Fox News was one of the major disseminators of the big lie "Trump won the 2020 Presidential election." Most corporate-owned media journalists did not suggest Fox had violated its first amendment rights by yelling fire in a crowded theater. Instead, they treated Fox as though exercising it were journalistic prerogatives. Then, evidence emerged in two defamation lawsuits that Fox had violated those rights. When the Obama Administration attempted to boycott Fox because it was a propaganda outlet. CNN anchor Jake Tapper (then at ABC) expressed befuddlement. He asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, "is the White House saying that thousands of individuals who work for …[Fox]… do not work for a 'news organization'?" Now many corporate media journalists hope that the hefty damages that Fox may have to pay in the defamation suits will cause Fox to forsake its unethical (and possibly illegal) behavior. This hope, however, ignores the rationale for the existence of Fox: providing a conduit for Republican Party propaganda.
Donald Trump, in part, to justify his attempted seizure of the U.S. government, began spreading the big lie that Joe Biden stole the 2020 Presidential election from him. Fox News was one of the primary conduits of this lie about Trump's loss. Trump, and several of his sycophants, concocted a story of how the steal occurred. They claimed that two widely used voting machine manufacturers, Dominion and Smartmatic, had switched votes from Trump to Biden. Predictably the viability of both companies was damaged, and they sued Fox. During the discovery part of the case, the lawyers for Dominion hit paydirt. Fox personnel ignored Stringer Bell's warning to his crew in The Wire not to take notes of a criminal conspiracy. Fox personnel left messages galore.
Dominion lawyers discovered emails between Fox personnel contradicting their on-air claims that the election was stolen from Trump. Despite providing platforms for Trump sycophants like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell to promote the big lie, they ridiculed these same supporters as "complete nuts" and "liars." They wrote that promoters of "dangerously insane conspiracy theories" "delegitimized Biden." Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson exchanged texts expressing their concern that Fox was losing its audience and thus money to its competitors, like Newsmax. Carlson states, "our viewers are good people, and they believe it." Fox personnel's testimony shows that they intentionally lied to their audience about the big lie. But Fox personnel like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham also lied about the COVID vaccine during the height of the pandemic, dissuading their viewers from being vaccinated. Fox argues that it has the right to express its opinions. But in the big lie and the COVID lie, the "opinions" expressed were directly based on and contradicted by [scientific] facts.
Nonetheless, the corporate-owned media supported and defended Fox because it expressed opinions until the (redacted) Dominion deposition became public. That acknowledgment did not come with a repeal of Fox's standing in the corporate media. Instead, some members of the corporate media hope that a significant defamation award will hold Fox to account for spreading lies and thus lead to its reformation. (Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion, and Smartmatic is asking for $2.7 billion.) But the corporate media's hope for a change ignores at least two critical factors. First, while a combined award of $4.3 billion is about 19 percent of Fox's total value, it is unclear whether the courts will award what the companies are asking for, although it may open the floodgates. Of course, this case may open the floodgates for additional defamation lawsuits. Second, Fox News is not a news or media company. Since its inception, it has been a platform for Republican propaganda.
Two years into the Nixon Administration, Roger Ailes proposed the forerunner of Fox News. This news operation aimed to deliver pro-Nixon news to local television stations. Although the Nixon Administration declined Ailes' proposal, Ailes continued to pursue his idea for a process that would inject a right-wing slant into the news. Ailes learned that such an operation must be camouflaged to avoid embarrassing Republicans because the White House was directing the process. Ailes' idea for a right-wing platform would not come to fruition until 1996 when he teamed up with Rudolph Murdock to create the current Fox News.
Murdock let Ailes run Fox News, and Ailes did it brilliantly. Ailes used television to fill a void identified by Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Ailes offered viewers what Limbaugh had offered his listeners: an echo chamber that reflected their own beliefs and fears. This formula was a success. As a result, Ailes finally achieved the political goal he developed in 1972: a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party. Ailes' formula was so successful that Fox personnel could seamlessly move back and forth between Fox and the Trump Administration. Some analysts attribute the growth of Ailes' brand of conservativism to Fox. According to one study, Fox viewing shifted the Presidential vote by three percent. Other analysts, however, believe that Fox is part of a feedback loop in which Fox amplified the pre-existing beliefs of voters. In turn, the increasingly extreme opinions of Fox viewers drove Fox to present ever-increasing radical content.
A better portrayal of the relationship between Fox and other media, right-wing politicians and grifters, and the Republican base flow into each other where their energy is converted into an increasingly violent whirlpool. These streams and the others that form the Republican Party, such as Christian evangelicals, the establishment, and white supremacists, contribute to the party's growing radicalism. Fox believed they had to join the voices lying about an election Trump lost to avoid being overwhelmed and swept away.
The extent and scope of Fox's lies can no longer be denied. The Dominion case depositions eliminate any doubt that it is a propaganda outlet. It is not and never was a news organization. Fox started as a propaganda outlet and has become more of one over time. Benjamin Franklin observed that "many foxes grow gray, but few grow good." The question is, will the courts and the public run Fox to ground?
Donald Trump, in part, to justify his attempted seizure of the U.S. government, began spreading the big lie that Joe Biden stole the 2020 Presidential election from him. Fox News was one of the primary conduits of this lie about Trump's loss. Trump, and several of his sycophants, concocted a story of how the steal occurred. They claimed that two widely used voting machine manufacturers, Dominion and Smartmatic, had switched votes from Trump to Biden. Predictably the viability of both companies was damaged, and they sued Fox. During the discovery part of the case, the lawyers for Dominion hit paydirt. Fox personnel ignored Stringer Bell's warning to his crew in The Wire not to take notes of a criminal conspiracy. Fox personnel left messages galore.
Dominion lawyers discovered emails between Fox personnel contradicting their on-air claims that the election was stolen from Trump. Despite providing platforms for Trump sycophants like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell to promote the big lie, they ridiculed these same supporters as "complete nuts" and "liars." They wrote that promoters of "dangerously insane conspiracy theories" "delegitimized Biden." Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson exchanged texts expressing their concern that Fox was losing its audience and thus money to its competitors, like Newsmax. Carlson states, "our viewers are good people, and they believe it." Fox personnel's testimony shows that they intentionally lied to their audience about the big lie. But Fox personnel like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham also lied about the COVID vaccine during the height of the pandemic, dissuading their viewers from being vaccinated. Fox argues that it has the right to express its opinions. But in the big lie and the COVID lie, the "opinions" expressed were directly based on and contradicted by [scientific] facts.
Nonetheless, the corporate-owned media supported and defended Fox because it expressed opinions until the (redacted) Dominion deposition became public. That acknowledgment did not come with a repeal of Fox's standing in the corporate media. Instead, some members of the corporate media hope that a significant defamation award will hold Fox to account for spreading lies and thus lead to its reformation. (Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion, and Smartmatic is asking for $2.7 billion.) But the corporate media's hope for a change ignores at least two critical factors. First, while a combined award of $4.3 billion is about 19 percent of Fox's total value, it is unclear whether the courts will award what the companies are asking for, although it may open the floodgates. Of course, this case may open the floodgates for additional defamation lawsuits. Second, Fox News is not a news or media company. Since its inception, it has been a platform for Republican propaganda.
Two years into the Nixon Administration, Roger Ailes proposed the forerunner of Fox News. This news operation aimed to deliver pro-Nixon news to local television stations. Although the Nixon Administration declined Ailes' proposal, Ailes continued to pursue his idea for a process that would inject a right-wing slant into the news. Ailes learned that such an operation must be camouflaged to avoid embarrassing Republicans because the White House was directing the process. Ailes' idea for a right-wing platform would not come to fruition until 1996 when he teamed up with Rudolph Murdock to create the current Fox News.
Murdock let Ailes run Fox News, and Ailes did it brilliantly. Ailes used television to fill a void identified by Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Ailes offered viewers what Limbaugh had offered his listeners: an echo chamber that reflected their own beliefs and fears. This formula was a success. As a result, Ailes finally achieved the political goal he developed in 1972: a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party. Ailes' formula was so successful that Fox personnel could seamlessly move back and forth between Fox and the Trump Administration. Some analysts attribute the growth of Ailes' brand of conservativism to Fox. According to one study, Fox viewing shifted the Presidential vote by three percent. Other analysts, however, believe that Fox is part of a feedback loop in which Fox amplified the pre-existing beliefs of voters. In turn, the increasingly extreme opinions of Fox viewers drove Fox to present ever-increasing radical content.
A better portrayal of the relationship between Fox and other media, right-wing politicians and grifters, and the Republican base flow into each other where their energy is converted into an increasingly violent whirlpool. These streams and the others that form the Republican Party, such as Christian evangelicals, the establishment, and white supremacists, contribute to the party's growing radicalism. Fox believed they had to join the voices lying about an election Trump lost to avoid being overwhelmed and swept away.
The extent and scope of Fox's lies can no longer be denied. The Dominion case depositions eliminate any doubt that it is a propaganda outlet. It is not and never was a news organization. Fox started as a propaganda outlet and has become more of one over time. Benjamin Franklin observed that "many foxes grow gray, but few grow good." The question is, will the courts and the public run Fox to ground?