Fox ”News”
Did you know you’re likely funding the right-wing media machine?
If voter sentiment were truly tied to the state of the American economy, President Joe Biden would be lapping Donald Trump. After all, the stock market is soaring, unemployment is historically low, prices are coming down, and it looks like gas prices will soon follow.
Trump predicted that if Biden was elected, the markets would crash. They are actually up — the Dow by more than 40 percent since 2020. Job growth is booming thanks to many of Biden’s initiatives. Not only is inflation in check, but forecasts of a recession over the last four years were just flat wrong.
Polls show that the economy and inflation are the top issues in the presidential race, but those same polls have Biden trailing Trump in key swing states. You know how I feel about polls, but those who run the Biden campaign are spending millions on ads in those same swing states because they worry the polls may be right.
So what gives? Shouldn’t Republicans be the ones panicking six months before the election? But they aren’t. Why not? Because they have a secret — well, not so secret —weapon: Fox News. The cable TV channel that is not, and never will be “news,” is a highly effective — and free — propaganda arm of Trump World.
When looking at the popularity of politicians, the loudest voice in the room is the one that gets heard. The loudest media voice continues to be from the far right, particularly the Murdoch media empire.
Fox is a loud and disciplined machine. It almost always speaks with one voice on any given topic. It has been convincing Americans 24/7 that even if they are doing ok, the economy is actually in tatters and the only person who can fix it is Trump — even if by any objective measure the US. economy under Trump was far worse.
Can a steady diet of Fox News alter one’s perception? You bet. The New York Times’s news surveys editor explained, “100 percent of the Republicans in our poll who said they got their news from Fox News or other conservative sources said they intended to support Mr. Trump in the general election. This stands in contrast to Republicans whose main media sources are outlets like CNN and major news organizations. 79 percent of them plan to vote for Mr. Trump, and 13 percent said they planned to vote for President Biden.”
Ironically, you and I are paying for this partisan and duplicitous media machine, whether we like it or not. If you’re a subscriber to almost any cable or satellite TV package, you’re funding Fox.
Yes, the organization that wakes up every day with the goal of demonizing Democrats in general and Joe Biden in particular is funded in a very bipartisan way.
Fox is making billions from cable subscriber fees. It reportedly gets about $2 a month per subscriber. The mouth of the MAGA movement has long been bundled with other channels by all the big cable outfits, so even if you don’t want to pay for Fox, you have no choice.
But things have taken a financial turn for Fox of late. Its penchant for falsehoods has cost the Murdochs. Dominion Voting Systems is now $787 million richer after a settlement with Fox over its lies and crazy conspiracy theories about Dominion’s voting machines. Add to that the loss of Tucker Carlson and what was the highest-rated show on the network.
But don’t you worry about Fox’s bottom line. The media giant can and likely will ask for an increase in carriage fees in their next contract. One more dollar a month would mean hundreds of millions more for Murdoch. Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters for America, explains, “The impact of Dominion’s lawsuit was always going to be limited because of Fox’s ultimate weapon: cable carriage fees. The dirty secret about Fox News is that it is one of the only commercial TV channels that doesn’t need a single advertisement to be profitable, if not the only one. In fact, Fox could have zero dollars in ad revenue and still have at least a 35% profit margin. This is the result of carriage fees and the guaranteed revenue they provide Fox.”
For anyone who thought a three-quarters of a billion dollar settlement might change how Fox reports their version of the news, consider this recent item where Fox anchors tried to blame a rise in southern border crossings on the solar eclipse:
Anchor Dana Perino: “Fox News alert! A rare celestial event collides with a policy failure on the ground. The southern border is directly in the path of totality today when the moon covers the sun.”
Co-host Bill Hemmer: “We’re told officials are bracing for higher traffic than usual. That means a real opportunity for smugglers and cartels and migrants to come right in.”
For true journalists who love this country, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. What can anyone do? If enough Americans decide to defund Fox by cutting the cable cord, it can make a difference. If enough Americans switch to streaming and subscribe only to the television they watch, such as Netflix or Apple TV, it would put a dent in Fox’s cash cow. It’s not likely to happen in this election cycle but worth contemplating.
If you value independent journalism bringing you critical information when the corporate media fails to, please consider joining as a supporting member. It allows me to keep pieces like this free for those who cannot afford to pay, during an election season when we need everyone to see them. Thank you.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
I retired and moved back to the state I grew up in and decided that I would no longer subscribe to cable. I didn't watch most of the channels in my package and I was most definitely tired of having to pay to support Fox News. I only do streaming services now and I don't miss not having cable. Think about it.
I am reminded that at one time, Dan Rather's heir apparent was John Roberts--no, not the chief justice, but someone equally blind to facts, because he went to Fux Noise and now regularly sings the company song. Further, this goes to the big question that no one in the mainstream media who is supposed to be a journalist will answer: Why do they treat Fux Noise, or anyone who works there, as being involved in journalism? At one point, Barack Obama had had enough of them, and when he took steps regarding their behavior by limiting access, the non-journalists who populate the White House Correspondents Association sounded like someone had stepped on their boy parts. To accept those at Fux Noise as journalists is to deny that you are yourself a journalist, and providing all the proof necessary.