Tag: fox news channel
New CNN Boss Seeking ‘Ceasefire’ With Fox News

New CNN Boss Seeking ‘Ceasefire’ With Fox News

CNN hosts haven’t been shy about bashing Fox News, which has given them plenty of material to work with — whether it’s Laura Ingraham promoting the nonsense conspiracy theory that Antifa leftists attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 or Tucker Carlson praising authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. But according to Daily Beast reporters Lachlan Cartwright, Justin Baragona and Zachary Petrizzo, CNN is seeking a “truce with Fox News” under its new president, Chris Licht.

In a Source Material column published on March 8, the Beast reporters explain, “In recent years, CNN has become known for its forceful coverage of Fox News and its partisan talking heads who’ve played enormous roles in influencing former President Donald Trump and the right-wing media ecosystem that supports him. In turn, Fox News has returned the favor, often attacking CNN stars — sometimes with potshots about their physical appearances.”

But Licht, according to Cartwright, Baragona and Petrizzo, is seeking more reporting and less commentary at CNN — and less commentary means less Fox News-bashing.

“New CNN honcho Chris Licht doesn’t actually start until May, but ever the savvy ‘operator,’ he has already begun backchanneling with key figures, including agents and reporters, and, according to two insiders familiar with the matter, making it known to Fox News that he is working towards a cease-fire on his network’s aggressive coverage of them,” the Beast journalists report. “On Sunday, (March 6), there were notably no mentions of Fox News on CNN’s marquee media show, ‘Reliable Sources,’ hosted by Brian Stelter, who last year, penned a New York Times Best Seller titled ‘Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth.’”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to according to Cartwright, Baragona and Petrizzo, has underscored CNN’s expertise when it comes to hard news reporting — and Licht wants CNN to move more in that direction.

“According to two people familiar with the situation, the former ‘Late Show’ boss — who has been described to Source Material as an intense ‘social climber’ by several people who’ve watched his star rise over the years — will work to tone down the often opinionated and emotional reporting from stars like Jim Acosta, Brianna Keilar, and especially Don Lemon, who currently hosts the network’s ratings-deficient 10 p.m. to midnight programming. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated CNN’s prowess — rivaled only by that of the BBC — for hard-news-gathering during major news events. Under Licht, expect to see more boots-on-the-ground reporting and fewer partisan panels with talking heads like former Trump staffer Alyssa Farah.”

Indeed, Clarissa Ward’s hard news reporting for CNN from Ukrainian cities during the Ukraine/Russia conflict has been stellar.

Since his departure from Fox News, Chris Wallace has been part of the CNN+ team — and the Beast journalists report that Wallace’s name is “being floated internally” at CNN “to take the key 9 p.m. slot” formerly occupied by Chris Cuomo.

“Licht may look externally to make a splashy new hire,” according to Cartwright, Baragona and Petrizzo. “One name that continues to pop up is Brian Williams, who revived his career at MSNBC before exiting last year and is looking for one final act, according to two people familiar with his thinking. It would be quite the comeback for Williams, who has always had his sights set on a nighttime talk show — and who better to orchestrate such a move than Licht, who reworked Stephen Colbert’s show and took it to first place in the late-night ratings.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Carlson And Fox Go Anti-Vax Wacko With Conspiracy Theorist RFK Jr.

Carlson And Fox Go Anti-Vax Wacko With Conspiracy Theorist RFK Jr.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters

Fox host Tucker Carlson hosted anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a fawning interview on his Fox Nation show Tucker Carlson Today. Kennedy is a well-known figure in anti-vaccine circles and one of the most prominent backers of baseless conspiracy theories attempting to link conditions such as autism to vaccines.

During the November 15 interview, Carlson urged viewers to purchase Kennedy's latest book, a screed accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of intentionally bungling the pandemic, killing alternatives to the vaccine, and launching an assault on the First Amendment in order to silence critics. Kennedy walked Carlson's audience through a grab bag of his most notorious conspiracy theories, at one point asserting his belief that vaccines had to be one of the "key suspects" behind the rise in cases of autism.


Kennedy suggested that more than 17,000 Americans have died from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, a claim based on a misuse and misunderstanding of U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System data that Carlson has repeated on his prime-time show.


#EndorseThis: Lincoln Project Burns Fox News Phonies And Their 'Trump TV'

#EndorseThis: Lincoln Project Burns Fox News Phonies And Their 'Trump TV'

Everybody complains about Fox News – lately even Trump! – but nobody ever does anything about the toxic Murdoch network. Until now, that is, because today the Lincoln Project delivered a brutally mocking two-minute video of right-wing sycophants posing as broadcast journalists. Watching Lou Dobbs, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity abandon all dignity before their orange-tinted White House idol is truly hilarious, even more so now that Trump is constantly bitching about them.

No matter how abject and servile they are, we know there's never enough groveling to satisfy this empty narcissist. It's not a happy topic for them or their steroid-maddened master.

Hearing that the Fox News gang doesn't appreciate the "Trump TV" takedown, Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson taunted them on Twitter: "Come at me, bro." So far, none of them has showed up.



Donald Trump, press briefing

Fox Hosts Excuse Trump’s Admitted Lies About Pandemic Threat

Reprinted with permission from MediaMatters

For his new book, Bob Woodward taped conversations with President Donald Trump earlier this year. In some of the tapes, Trump admits that he knew the novel coronavirus was deadly even while he was downplaying it in public. Despite the damning revelation, Fox personalities immediately defended Trump.

In newly released audio excerpts from Woodward's interviews with Trump, the president said on a February 7 recording: "You just breathe the air and that's how it's passed. And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flu." In another conversation, Trump admitted that he was downplaying the risk of the virus, saying, "To be honest with you, I wanted to always play it down."

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