It’s got to be like working in a madhouse to be at Fox News. You recall Sean Hannity absentmindedly vaping on air the other day. Now today, Harris Faulkner, getting her information from the spirit world and voices in her head, apparently, because she didn’t get it from her “team,” somberly told Donald Trump, “The DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has resigned, Mr. President,” while removing her glasses for dramatic effect, ala Walter Cronkite. You can’t make this up.
Bizarre: Harris Faulkner falsely reports live on air that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has resigned, then immediately walks it back pic.twitter.com/19FxjehxzU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 22, 2021
This is not “news.” I used to be a radio newscaster back in the late 70’s, and anybody pulling this level of idiotic stunt would have been fired on the spot, plus would have become a pariah in the local market. I sincerely do not know how Fox News is getting away with this. Maybe there should be legislation requiring Fox News to identify itself as an entertainment company as opposed to a news organization.
Even though Faulkner immediately walked it back, there is damage done. People hear these things, they internalize the mis-information, disinformation, and they become confused. Confused people then become pliable for lunatic conspiracy theories and there we are in 2021.
Let us reserve judgment on the “getting away with it” proposition for now. I like the idea of a righteous thunderbolt striking down these asshats as much as the next guy. But when it comes to change of any kind, it’s less microwave meal and more pot roast. We’re only getting started with the post-Trump era, after all.
This is true. But something has to be done about Fox News. We literally cannot have a network, or several networks, broadcasting falsehood. Opinion pieces are one thing, plain facts are another.
Or even the occasional “respectable” website doing same. The Atlantic, for instance, flat-out lied about how unvaccinated children are as safe as their vaccinated grandparents and getting righteously roasted on Twitter for it. I personally consider that a hell of a lot more dangerous than all this. But yeah, Fox remains part of the problem.
What happens in FOX NEWS, unfortunately does NOT stay there … the trend there, in my opinion, is any sheet of rhetoric can get on the desk in front of one of their mouthpieces and boom, it is read as gospel until otherwise scuttled …
The, “for-effect”, emphasis used by these vermin makes the lies sound reasonable to the lessor members of the Trump fiasco … so, if there is one beat between the statement and take-back, the dregs of our society cannot process the turn-around …
Limburger was challenged on many things, but he always maintained he was an entertainer first, apparently, facts are not standard fair in strict entertainment, and if there is one fact we all understand, it’s that Trump was telling lies every time his mouth was open, based on his experience as a TV personality, make believe was the world he lived in and his words demonstrated his lack of, “the big picture”, and total incompetence …
Fox is due for a reckoning … they have pushed so many Trump mistakes as if they don’t need any fact checking … a reclassification to entertainment only might turn the tide on junk stuff, but maybe a disclaimer up on the screen isolating their teams from facts would help?
Microwave versus pot roast.
That is a lovely evocation of measuring time.
Chalk it up to reading lots of history, Concinnity, which I did a LOT of back in the day. When it comes to change, one pattern remains consistently true. If it looks sudden, it isn’t. All that happened was what had been hidden in the subconscious soil coming to full bloom.
This is why we need very strict truth in media laws that apply to all forms of media! Opinions are ok, as long as they are clearly labeled as such. Lies and disinformation can no longer be allowed to be broadcast or disseminated in any way!! Lies and disinformation being disseminated as truth are a big part of how we got the Orange Monster and its criminal cronies in charge for 4 years!!! IT HAS TO BE STOPPED NOW!!!!
Four and a half decades ago, a late-night television show, focused mainly on comedy sketches, but offering musical performances and the occasional short-form video, debuted and one of its regular features was a news program/skit called “Weekend Update.” It was primarily a satire of regular evening news programs with real news items but sprinkled with a decidedly comic spin–one of the early trademarks was the classic line, “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.” Before the catchphrase made its debut, “Weekend Update” anchor, Chevy Chase, read this direct quotation from former President Nixon: “General Franco was a loyal friend and ally of the United States. He earned worldwide respect for Spain through firmness and fairness.” While he was reading this, there was a picture behind him of Franco alongside Adolf Hitler and giving the fascist salute. THAT was a good example of turning the news into a piece of pure entertainment. Of course, no one was delusional enough to believe that “Weekend Update” was anything but a gag.
Even today, while a lot of people cite “The Daily Show” as their primary news source on television, it’s pretty safe to say that these people also realize what parts are legitimate news and what parts are pure hokum. Fox “News” viewers do not have that level of intelligence.
Murdoch was renowned in the UK with his ‘never let the facts stand in the way of a story” attitude. It was that bad that one of his weekly papers the ‘News of the World’ closed down after they were caught phone hacking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_International_phone_hacking_scandal
You realize you’re talking about canceling the first amendment.
You realize you don’t know what you’re talking about? There is NOTHING in the First Amendment that protects a right to LIE. There is a right to free speech and a right to free press, but, again, there is no Constitutional protection to lie. In fact, under the law, lying can lead to civil–and potentially, criminal–court cases; they’re more commonly known as “slander” and “libel” suits.
Fox “News” has been getting away with lying for decades. And, in the one case that actually made it to court, the network managed to avoid any real penalties by getting–on the record–that it was an ENTERTAINMENT provider rather than an actual “news” organization.
But, I’ll point out that Fox could be punished at the most basic levels: Have cable providers refuse to include their “news” propaganda on their (more or less) basic programming packages. The only problem with that, however, is that Fox would then blackmail (or “extort” if you don’t like the b-word) cable providers by withholding ALL of their various channels (like the Fox network–that airs shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” and “The Masked Singer”–as well as FX and FXX and the various sports channels) from any provider that refuses to include Fox “News” from their line-up.