When backers of Fox News are confronted with the network’s horrors, they often cite the alleged scandals of MSNBC, its liberal counterpart among the top cable-news properties. At a Morgan Stanley investor conference last week, Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch gave this well-worn argument a whirl: “The main beneficiary of the Trump administration from a ratings point of view was MSNBC … and that’s because they were the loyal opposition,” said Murdoch, son of Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch. “That’s what our job is now with the Biden administration, and you’ll see our ratings really improve from here.”
A question for Murdoch: Does he realize how often Tucker Carlson, his franchise opinion host, has said that Democrats hate the country? Here’s Carlson in July 2020: “Loving the people you lead, caring deeply about them is the most basic prerequisite of leadership. The leaders of today’s Democratic Party do not, they despise this country,” said Carlson on his July 6 program, reflecting sentiments that he’s expressed on previous occasions.
Let’s not forget about how “loyal opposition” soldier Sean Hannity, the other franchise Fox News host, greeted the likelihood that Biden would actually take the oath of office: “I’ll say this — good luck if your dreams come true and your friend Joe is going to be hidin’ Biden in the White House. Here’s a ‘Hannity’ prediction: If your dreams come true, you better buckle up, because I predict — I’ll use the term 'greatest political Schiff Show’ on earth will unfold before your eyes,” said Hannity on Nov. 12, though he added the caveat that he hoped to be wrong.
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That Hannity diatribe came as part of a package in which Fox News and Fox Business hosts — Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo and the since-departed Lou Dobbs were also in on it — promoted the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from then-President Trump. That campaign called upon the steady presence of then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who last week signed a contributor contract with Fox News. Folks who believed these lies ended up invading the Capitol building on Jan. 6. (Carlson later dubbed the rioters “solid Americans.”)
Follow this authorErik Wemple's opinionsIn Lachlan Murdoch’s book, that all counts as “loyal” activity.
So: When was the last time MSNBC orchestrated such a lie campaign about a presidential election? Please tell us, Mr. Murdoch.
In his comments to investors, Murdoch talked about Fox News’s political orientation. “We very much focus on the center right. We think that’s where America is. You know, 75 million people voted for a Republican president, you know, sometimes in spite of his personality at times. And, so, they believe in those politics. They feel strongly about those political and policy positions, and that’s what we represent,” said the CEO.
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Though the idea that Fox News represents conservative America is an uncontroversial proposition, that Murdoch himself admitted it has drawn some discussion. CNN’s Brian Stelter, on Sunday’s edition of his show “Reliable Sources,” said it was an example of “giv[ing] up the game,” and his colleague Oliver Darcy called it “refreshing.” That’s because, until 2017, the network had insisted that its product was “fair and balanced.” It was never true, of course; the slogan only served to cloak a propaganda network in the trappings of an actual news network. “If you come out and you try to do right-wing news, you’re gonna die. You can’t get away with it,” late Fox News chief Roger Ailes once said.
Perhaps Ailes’ bit of wisdom about “right-wing news” explains why Murdoch uses the term “center-right,” a bland catchall that has the benefit of meaning very little. To judge from Fox News’ prime-time fare, though, “center-right” means “loaded with hatred, hypocrisy and lies and calibrated to attract large audiences.”
Read more:
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