SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity interviews U.S. President Donald Trump on September 20, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
DNC Bars 'Propaganda Outfit' Fox From Hosting Primary Debates
"The process of publicly considering Fox News as a host gave the network undeserved legitimacy," wrote one political journalist
Mar 05, 2019
Democrats announced Wednesday that the Fox News network will not be invited to host any Democratic debates in the 2020 election, citing investigative journalist Jane Mayer's in-depth New Yorker article about the channel.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said it was necessary to exclude Fox and its TV personalities from participating in the debates due to President Donald Trump's "inappropriate relationship" with the network and its function as the White House's unofficial propaganda outlet, as described in Mayer's reporting.
The article, Perez added, led him "to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates."
Media critic Jay Rosen credited Mayer for leading the DNC to its decision with her extensive accounting of Fox's approach to promoting Trump's policies and even advising him on governing the country.
Fox, which was established in 1996 by Roger Ailes, a former strategist for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, has been known as a right-wing news outlet for decades. But Mayer argued in her report that the network has shifted from delivering partisan news to its viewers to selling them propaganda.
Mayer reported that when Fox hosted Republican presidential debates in 2015, sources from the network tipped Trump off regarding questions the Fox News moderators planned to ask.
The president receives policy advice from Fox hosts Lou Dobbs and Pete Hegseth, with the two being included by phone in some Oval Office meetings, and shares nightly phone calls with Sean Hannity.
"Nothing has formalized the partnership between Fox and Trump more than the appointment, in July, 2018, of Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News, as director of communications and deputy chief of staff at the White House," Mayer added, writing that Shine's presence in the Trump administration after more than a decade at the network has meant that a major player in the White House is now being paid by both entities:
With Shine, the Fox and White House payrolls actually do overlap. The Hollywood Reporter obtained financial-disclosure forms revealing that Fox has been paying Shine millions of dollars since he joined the Administration. Last year, he collected the first half of a seven-million-dollar bonus that he was owed after resigning from Fox; this year, he will collect the remainder.
On social media, some argued that the DNC's decision would keep Democratic candidates from engaging with Fox viewers who could potentially be persuaded to vote for them in 2020--but critics including journalist Judd Legum wrote that including Fox in the debates would give the network "undeserved legitimacy."
The fact that you have to remind people that quality journalists exist at Fox is itself an illustration of how bad the network mostly is and why it shouldn't be enabled or supported in any way. https://t.co/jampMnTBqd
-- Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 6, 2019
The only reason why Fox keeps a contingent of Real Journalists is to help justify the nonsense and propaganda of the rest of the enterprise to more passive viewers, advertisers, politicians and potential guests, and themselves. This mentality helps keep the whole thing running.
-- Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 6, 2019
"A key part of the motivation behind this decision is a recognition that Fox News is fundamentally in the business of spreading disinformation, as opposed to conservative reportage," wrote Greg Sargent at the Washington Post. "And the recognition that as such, Fox is at the throbbing core of something that has become a major blight on American political life is correct and important."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Democrats announced Wednesday that the Fox News network will not be invited to host any Democratic debates in the 2020 election, citing investigative journalist Jane Mayer's in-depth New Yorker article about the channel.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said it was necessary to exclude Fox and its TV personalities from participating in the debates due to President Donald Trump's "inappropriate relationship" with the network and its function as the White House's unofficial propaganda outlet, as described in Mayer's reporting.
The article, Perez added, led him "to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates."
Media critic Jay Rosen credited Mayer for leading the DNC to its decision with her extensive accounting of Fox's approach to promoting Trump's policies and even advising him on governing the country.
Fox, which was established in 1996 by Roger Ailes, a former strategist for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, has been known as a right-wing news outlet for decades. But Mayer argued in her report that the network has shifted from delivering partisan news to its viewers to selling them propaganda.
Mayer reported that when Fox hosted Republican presidential debates in 2015, sources from the network tipped Trump off regarding questions the Fox News moderators planned to ask.
The president receives policy advice from Fox hosts Lou Dobbs and Pete Hegseth, with the two being included by phone in some Oval Office meetings, and shares nightly phone calls with Sean Hannity.
"Nothing has formalized the partnership between Fox and Trump more than the appointment, in July, 2018, of Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News, as director of communications and deputy chief of staff at the White House," Mayer added, writing that Shine's presence in the Trump administration after more than a decade at the network has meant that a major player in the White House is now being paid by both entities:
With Shine, the Fox and White House payrolls actually do overlap. The Hollywood Reporter obtained financial-disclosure forms revealing that Fox has been paying Shine millions of dollars since he joined the Administration. Last year, he collected the first half of a seven-million-dollar bonus that he was owed after resigning from Fox; this year, he will collect the remainder.
On social media, some argued that the DNC's decision would keep Democratic candidates from engaging with Fox viewers who could potentially be persuaded to vote for them in 2020--but critics including journalist Judd Legum wrote that including Fox in the debates would give the network "undeserved legitimacy."
The fact that you have to remind people that quality journalists exist at Fox is itself an illustration of how bad the network mostly is and why it shouldn't be enabled or supported in any way. https://t.co/jampMnTBqd
-- Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 6, 2019
The only reason why Fox keeps a contingent of Real Journalists is to help justify the nonsense and propaganda of the rest of the enterprise to more passive viewers, advertisers, politicians and potential guests, and themselves. This mentality helps keep the whole thing running.
-- Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 6, 2019
"A key part of the motivation behind this decision is a recognition that Fox News is fundamentally in the business of spreading disinformation, as opposed to conservative reportage," wrote Greg Sargent at the Washington Post. "And the recognition that as such, Fox is at the throbbing core of something that has become a major blight on American political life is correct and important."
Democrats announced Wednesday that the Fox News network will not be invited to host any Democratic debates in the 2020 election, citing investigative journalist Jane Mayer's in-depth New Yorker article about the channel.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said it was necessary to exclude Fox and its TV personalities from participating in the debates due to President Donald Trump's "inappropriate relationship" with the network and its function as the White House's unofficial propaganda outlet, as described in Mayer's reporting.
The article, Perez added, led him "to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates."
Media critic Jay Rosen credited Mayer for leading the DNC to its decision with her extensive accounting of Fox's approach to promoting Trump's policies and even advising him on governing the country.
Fox, which was established in 1996 by Roger Ailes, a former strategist for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, has been known as a right-wing news outlet for decades. But Mayer argued in her report that the network has shifted from delivering partisan news to its viewers to selling them propaganda.
Mayer reported that when Fox hosted Republican presidential debates in 2015, sources from the network tipped Trump off regarding questions the Fox News moderators planned to ask.
The president receives policy advice from Fox hosts Lou Dobbs and Pete Hegseth, with the two being included by phone in some Oval Office meetings, and shares nightly phone calls with Sean Hannity.
"Nothing has formalized the partnership between Fox and Trump more than the appointment, in July, 2018, of Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News, as director of communications and deputy chief of staff at the White House," Mayer added, writing that Shine's presence in the Trump administration after more than a decade at the network has meant that a major player in the White House is now being paid by both entities:
With Shine, the Fox and White House payrolls actually do overlap. The Hollywood Reporter obtained financial-disclosure forms revealing that Fox has been paying Shine millions of dollars since he joined the Administration. Last year, he collected the first half of a seven-million-dollar bonus that he was owed after resigning from Fox; this year, he will collect the remainder.
On social media, some argued that the DNC's decision would keep Democratic candidates from engaging with Fox viewers who could potentially be persuaded to vote for them in 2020--but critics including journalist Judd Legum wrote that including Fox in the debates would give the network "undeserved legitimacy."
The fact that you have to remind people that quality journalists exist at Fox is itself an illustration of how bad the network mostly is and why it shouldn't be enabled or supported in any way. https://t.co/jampMnTBqd
-- Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 6, 2019
The only reason why Fox keeps a contingent of Real Journalists is to help justify the nonsense and propaganda of the rest of the enterprise to more passive viewers, advertisers, politicians and potential guests, and themselves. This mentality helps keep the whole thing running.
-- Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 6, 2019
"A key part of the motivation behind this decision is a recognition that Fox News is fundamentally in the business of spreading disinformation, as opposed to conservative reportage," wrote Greg Sargent at the Washington Post. "And the recognition that as such, Fox is at the throbbing core of something that has become a major blight on American political life is correct and important."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.