Matthew Gertz Profile picture
Feb 9 8 tweets 2 min read
Fox News has all but ignored both Mike Pence's speech and the RNC's "legitimate political discourse" debacle. Sparse coverage on the "news" side, and none at all from the "opinion" propagandists. Why? mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-n…
Fox is something of a black box, and divining the meaning of what the network does or doesn’t run is difficult. But two things seem to be happening.
First, they are starting their upfronts push, when they sell the bulk of their ads. It's a vulnerable time when the brass becomes more worried about negative coverage.
The last thing the Fox brass needs right now is for its stars to declare that the January 6 rioters really were engaging in “legitimate political discourse” or that Pence should have overturned the election that day.
Second,Fox appears to be trying to develop its own version of the “Trumpism without Trump." They're focused on the culture war fights, issues, and enemies he cares about, but actual coverage of the former president has plummeted.
But this is a delicate balance: Trump still has enough influence on Fox viewers to damage the network's ratings. That makes stories like these no-win scenarios.
Either they take sides against Trump and the rioters and risk a backlash from the former president and his supporters, or they side with them and revive stories about the network’s role in trying to steal the 2020 election that could threaten ad revenue.
It’s better for them to stay silent. They’re not gutless — they’re afraid of Trump supporters.

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More from @MattGertz

Feb 9
Fox’s propagandists have cheered on the truckers as “freedom fighters,” “civil rights hero[es],” and “the face of individualism and rebellion,” while denouncing the purported “totalitarianism” of the Canadian government.
Rather than encouraging their viewers to take shots that could keep them from dying, Fox stars have championed the truckers as culture war heroes their audience members should emulate.
As U.S. right-wing activists begin organizing for their own convoy on social media, this coverage may only be beginning.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 31
Fox News wanted viewers to hear an anti-vax trooper’s story – until he died of COVID.

The network has yet to mention Robert LaMay's passing, after turning him into a culture war hero for resigning rather than getting vaccinated. mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…
Fox News has tried to turn workers who refuse vaccine mandates into culture war heroes, even though the network itself voluntarily imposed a requirement that its own employees be either vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 daily.

LaMay became the latest such figure in October.
Fox hosts and others on the right promoted LaMay’s story and presented his refusal to take a lifesaving drug as an example their audiences could emulate.
Read 10 tweets
Jan 27
There's a large body of people who are qualified for SCOTUS, you pick the one you want who clears that hurdle.

There's no consistent standard by which conservatives can say Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett were each the most qualified person for the job.
Think of how many qualified judges conservatives rejected just because they were old, how can you expect them to rule properly on age discrimination cases?
Anyway here's National Review editor Ramesh Ponnoru explaining that the "main reason" he thought Trump should pick Barrett to replace Kennedy is because "she's a woman." chicagotribune.com/opinion/commen…
Read 5 tweets
Jan 24
There was a lot of news on my beat while I've been on parental leave, I think I'll do some mini-takes.
Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 special was particularly worrisome because it shows not only because he's basically in Infowars territory, but that Fox is willing to take the hit to let him do it.
In the wake of Carlson's Patriot Purge, Fox lost Stephen Hayes, Jonah Goldberg, and Chris Wallace -- each with more than a decade at the network. And that's after Carlson antics led to Shep Smith leaving the network a few years back. Fox brass prioritizes keeping Tucker happy.
Read 10 tweets
Jan 24
┏┓
┃┃╱╲ in
┃╱╱╲╲ this
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▔▏┗┛▕▔ we
╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲
don't talk about Bruno
╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲
▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔
| ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ |
| DON'T |
| TALK |
| ABOUT |
| BRUNO |
| _______|
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/   づ
Bruno is listed with a seven-foot-frame, but he's really only 6'10" in sneakers. His arms are very long, though, and he's got great lateral movement, so he can guard everyone from wings to centers.
Read 4 tweets

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