Roger Ailes on FNC's 'Obligation' to Not Derail Obama Transition

News Corporation executive Roger Ailes has told Los Angeles Times reporter Matea Gold that he has advised employees of the Fox News Channel that "all presidents deserve time to get their team on the ground and get organized" and that "we have some obligation in a new presidency not to attempt to destabilize it."

Via TVNewser (paragraph breaks removed):

Ailes responded to the report in the New York Daily News that he instructed FNC to tone down attacks on President-elect Barack Obama. He denied giving specific orders, but said he told staffers "all presidents deserve time to get their team on the ground and get organized." "We have some obligation in a new presidency not to attempt to destabilize it," he said. As for whether the big stars will heed the advice, he tells Gold: "Who knows? Most of them do whatever the hell they want."

What say you, reader? Is Ailes right to urge his staffers to not go full throttle at the Obama transition? Does his advice adhere to the "fair and balanced" motto or risk sending a pro-Obama message? If it is "fair and balanced," is that good journalism or a poor business model given the outright left-wing boosterism other networks, particularly MSNBC, have shown team Obama?