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"Fox's 'news' team is an essential cog in a corrupt propaganda machine" -- my thoughts on Jane Mayer's Fox expose and the debate over a DNC-Fox debate. mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/0…
For years, Fox executives and flaks have told reporters and advertisers alike that the network simply has separate “news” and “opinion” sides like any other news outlet. In response to the DNC's decision not to do a primary debate with Fox, the network returned to that defense.
This argument was never credible, but the network’s reinvention as state TV has rendered it utterly appalling.
Fox is -- by design, and to its core -- a right-wing propaganda apparatus that relies on misinformation, disinformation, and outright bigotry to promote the conservative movement and Republican Party. That is its business model and its political project.
Fox's "news" side exists to help the network with that project in two key ways.
First, it gives the network cover. When Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, or Laura Ingraham get in trouble, Fox corporate can point to the likes of Wallace or Smith “challenging the Administration” as evidence that the network is more than a right-wing fever swamp.
But the deviations that Wallace or Smith provide from Fox’s norms are ultimately hollow -- the new "Megyn moments," bolstering the credibility of the hosts and their network, but without any broader impact on the trajectory of Fox’s programming
(Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum keep getting roped into these discussions for some bizarre reason -- MacCallum in particular is a pure ideologue, and Baier has some big problems, as I detail in the piece.)
Second, the "news" team resources the prime-time right-wingers, providing incremental reports advancing the conservative pseudoscandals that the right is freaking out about.
What they don't generally do is produce major scoops. Despite unparalleled access to the Trump administration and other Republican officials, the network has little to show for itself.
When the network does take a big swing at a story, it doesn't tend to go well.
That’s how things work at Fox. It’s long been a propaganda outlet, and now it’s merged with the White House. It is toxic, and no number of tough Wallace interviews or Smith viral monologues can redeem it.
And there's certainly no reason for the DNC to give Fox cover by partnering with them for a debate. #end
