How Fox News Is Quietly Covering Up Stories That Make Trump Look Weak
Apr 12, 2024
auto_awesome
Media Matters news director John Whitehouse discusses Fox News' biased coverage of negative news surrounding Trump's campaign, including downplaying legal issues and lack of endorsements. The podcast also explores Fox News' strategic focus on certain topics, internal divide on addressing Trump's weaknesses, audience shift to Newsmax, and the nationalization of right-wing media at local levels.
20:44
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
Fox News downplays negative Trump news aligning with propaganda, not news.
Fox News minimizes coverage on significant rulings, prioritizing shielding audience from extremist policies.
Deep dives
Fox News Downplays Coverage of Arizona Abortion Ruling
Fox News provided minimal coverage of the Arizona abortion ruling, dedicating only 24 minutes to the topic. Their focus appeared to align with Trump's message, suggesting a shift towards being a propaganda outlet rather than a news network. Not delving into the policy implications, Fox News seemed to prioritize echoing Trump's views rather than informing its audience.
Fox News' Sparse Coverage on Alabama Supreme Court Ruling
Despite the significant implications of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on frozen embryos having child protections, Fox News allocated just six minutes to the coverage. In contrast, CNN and MSNBC offered over three hours of coverage, highlighting a stark disparity in reporting. Fox News' approach seemed geared towards shielding the audience from the GOP's extremist policy directions.
Fox News: Transition from Journalism to Propaganda
Fox News has undergone a transformation from journalistic coverage to MAGA propaganda, as evidenced by personalities like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. The network's alignment with the MAGA narrative signifies a departure from its role as a conservative voice. The shift towards propaganda-based content reflects an audience-driven strategy aimed at minimizing risks rather than engaging in substantive reporting.
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been hit by a lot of bad news lately. His former vice president declined to endorse him. His legal travails are getting worse. And some states are lurching to new extremes on abortion, making it impossible for Trump to shrug off responsibility for the end of Roe v. Wade. Yet as Media Matters has documented, Fox News appears to be dramatically downplaying a lot of these stories. We talked to Media Matters news director John Whitehouse about Fox’s evolution into a pro-Trump propaganda network and what that says about today’s right wing.