My dad used to make me watch Fox News as a child so we could “see what the enemy is doing.” I didn’t understand that when I was younger, but as I have aged, it makes TOTAL sense. Lawsuits have emerged exposing their ridiculous propaganda machine, and I am here for it.
Recently, election equipment company Dominion Voting Systems settled a gargantuan lawsuit against Fox to the tune of $787 million. I was glad that this lawsuit helped unearth a lot of lies that Fox is PURPOSELY spreading to their minions. Let me say that I think it is extra malicious to knowingly lie to your audience for ratings. Now, former Fox News producer Jason Donner is suing his ex-employer, claiming that he was fired for not going along with the “big lie.” Donner being a once-member of the con-club makes this suit especially interesting. Hearing from an insider is always going to be different than hearing from an outsider.
MSNBC gives a good rundown of what the lawsuit is actually alleging. Donner claims that he got some backlash for being against Giuliani’s allegations of fraud. The biggest problem seemed to be that Donner did this publicly, which makes sense. Fox is about narrative and pushing themes, even if they aren’t based in reality. This has to be tightly wound in order to be effective, and publicly going against that narrative could hurt the entire scheme. Oh no! Donner alleges that he was “reprimanded” and told to be more careful going forward.
Another intriguing part of the lawsuit surrounds the January 6 insurrection. We all remember the horror of that day. I watched live on various news outlets as aggrieved, mostly white traitors took over our storied Capitol building. People were rightfully disgusted and most of the media was, too. However, Donner is saying how “horrifying” their coverage was at Fox, with some personalities downplaying the attack.
Of course they did! Their dear leader promoted the insurrection and egged it on. Again, Fox is all about narrative. Just simply going along with what our silly eyes told us was true wouldn’t have helped push along their agenda. Donner’s disgust was so strong that day that he called in to the Fox control room to complain. We have to take a step back and realize what all of this looked like. Donner, a Fox News producer, in DC while Trump’s loons laid siege to the Capitol, watching his own employer provide ridiculous and harmful coverage, and calling in to express his concern. What a circus!
A very telling quote from that day is Donner saying, “I don’t want to hear any of this f—– s— on our air ever again because you’re gonna get us all killed.’” Reading that, I could almost hear the rage in his voice. And guess what? People were killed. This statement really illuminates how dangerous media outlets like Fox News can be. The propaganda machine is very effective, too, and that’s the problem. To this day, I see people online downplay January 6. Even politicians continue to do so. And yet again, many at Fox know what they are doing.
Donner’s filing shows that they have continued to put out information on the subject despite being wrong or misleading. An important aspect to this is the money train. Fox gets their money mostly from cable bills. The good old fashioned way! This means basically monthly fees. They have to keep a loyal viewer base. I know that with my cable company, we are constantly losing and gaining channels. It is kind of weird actually, but that is how it’s been. So now, MSNBC claims that they are riling people up to be afraid that cable companies are trying to take Fox away, another of the million examples of how these people rely on fear to maintain power and to get paid.
Fox News is really doing a disservice to their own fans. They continue the pattern of lying to them for their own agenda and benefit. It will be interesting to see what comes of this new lawsuit and if Fox will have to fork out another huge amount of money for their deceptive ways.
(featured image: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Published: Nov 22, 2023 03:06 pm