There must be some rhyme or reason to this, and if you can figure it out, please explain it to the rest of us. Fox News is going back and forth and up, down and sideways on this Atlantic bombshell story about Trump’s disrespect for the military. If you haven’t already, read the two previous stories of mine on this blog and that will get you up to speed.
Fox contributor knocks Fox reporter for noting Fox has now confirmed key details of The Atlantic's reporting. https://t.co/8kFBS08MHq
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) September 4, 2020
Now the “contributor” being referred to has deleted his or her tweet. So we will never know what that’s about. But here are some others that show how this matter is anything but resolved.
I used to manage the Fox News dot com homepage. This would be an extraordinary and unusual decision to run this denial as the top story despite having confirmed key details of the reporting https://t.co/GOf2RUjXcV
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) September 4, 2020
It would save a lot of time if the Media would just tell us what fake stories they will be announcing over the next six weeks, and when each story will be released
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 5, 2020
I’m just going to do some speculation here, not conspiracy theory: I think that it’s reasonable to conjecture that the Murdochs don’t want to stick by just publicizing Trump’s denial and their own story on “The Five” wherein the Atlantic story was called a “hoax” and “fake” because they know it’s true. So they’re waffling. With Jen Griffin’s reporting, they can look good afterwards and say that they reported the facts and were one of three news outlets to back up the Atlantic piece. They also have the denial at the top of the website, so they look like they’re supporting Trump. It’s a good job of having one’s cake and eating it, too. I’ve never seen this before in journalism, but then again, Fox News is unique.
Another possibility, is that their reporter, Griffin, set out to debunk the story and when she began talking to people, found out that it was true. Management may have become convinced to ease back from their “Trump Denies” coverage and ease into covering what actually took place.
Again, just speculation. But this is a theory that basically fits the facts and until we get more facts to analyze, this is as good an idea as I can come up with. I await your views in the comments.
news side gets it right, entertainment/propaganda side trying to deny it
I agree. The problem is, there’s a profound disconnect between the two. Editorializing is one thing, two entire different schools of thought is something different.
Someone should tell Fox that you can’t have your cake and eat it too, withoutspilling vomit all over yourself.
Which is unsightly and smells awful.
Oh wait…
This is stretching it. I have a feeling that this will get a lot weirder as well.
Fox is not, nor has ever been anything but a right wing propaganda machine. Goebbles would have been proud.
Sure but they’re usually more consistent on what narrative they’re sticking with. This is downright schizophrenic.
It might also reflect a rift in the Murdoch family. Lachlan is not Rupert. Maybe we can look forward to a post-Trump era in which Fox either self-destructs, or loses it’s broadcast licenses. It’s as much a disgrace as Trump.
Such a future terrifies the Murdoch clan. Do recall how they sold off all their accurately labelled entertainment in 20th Century Fox to Disney. Fox “News” is all they have left. That goes down, they’re done.
I’ve never worked in journalism, but this made me think of working for a large bank when the financial crisis hit. All of a sudden, our reality shifted on ways we were not prepared for. This caused departments to all go in their own direction, which created even more confusion and disorder. Nobody knew what was happening, and there was a free for all.
I think some of the same behaviors are at play here. Put yourself in Fox’s shoes (barf). They’re prepared for all sorts of narratives based on their mythology of good and evil in 2020 America. If it was Trump vs Hispanics or Antifa or BLM or Elizabeth Warren or anyone else on the left, I’m sure they have drawers full of propaganda talking points.
Then this bombshell hits, and the two sides are Trump, who they portray as absolutely good, and the military, who they also portray as absolutely good. How do you spin this without insulting one group or the other?? They can’t, because their propaganda relies on demonizing one side in any story.
I would guess this hits, there’s no easy answer on how to deal with it, and chaos and confusion ensues as competing voices all run to the narratives they think are best.
The sad thing is, they’re such practiced liars, and their audience is so willing to be lied to, that they’ll land on some message eventually and their audience won’t really think much about this story. If I had to guess, the whole network will identify some new crisis to divert attention to…some ridiculous scandal or new fearmongering story they can push.
For me, the only Ingraham I can tolerate is the Kate McKinnon version. “Welcome to the Ingraham Angle, brought to you by White Oreos. White Oreos, because who chooses black when there are white ones available?”
As Aesop put it, “Please all and you will please none.” Fox is now in the same position Republican Senators have been in vis-a-vis Trump: trying to thread a needle with a railroad tie. They’re trying to have it both ways but they’re going to have to choose sooner or later. This strikes me as just delaying that choice.
” trying to thread a needle with a railroad tie. ” I am so stealing this!
Be my guess, Old. It does fit.
“I’ve never seen this before in journalism, but then again, Fox News is unique.”
No, Ursula, that should read “I’ve never seen this before in journalism, but then again, Fox News is not journalism.”
It’s nothing more than propaganda. To quote David Byrne and the Talking Heads, “Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.”
There are whole sets of lyrics from that song–“Once in a Lifetime”–that could apply to the whole Trumpian nightmare:
“And you may find yourself in a beautiful house/With a beautiful wife/And you may ask yourself/Well, how did I get here?”
“And you may ask yourself/How do I work this?”
“And you may ask yourself/Am I right? Am I wrong?/And you may say to yourself/’My God! What have I done?'”
Doing the Foxtrot. Sancing on both sides of the aisle.
Yes, I can explain it. Fox News is fair and balanced. They report — you decide.
This sounds exactly like something trump would say ……yes, he said it !