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1. Fox News is suffering the week from hell at the worst possible time. mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/1…
2. It's a crucial week for the network, which is using an unprecedented event at their studio tomorrow to pitch the ad industry on why its a good time to advertise on the network, particularly on Fox's "news" programs.
3. Fox needs to do this because leading advertisers have largely abandoned the network's top shows because the hosts keep saying bigoted things.
4. Fox's argument to media buyers is weak -- the business model requires vitriol and will inevitably create more controversy. And Fox can't cordon off its "news" side from its "opinion" stars -- the former play a key role in bolstering the propaganda machine.
5. Given that Fox is asking the advertising industry to kindly ignore the bile coming out of the mouths of the network’s most famous personalities, Fox's executives were likely hoping for at least a quiet PR week leading into the meeting to help them make their case.
6. Instead, it's been a hell week. Jane Mayer's New Yorker probe exposed the network's propaganda. That led to the DNC killing any hope of a primary debate, which Fox could have used to bolster its "news" side argument.
7. Then on Saturday, Fox host Jeanine Pirro responded to the controversy surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) use of anti-Semitic tropes with a monologue steeped in unhinged Islamophobic bigotry.
8. Pirro's comments were so horrendous Fox actually criticized them. But there was no actual discipline for Pirro, whose own statement included no apology or remorse.
9. Before Fox had even gotten around to addressing the Pirro controversy, it was plunged into a new one, when @mmfa released clips featuring Tucker Carlson using sexist, misogynistic, and perverted language about women and young girls.
@mmfa 10. Those remarks came during regular appearances on a shock jock’s radio show between 2006 and 2011 (Fox hired Carlson in 2009). Carlson’s show hemorrhaged advertisers last year due to his frequent use of white nationalist rhetoric.
11. Carlson's comments were entirely consistent with his commentary, before and after he joined Fox, on its airwaves and off of them.
12. Fox issued no statement in this case, instead letting Carlson lie about what happened and lash out at his critics.
13. Those were the week's big stories. Here are the ones that largely fell through the cracks. 
14. Fox is unlikely to produce a credible response to Carlson or Pirro because it is a pro-Trump propaganda network. The president regularly watches and enjoys both shows, and is particularly close to Pirro.
15. Fox is desperately trying to shore up its relationships with advertisers precisely because of this dynamic. But the dynamic itself isn't going anywhere.
16. And with Fox unwilling to act, activists who hope to actually impact the network’s programming have little recourse except to the network’s advertisers, creating the blowback that Fox’s Wednesday meeting seeks to heal. #end
