Mislead and Misdirect for Money: Fox "News" is Dangerous

**tomcat** · 23-04-2020, 08:13 AM

...trailer park denizens, white supremacists, evangelicals and the morbidly obese: the Fox audience at the trough of truth...

11 words from John Oliver that expose Fox News' fundamental hypocrisy

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 6:03 PM ET, Wed April 22

(CNN)HBO's John Oliver dedicated his entire 21-minute show on Sunday night to a deep dive into false information being peddled by Fox News and other conservative media outlets about the coronavirus, and the impacts those falsehoods are having on President Donald Trump and his decision-making.

It's a stunning exposé into, as Oliver puts it, how "the feedback loop between Fox and Trump has run way ahead of the science." (You can -- and should -- watch the whole segment .)

But there was one thing -- actually one sentence of 11 words -- that really stood out to me in the Oliver segment. And it was this, when he was talking about Fox News' coronavirus coverage:

"They only pretend to believe these things on television for money."

The point Oliver was making was that even as many Fox News anchors were pushing the idea that coronavirus was less virulent than the flu and that it was the product of a hyper-partisan media trying to "get" Trump, the company was warning its employees to stay at home and "reducing the staff footprint at our headquarters in New York."

Why the contrast between what their anchors were pushing and the internal guidance being given to staff? Because, as Oliver rightly notes, Fox News is in the business of selling a certain kind of news to its largely conservative (and very large) viewer base. And that "news" is generally speaking, centered around the idea that the mainstream media is in cahoots with Democrats to screw, frighten and otherwise mistreat the average Joe and Jane out there.

Or, as Oliver put it: "Many in conservative media have found it easy to fold this virus into narratives that they have been carefully building up for decades."

So when coronavirus deaths began to mount across the world, and it became clear that the hopes of limiting community spread in the United States were in vain, it was simply too tempting for Fox News. They played the coronavirus story as they play virtually every other story -- as an indictment of the media and its biases. See, the real story here -- that the mainstream media isn't telling you -- is that this is all overhyped! This is like a cold virus! Hydroxychloroquine will knock it all out anyway. And on and on and on.

It's why Fox News viewers have a very different view of coronavirus -- its origins, the search for a vaccine etc. -- than do non-Fox viewers.
In a recent Pew poll, 51% of Fox News viewers said it would take a year or more for the vaccine to be available while 78% of MSNBC watchers said it would take more than a year for a vaccine. Almost 6 in 10 CNN viewers said the same. (A vaccine is not expected for at least another year.) That same poll showed that just 37% of Fox News viewers said the virus came from nature while 66% of MSNBC viewers and 52% of CNN watchers said the same. (For those of you noting that the coronavirus may have been made in a lab, I would say this: We know US intelligence officials are looking into that possibility. We also know that they have warned that it is far too early in the investigation to draw any conclusions.)

The truth here is that Fox News knows exactly what it's doing. It -- or, really, the late Roger Ailes -- has created a brand that revolves around its viewers' distrust in societal pillars like government, the education system and, yes, the media. Every story -- and I mean every story -- is funneled through that lens.

Take how Fox News has been covering shutdowns by governors. Here's Fox host Jeanine Pirro during a recent interview on Sean Hannity's show:

"They want to keep us away from churches and synagogues. They want to make sure we don't go back to work. They don't get it. The American spirit is too strong, and Americans are not gonna take it."
Who is they? Pirro never says. She doesn't need to -- because the Fox audience already knows who "they" is: The elites, the media, the Democrats, the establishment.

Or this tweet from Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham in support of the protesters: "Time to get your freedom back."
Back from whom? Again Ingraham doesn't say. But she, like Pirro, knows that the audience will fill in the gaps.
The most noxious part of all of this -- and it's what Oliver's 11 words hit directly on the head -- is that Fox News is covering the story this way not because it comports with known facts or because they believe it's the "real" narrative but rather because they know that covering the coronavirus pandemic this way means more viewers -- and more money to sell ads.

Why? Because Fox News has spent years conditioning their regular viewers to believe that anything "the media" -- or any other establishment institution (other than them), of course -- must not be telling the whole truth about anything. And that the reason the establishment isn't telling the truth is because the truth is somehow bad for them.

It's an incredibly vicious cycle -- and has been for a long time. But it's never been as clear as it is right now.

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 08:27 AM

John Oliver is a total wanker, pure propagandamonger. He is every bit as bad as Fox news and is part of the problem...

Fox is terrible, CNN is terrible, they have endless inane, cliched, binary propaganda channels over there, and the people seem to lap it up.

**tomcat** · 23-04-2020, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

John Oliver is a total wanker, pure propagandamonger. He is every bit as bad as Fox news and is part of the problem...

Fox is terrible, CNN is terrible, they have endless inane, cliched, binary propaganda channels over there, and the people seem to lap it up.

...false equivalencies...kindly list your favorite non-binary propaganda channels...

**cyrille** · 23-04-2020, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

John Oliver is a total wanker, pure propagandamonger. He is every bit as bad as Fox news and is part of the problem...

Translation: I agree that Fox has a bit of a problem with optics, but their politics are very close to mine.

**kmart** · 23-04-2020, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by tomcat

...false equivalencies...kindly list your favorite non-binary propaganda channels...

Good question. Virtually all mainstream media is now owned by establishment moguls pushing an agenda. (And all are members of secretive groups like Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberger Group, etc.). "Journalists" don't even get to investigate or corroborate news stories, just obtain their stories verbatim from Reuters or even directly from "Government sources" without challenging the veracity of what goes out to the public.

**panama hat** · 23-04-2020, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

John Oliver is a total wanker, pure propagandamonger. He is every bit as bad as Fox news and is part of the problem...

Yea . . . nah. I think he's a loudmout and only watch segments of his show on YouTube, but . . . unless you believe that exposing FOX News' misleading and outright false reporting is wrong and being a 'propagandamonger' . . . Do you?

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 09:49 AM

^^^^ he is so one-eyed it's pathetic. I lean towards the Liberals in the US, but their failure to critique themselves is the biggest current problem in US politics. The Republicans are dire, they just do what they do, and it's made incredibly easy for them by the democrats refusing to do anything other than to shout "it's their fault", "look how stupid Trump is", "Hilary did nothing wrong, Trump is a liar"...

^^^ totally wrong as per usual.

^^ indeed. I don't have a favourite propaganda channel, I try to view across many, so that at least I get a view of many construals. Not ideal, but there are so few decent publications that are consistently unbiased.

^ yes, it's his propaganda. He could just as easily highlight CNN and their propaganda, but that wouldn't suit his political bias...

To appraise critically (which most on TD simply never do...), you have to not only consider their discourse choice, but also the variety of choices they could have made and the choices that they never make - that Oliver tw%t is very telling when these broader criteria is applied; he is a dumb shrill.

**tomcat** · 23-04-2020, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

^^ indeed. I don't have a favourite propaganda channel, I try to view across many, so that at least I get a view of many construals. Not ideal, but there are so few decent publications that are consistently unbiased.

...so, please answer the question: which are the few decent publications that you think are consistently unbiased?...

**panama hat** · 23-04-2020, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

^ yes, it's his propaganda. He could just as easily highlight CNN and their propaganda, but that wouldn't suit his political bias...

Sure . . . but you neglected to address the more important part of the post:

Originally Posted by panama hat

unless you believe that exposing FOX News' misleading and outright false reporting is wrong

**tomcat** · 23-04-2020, 10:39 AM

...unsurprisingly, Betty seems unavailable for comment at this time...

**cyrille** · 23-04-2020, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by tomcat

...so, please answer the question

Please don't hold your breath on that one.

But we know from the BREXIT thread that he values the opinions of George (

) Galloway highly.

**harrybarracuda** · 23-04-2020, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by cyrille

Please don't hold your breath on that one.

But we know from the BREXIT thread that he values the opinions of George (

) Galloway highly.

Says it all.

And so does this:

"They only pretend to believe these things on television for money."

John Oliver has made a career or spearing fat rich hypocritical fucks.

Must have lampooned one of Boo's heroes....

**cyrille** · 23-04-2020, 12:26 PM

His mum.

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 12:29 PM

^ some people would be banned for that Cyrille...

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by cyrille

His mum.

^ some people would be banned for that Cyrille...

(Just in case you delete your post later...)

Just came back from work and shopping to see you lot still doing what you do.

In answer to Tomcat's question, a second time..., rather than read one "correct" opinion, I read a variety of opinions from all areas of the mainstream area, and other reading material to. If I had to pick one, and only had a few moments, I'd probably pick Al Jazeera - not as a definitive news source, but as an easy to read news source that isn't as totally one-eyed as Fox, CNN, the BBC and the Guardian.

To answer the second-part, again, Fox news is inane diatribe, but no more so than CNN and John Oliver are.

**bsnub** · 23-04-2020, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

but no more so than CNN and John Oliver are.

This is where you trip over yourself. Neither of those hold a candle to fox news for utter bullshit and outright falsehoods. Not even close.

**cyrille** · 23-04-2020, 12:43 PM

^^ Bullshit.

^ He's very much a 'team' man. Everything anyone on his team does is either 'spot on', or at worst 'all's fair in love and war'.

Anything from the opposition is unacceptable.

He'd like to defend Fox, but just knows he would encounter too much turbulence because the US 'left of centre' grouping here is so much larger and more vociferous than the UK one.

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 12:46 PM

^ 'turbulence' from intellectual powerhouses such as you??? You are a deceitful, ignorant and stupid troll. You're calling me a 'team' man who wants to support Fox News right off the back of your post saying I value Galloway. Galloway and Fox are very far apart, I'd listen to both just in case they make sense; Fox rarely do while Galloway often does.

^^ The problem is, Snubby, until you so called liberals start to understand your bias and propaganda instead of blaming everything on everyone else (just like Clinton did when she lost the election) then the easier it is for Trump to get repeatedly voted in and the Republicans to rape everyone.

Trump doesn't come out of nowhere, he is allowed to exist by the utter ignorance and refusal to self-reflect from the so called Liberals.

**bsnub** · 23-04-2020, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by cyrille

He'd like to defend Fox, but just knows he would encounter too much turbulence.

So he does the next best thing which is to draw a false equivalency.

**cyrille** · 23-04-2020, 12:48 PM

Bingo!

Also helps him seem moderate.

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 12:58 PM

& you so called liberals wonder why you keep losing elections - you have no critical thinking ability, get personal and blame everyone else. You keep losing and yet it's always everyone else's fault...

Don't you have a cutting meme to add to your verbal cliches???

**tomcat** · 23-04-2020, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

& you so called liberals wonder why you keep losing elections - you have no critical thinking ability, get personal and blame everyone else. You keep losing and yet it's always everyone else's fault...

...*cough*...we managed to get a negro in the White House for 8 years...galling, no?

**Bettyboo** · 23-04-2020, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by tomcat

...*cough*...we managed to get a negro in the White House for 8 years...galling, no?

I was an Obama supporter, I would have voted for him.

So, all you actually did there was throw in the word 'negro' to highlight how people who don't agree with you are racist. Couldn't you have done that in a meme?

The problem with the likes of Snubby and Cyrille is they never think, they just repeat propaganda and cliches. Cyrille lies endlessly, so if you wanna believe him that I'm a Fox News supporter, more fool you.

Just because people don't agree with a point you make, I personally think Oliver is part of the problem, not the solution, because he only pushes one line which basically says people who vote for Trump are stupid... But, that isn't true, many people who voted for Trump would preferred to have voted for a Democrat, but the Democratic party has become so detached from the wishes and needs of the people that they were unable to vote for the Democratic candidate.

Let's put it this way: trump is moronic, in no way a decent individual or capable leader of government. I think most of us can agree with that. But, some folks such as Cyrille blame it on the stupid masses, and guess what, Trump will get voted in again. Personally, I'd rather critique why the Democrats lost (a process that was never adequately done, and Oliver for the most part ignores and discourages - notice the words 'most part'), come up with a better candidate with better policies and win the nest election.

But, the trolls keep calling Trump and everyone else stupid, posting clildish memes and repeating lies and cliches, and they will do the same after Trump wins the next election because they are not capable of realising their mentality and actions are part of the problem...

**Dragonfly** · 23-04-2020, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by kmart

Good question. Virtually all mainstream media is now owned by establishment moguls pushing an agenda. (And all are members of secretive groups like Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberger Group, etc.). "Journalists" don't even get to investigate or corroborate news stories, just obtain their stories verbatim from Reuters or even directly from "Government sources" without challenging the veracity of what goes out to the public.

indeed, and it doesn't help that many of them are moonlighting as "analysts" for the CIA, MI6, and the KGB

sometimes with stories prepared directly for them by government agencies so they can publish them on credible news sources like the WSJ

I personally know of at least 2 journalists that are active CIA plants,

**Dragonfly** · 23-04-2020, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

But, the trolls keep calling Trump and everyone else stupid, posting clildish memes and repeating lies and cliches, and they will do the same after Trump wins the next election because they are not capable of realising their mentality and actions are part of the problem...

amen to that, Betty. You are dealing with self-righteous mediocre snowflakes who are upset in their little world because a pig like Trump is elected

don't know, maybe they are bored or have nothing interesting attached to their lives to be so upset, they should take cooking to vent their frustrations

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