Fox damages all news outlets’ credibility
Like many U.S. institutions, the media has faced verbal attacks in recent years. When a president who tells some 30,000 documented lies during four years in office can gain traction by saying the press is “the enemy of the people,” there is some serious disconnect between large segments of the American people.
But even persistent debates and deeply held beliefs about the role of the media could not skew revelations last week about Fox News, the most popular cable news network. Filings in a lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems demonstrated that Fox personalities — among the most powerful in the industry — were telling viewers one thing about former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud while privately mocking those claims.
As the network persistently interviewed Trump acolytes such as Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, allowing them to spread lies about election fraud, host Tucker Carlson would text to colleague Laura Ingraham:
“Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane.” To which Ingraham responded: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy.” Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch also chimed in about Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen: “really crazy stuff.”
The court filing includes many such exchanges, making clear that Fox hosts blatantly and knowingly lied to the American people — all in the name of maintaining their ratings.
It is an appalling affront to anybody who understands and cares about the integrity of the news business. Yet it is not surprising. Cable news of all stripes has gradually but indisputably morphed from news to entertainment and opinion, blurring those lines while pandering to their viewers rather than informing them.
In the process, those networks have damaged the credibility of all news outlets. The public often lazily lumps together all “media,” wrongly equating global organizations with small, locally owned newspapers.
One important difference between cable news and many local newspapers is that the employees — and often the owners — of local newspapers shop at the same stores and drive the same streets and dine at the same restaurants as their readers. There is a vested interest in having a thriving, vibrant, safe community.
It also is important for readers to understand the differences between news pages and the Editorial Page. By definition, the Editorial Page is opinion — it says so right at the top of the page. That still requires fair, factual and thoughtful reporting; but, in the end, editorials reflect the conclusions of the Editorial Board. Staff reporters, on the other hand, strive to stick to the facts in news articles.
This dichotomy is one of the basics of journalism — basics that have been distorted by cable news to the detriment of all media.
Revelations that Fox News anchors have been lying to their viewers were not unexpected for discerning news consumers. The question now is why those viewers put up with it.