congruous opinions on Obama's trip around the country to stump for his struggling stimulus plan.  In so many words, all five commentators give three cheers for the trip, with no criticism of his running back to the fan club after the big boys in Washington wouldn't play nice.  In a supposed nod to the conservative viewpoint, the New York Times features the opinion of Dan Shnur, McCain's communications director for the 2000 campaign, who happens to cross party lines to sing the praises of Obama's stumping.

With Hannity filling the screen sans Colmes these days and Bill Kristol off to the Washington Post, our major news media are becoming increasingly polarized.  I just hope that the viewers are alert to the allegiances of their news sources and are willing and able to dig beneath the bias to form their own opinions.

If I were David Brooks, I'd be sending my resume to the Wall Street Journal, since this looks like the wave of the future.