This is hilarious and creepy at the same time.
Fox News Channel always had a conservative slant -- Roger Ailes, George H.W. Bush's campaign manager in 1992, was, after all, a founding member of the team -- but it hasn't always had the agenda-setting power that it appears to wield now in Republican politics. Try to re-imagine the past 2 years of politics if FNC had emphatically and clearly stated that Joe Biden clearly won a clean election in the fall of 2020, instead of allowing conspiracy theories to be amplified by numerous hosts and guests, followed by giving Tucker Carlson a platform for his "replacement theory" level of toxic racism and Q-adjacent fearmongering. Well, what Rupert giveth, Rupert can taketh away. Here is the page 26 coverage of Trump's formal announcement that he is running for President again from the Murdoch-controlled New York Post:
As a savage takedown, this is classic, but does it really mean that the Fox-affiliated political news empire will be taking sides against Trump? Maybe:
My take on this is that while I wish Fox et. al. came to realize that Trump was a danger to the republic they are still loyal to, I think this is just another example of profit maximization within the confined sphere of conservative media. Fox could lose viewers if the Trump fans turn the channel to positive coverage they feel entitled to. However, Fox will make WAY more money if there is a competitive Republican primary than if there is not. They will end up hosting most of the TV debates in any nomination campaign between Trump, DeSantis, and others. So, Fox is more likely to take Trump down a peg while giving Trump challengers in the GOP airtime and a viable chance. If Trump wins the Republican nomination (and isn't disallowed from state ballots due to the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause) then I fully expect Fox to be as anti-Democrat as ever.
All the cable news channels made extra $$$ from the drama of the 2016 campaign and Trump's outrage of the day way of dominating the media space, so Trump running is good for business. But Trump having a competitive race is even better for business. And Joe Biden having a Democratic challenger is better still! Keep this in mind as the national political media, not just Fox, hypes 2024 throughout 2023.
9 comments:
I found the post about Trump very surprising based on the fact that it was coming from Fox, a well know republican leaning news network. Its quite interesting how much these media companies feed off the competition in politics, encompassing the drama and headlines, to fuel their profits. We learned about this in class: how much news coverage has shifted with the invention of television, and its impact on the publics understanding of the political climate. The news feeds of stories that gets them revenue, and it hurts the role of the media of providing trustworthy, multi-faceted information.
With the massive conservative agenda-setting power held by FOX, as well as Murdoch's other media companies, a split between Trump and other GOP candidates could have a serious impact on the unity of the Republican party. Trump supporters versus establishment GOP members will likely be at odds during the primaries, and FOX's coverage could potentially magnify the divide between the two groups. However, while this would be negative for the Republican Party (and likely damage the Republican presidential nominee prior to the general election), FOX and other Murdoch-owned companies will likely still air the divisive and controversial coverage, as controversy bring in more viewers, and thus more profits.
Good move by Murdoch - I see the decision to support DeSantis over Trump through a slightly more optimistic lens: hopefully, it is the start of a return to a normal Republican party that is becoming less extreme and less Trumpy (maybe more party centered than candidate centered?)
It is quite intriguing to see a widely known news channel that tends to favor the Republican side more is now fusing into news about the competition Trump has. It is also more intriguing to think about the impacts this change could have on its readers; it is most likely that it's the Republicans who regularly read FNC and how would they feel about this sudden shift? Media coverage is a big informal influence on the general public, but because the sole purpose these news companies have is to earn profits and gain public engagement by feeding into people's love for conflicts and canard, the public could easily be persuaded or the opposite.
As someone who has associated FOX news and the Republican party as supporters of the Trump cause, it is a nice change of pace to see a more critical take on his plans to rerun. Of course, it can entirely be true that FOX aims to just make profit by covering competitive elections, or elections that at least seem competitive, but I want to remain hopefully that this could be a sign for better days within an rebuilding party back to a sense of normalcy.
I wonder if the Murdochs' decision to not endorse Trump for his 2024 bid will give rise to a new prominent mainstream conservative media source. Some radical conservatives utilize social media and anonymous-posting sites to find like-minded views, so perhaps Trump-supporters will ditch mainstream media entirely. Regardless, the rise in conservative extremism in the past few years has been dangerous and concerning, so hopefully, the Murdoch's decision to walk away from Trump brings the Republican constituency back towards the moderate.
It's interesting to see how much the media can influence the public and politics in this modern age. It's good to see Murdoch separating from a man that is borderline dangerous and harmful, and hopefully, this signals a decrease in hyper-right conspiracies in support of Trump.
I think this leaves Trump's alienated fan base no other option than social media for news. I doubt the hardcore Trump fans will stick with corporate media outlets if they continue to diss Trump like that. We may see increased popularity in Parler and similar sites as we get closer to the election. I think ultimately, Trump will dig himself into a hole and strengthen his conspiratorial base but lose the moderate vote, leaving the door open for Biden. That would be truly disastrous for Fox unless Desantis can pull most of the Trump vote.
I also found it very interesting that the Post would have this kind of sarcastic, skeptical tone about Trump, but at the same it makes sense that the conservative media have a sudden change in attitude as other candidates show up to the scene and there are more choices for Republican candidates. Trump may be an example of the media, conservative and liberal, being attracted/having a bias towards “sensational” stories (“Trump’s outrage of the day”), because they are profitable. By instigating competition and drama between the candidates, this creates more sensational stories to make money off of. Also, with a majority of Texas already preferring not Trump (https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/14/texas-voters-ron-desantis-donald-trump/), it would be pretty stupid for the media to continue to glorify Trump and turn a blind eye on the opinions of the people that they are marketing to.
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