‘Rupert Murdoch is a symptom’: Fox’s future politics look the same as past
Little will change at Fox News under new leadership, analysts say, as Republicans can rely on yet more outrage and division
The abrupt uncoupling of the Republican kingmaker Rupert Murdoch from his Fox News empire may have represented a ground shift in the media landscape in the US, but politically at least, very little is likely to change, analysts say.
That could be good news for those on the right of the Republican party, who can expect the network to head into the 2024 presidential election – even without its long-time figurehead – continuing to amplify the worst of the political bias and disinformation upon which it made its name.
“They’re going to continue the same business formula, which is whipping up hysteria around manufactured crises. They’ll continue to foster outrage and division, and gin up support for conservative causes. I don’t see any of that changing dramatically anytime soon,” said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg school for communication.
His son, who is taking over, is even more of a shithead than Rupert.
This is not a change, just a changing of the guard.
The fact that after all these years, after so much damage his media empire has created, various governments around the world couldn't find something to arrest him on is beyond frustrating.
It's because they are complicit.
Or the more likely answer is that they have always hidden behind Free Speech laws. They have known to keep their nose clean because if they did do anything illegal, they would get the book thrown at them.
Why do something illegal, when bamboozled idiots are freely throwing money at you?
It's like the old mafia cliché. These mob bosses used to work in the underground to launder money and were always afraid of getting caught by the law, but their kids got smart and simply went into big business to do it legally and out in the open.
Thanks Australia
He renounced his Aus citizenship 40 years ago and became an American.
He had to do this to buy Fox. For the entire existence of Fox news, R Murdoch has been American.
He is as American as any other naturalised immigrant.
That means he was 52, so it's not like someone who moved when they were 12...
He became American because America had lax enough regulations for him to take advantage of. Broken systems are ripe for exploitation.
So...thanks America!!!
Sure, Reagan destroyed it to the cheers of the degenerate fascists. I was here, I was 8.
Yes, the fascists swep under the rug in the civil war. Surprise, they didn't magically disappear.
Yes, I have been to the south, thanks.
The story is about Fox...
For the entire existence of Fox news, R Murdoch has been American.
I feel that perhaps his personality and life were shaped by events prior to when he was 52.
Yes, there's evil capitalists everywhere, but America gives them the means to thrive.
australia does also, so okay.
Then why did they go to America? To not use your lax system with access to hundreds of millions more people to exploit to make them billionaires?
I’m not sure what that question entirely means, but yes. The population of australia is about half of merely California.
He’s a symptom, but he was also one of the root causes, in terms of what made the Fox-style “news” successful.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The abrupt uncoupling of the Republican kingmaker Rupert Murdoch from his Fox News empire may have represented a ground shift in the media landscape in the US, but politically at least, very little is likely to change, analysts say.
That could be good news for those on the right of the Republican party, who can expect the network to head into the 2024 presidential election – even without its long-time figurehead – continuing to amplify the worst of the political bias and disinformation upon which it made its name.
Pickard’s view is shared by other analysts, who see a “business as usual” approach as the network continues to deal with the fallout from the $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for peddling Donald Trump’s big lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
That episode cost Fox its most-watched rightwing host, Tucker Carlson, who left in April after pushing the worst of the falsehoods, and complaining he was fired as part of the settlement.
Padden, who gave testimony in the Dominion case, is one of three former senior Fox executives who have become vocal critics of Murdoch and the network, writing in a blog post earlier this year that they regretted their defense of the channel.
Pickard, meanwhile, said the tried and tested political playbook that Fox has followed for so long will continue to encourage Republican politicians, and help the network fend off the rise of fledgling channels seeking a greater slice of conservative and rightwing viewership.
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