Our post-truth society was in motion before Trump’s arrival
Andy Griffith’s first cinematic role in 1957 was nothing like the wise and friendly “Sheriff Andy Taylor” he created several years later for his eponymous TV show. “Lonesome Rhodes” was a drunken vagabond moving from jail to jail in Elia Kazan’s “A Face in the Crowd.” A serendipitous appearance on an Arkansas radio show began his quick ascent to national popularity, first as an entertainer and later as a political influencer.
A prototypical populist,
Rhodes played to the emotions of everyday Americans, convincing them that his folksy, unrefined perspective was exactly what they needed to free themselves from an elitist political system. What these everyday Americans did not know was that behind the aw-shucks veneer was a mean-spirited man using his popularity for personal gain.
It was only natural that the public immediately turned on him when a “hot mic” revealed his dripping disdain for average Americans, calling them “guinea pigs” and “miserable slobs.”
The microphone was secretly opened during his TV show by his original producer Marcia Jeffries, played by Patricia Neal, who could no longer stave off the guilt she carried after enabling an egomaniac to become so powerful.
That was then. Fox News is now. Times have changed.
Facing a $1.6 million defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, Fox recently settled out of court for $787.5 million. Even as the evidence against Fox was voluminous and compelling, Dominion faced an uphill battle in court due to Fox’s “public figure” status, which creates a higher bar for defamation suits. Thus, the out-of-court settlement was not so surprising.
What was surprising — at least upon first glance — was
Fox News’ internal communications that highlighted how the network’s on-air support of Donald Trump’s debunked “Big Lie” about the “stolen election” was in direct opposition to its hosts’ actual beliefs.
“Multiple staffers texted and emailed in disbelief as Trump latched on to increasingly tenuous claims of being robbed by voter fraud,” reported PBS News Hour. “Fox’s Sean Hannity said in a deposition that he did not believe the fraud claims ‘for one second’ but wanted to give accusers the chance to produce evidence.”
Former Fox ratings champion Tucker Carlson was even more candid: “I hate (Trump) passionately … What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.” Right on cue, Carlson went on the air and reinforced Trump’s conspiracy theory.
One might think that these revelations regarding Fox’s blatantly disingenuous reporting would cause extensive damage to the news network’s reputation. After all, that’s exactly what happened after Lonesome Rhode’s “big reveal.”
Don’t count on it. Even if Carlson is no longer at Fox, in these post-factual, polarized times when news consumers can pick and choose news they like rather than be offered news they need, Fox News is already doubling down.
“We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems,” the network said in a statement. “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”
Set aside the idea that Fox is painting Dominion as the liar in a dispute where the preponderance of evidence clearly pins that label on Fox. The use of the phrase “highest journalistic standards” to characterize its hypocritical news practices is downright laughable, a clear example that Poe’s Law now rules the day; that is, the line between sincerity and parody is essentially gone.
No matter how outlandish, this scenario was not unpredictable. Our post-truth society was already in motion before Trump entered the political sphere, but he has certainly cemented it in place. From his own “hot mic” moment when he explained how he enjoyed grabbing women by the genitals to his more than 30,000 false or misleading claims while president, the man’s popularity has not wavered. We have entered a time when politicians — and now news networks — feel no shame and offer no apologies because, quite frankly, they don’t have to.
As for Lonesome Rhodes, he should attempt a comeback. It took a few decades, but the world is now a place where lowdown, self-serving people and corporations are the de facto winners — tailor-made for “A Face in the Crowd.”