Drew Angerer/Getty Images News broke Monday night that Fox News will not show the first session of the January 6 select committee hear...
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
News broke Monday night that Fox News will not show the first session of the January 6 select committee hearingand will instead air its regular partisan opinion programming, featuring hosts who relentlessly attacked the investigation into the Capitol attack.
Judged entirely from a business perspective, the decision to ignore the ratings and instead launch counter-programming for loyal audiences who don’t want to relaunch the events of that day makes a lot of sense, revenue-wise. advertisers.
It also goes without saying that these hearings will be incredibly embarrassing for Fox News, given that the network’s hosts privately urged the then-president donald trump to stop the attack, while absolving him of his on-air responsibility.
But in terms of journalistic standards, or even a desire to keep a well-informed public, the decision is simply disgraceful – and damaging to the nation.
The decision is as clear as the evidence to date that Fox News cares far less about a well-informed audience and instead prioritizes profit over principle (although longtime critics will laugh at the idea that there have been any journalistic principles at stake in Fox News prime time for at least five years.)
Now, to be fair, Fox News isn’t completely ignoring the procedure. The network made the bizarre decision to move its main news anchors, Bret Bayer and Martha MacCallum, to Fox Business to cover the hearings. They will also air on Fox Nation and FoxNews.com. They also provide the feed to any local Fox Broadcast affiliates who choose to pick it up.
But the total viewership of those platforms combined presents a different set of viewers compared to the roughly three million viewers who tune in regularly to Fox News most nights.
Fox News has announcement they will cover the debates and intervene when they deem it necessary. Mediaite’s Kipp Jones reported Monday evening on Fox’s plans to cover the hearing this Thursday:
Hosts will participate in the proceedings when or if they feel it is warranted, the network said.
Fox said that while its flagship station will not cover the full audience, live coverage will be “available to FOX broadcast affiliates on any of their platforms.”
The hearing will also air non-stop on Fox News Digital, Fox News Audio and Fox Nation.
The network added that Fox News viewers who want to watch the hearing in its entirety can tune into Fox Business Network. Network hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will provide special coverage of the hearing on Fox Business Network.
At 11 p.m. ET, Shannon Bream will join the duo for a two-hour special reaction on Fox News Channel.
Gutfeld! will be preempted accordingly.
Tucker-Carlson, Sean Hanity, and Laura Ingraham will not be superseded by ratings, but will come in ratings when it is editorially decided that there are newsworthy moments to share for its viewers… Let’s go live to watch Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy call bullshit on procedure.
This is not the behavior of a news network. While it’s true that all cable networks place great importance on ratings, coverage of important news is still (thankfully) considered a vital responsibility. In this case, Fox News has largely ignored that responsibility, operating more like a partisan blog that covers all the news that gets the most traffic, damn the responsibility.
Fox News is an entertainment medium presented as a medium. Many have made this argument against MSNBC and CNN — which is correct — but the evidence just isn’t quite so damning.
Here’s the thing: Fox News is a ratings giant, and its political influence is somehow even greater. Its current audience exceeds CNN and MSNBC combined. And given the hyper partisan and politically balkanized country we find ourselves in now, it is After important that Fox News viewers watch these hearings more than anyone else.
Fox News executives have made the business decision not to air these hearings, and they will likely reap revenue and audience rewards. Viewers will be worse off. And so will the nation.
This is an opinion piece. The opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.
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