Fox News isn't even pretending to be a news network anymore
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 11:33 pm
Fox News isn't even pretending to be a news network anymore
And yet, despite their arguing in court that Tucker Carlson shouldn't be taken seriously, it is blazingly obvious that they are counting on their audience to do just that!After a year spent undermining public health and safety, eroding confidence in our democracy, and mainstreaming white nationalism, it's become even clearer that Fox News is a threat to the American public. Now, the network wants more money.
Per multiple industry publications, Fox News made a preemptive pitch to advertisers on May 11 in advance of the advertising industry "upfront" presentations scheduled to begin the following week. Major television networks, including Fox News, have traditionally used those presentations to sell the majority of their advertising space "upfront" for the year ahead.
Reports suggest that in that pitch, Fox News touted its daytime programming and streaming service and did not mention its prime-time lineup, presenting it's day-side and online programming as a subdued and safe investment for buyers.
The move is understandable. Tucker Carlson and his fellow prime-time hosts, including Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, have made the channel a toxic swamp for advertisers, who've fled in droves.
Those of us who watch Fox News daily know that there is very little news reporting left on the network's "news side." Watch a single night of the network's "reporting" and it becomes abundantly clear that Fox has dropped all pretenses of operating as a journalistic operation. The network has used the cover of its "opinion" side to truncate coverage of the mundane trappings of real world news events in favor of culture war narratives like "the war on beef," the apocalyptic threat of "cancel culture," obsessive, fear mongering about transgender individuals, or a network-wide fixation on critical race theory.
And while conjuring controversy out of thin air is a staple at the network, executives have steadily transitioned resources away from "news side" operations in favor of buttressing the antics of their opinion hosts - antics that have landed the network in multiple multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuits and forced Fox to argue in court that its most popular anchor, Tucker Carlson, shouldn't actually be taken seriously by viewers.
Though Fox News certainly wants as many advertising dollars as possible, here is one of the big problems. They are apparently trying their darnedest to position themselves to be able to spew their misinformation with impunity without necessarily having to depend on advertising dollars to keep them in business.Head of Fox Corp Lachlan Murdoch has made clear that there is no line he won't let his hosts cross. Tucker Carlson has long been a major hub of white nationalist talking points, but on April 8, Carlson made one of his most explicit endorsements of the worldview to date: an outright embrace of the "great replacement" conspiracy theory. It is abundantly clear that Fox News will not only tolerate Carlson's full-throated amplification of white nationalist ideology, but will actively enable and support it. Simply put: Public condemnation alone will achieve nothing. The way to force accountability at Fox is to put its finances on the line.
American household with a basic cable package gives the network roughly $20 a year regardless of whether they actually watch the channel.
Fox has for a long time leveraged the promise of a loyal viewership in order to increase the fee it charges cable companies to carry their channel, negotiating a much higher price than the other major news networks charge. While more than 90 million households pay for Fox News, only about 3 million are regular viewers.
As Fox competes for advertising dollars, it is also in the process of renegotiating between 40% to 50% of its cable contracts. Media Matters President Angelo Carusone explained to On The Media's Bob Garfield that Fox News "could have zero commercials, and still have a 90% profit margin, because they are the second-most expensive channel on everybody's cable box."
Carusone went on to explain that if Fox is "able to successfully complete these renegotiations over the next year, and get more money out of it, there's nothing they can do or say that will get them any meaningful consequences and force them to change." If Fox can make it through this year's upfronts and renegotiations unscathed, it could mean years of financial impunity.
It's time to defund Fox News. The network has forfeit any right to claim to special treatment by advertisers and cable providers. By continuing to support the network's outsized cash grab under consumers' noses, advertising agencies and cable companies are safeguarding the slush fund that enables Fox to dodge any form of accountability, no matter the detrimental effect it has on the American public.
Despite these tactics, advertisers and cable companies can no longer feign ignorance regarding the destructive nature of Fox News' programming. It is no longer simply a matter of financial interest but a clear-cut ethical boundary.