While I've been mostly watching FOX's coverage of the war (since whenever I turn on the others, they are usually only showing anti-war protests somewhere), I have to admit that I find parts of FOX's presentation a bit grating--particularly the breathless, "we have a huge breaking story!" tone of Shepard Smith no matter how mundane the news he's about to report. I swore that if I heard him say "You are loooooking liiiive..." one more time, I would throw a brick through the television.

That having been said, I've been greatly enjoying the quirky, idiosyncratic interplay between Smith (in the studio) and correspondent Rick Leventhal, who is embedded with a Marine unit deep in Iraq. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is an undercurrent of one-upsmanship, veiled inside jokes, and sarcasm that should drive me nuts but has actually been quite appealing to me. You never know whether one is going to make the other laugh at him or yell at him. For some reason, I have a feeling that it conveys a more accurate view of the mood on the battlefield than all the embedded Ted Baxters combined. Which has been the real strength of FOX's overall coverage--they've put us more on the battlefield with our actual, human, American soldiers than everyone else.