In the weeks following the 2020 presidential election, Fox News was in turmoil. The most watched cable channel was broadcasting night after night about election fraud conspiracy theories. The hosts and their guests were repeating the claim that the election was stolen. They told the American public that Democrat Joe Biden had actually lost, and Republican Donald Trump was the victim of election fraud on a scale never before seen.
On air, Fox News blamed Dominion voting machines for the supposed presidential heist. There were claims that Dominion was corrupt and switched votes. No actual evidence was presented to the viewers,
But behind the scenes at Fox News, emails and text messages were being exchanged showing Fox News executives and hosts dismissing and mocking the same election conspiracy theories they aired.
Dominion sued Fox News for $1.6 billion. The voting machine company said Fox News repeatedly promoted false statements that Dominion was part of a widespread effort to fraudulently elect President Joe Biden.
In a brief, Dominion included dozens of internal messages sent by Fox co-founder Rupert Murdoch, top executives and on-air personalities such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Some employees called the claims "ludicrous" and "mind-blowingly nuts" in their texts and emails.
Fox is claiming that their reporting and commentary are part of their legitimate news-gathering activity. In a statement, Fox News accused Dominion of using "cherry-picked quotes stripped of key context.”
What do these internal communications tell us about Fox News? It’s long been observed that Fox is a pro-Trump and anti-Democratic Party network, but can the operation be fairly declared a political network? Is it an arm of the Republican Party, and should it be treated as such?
Guests:
David Folkenflik: NPR's media correspondent. Folkenflik is the author of Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires.
Angelo Carusone: Media Matters for America President a nonprofit media watchdog.
"The Source" is a live call-in program airing Mondays through Thursdays from 12-1 p.m. Leave a message before the program at (210) 615-8982. During the live show, call 833-877-8255, email thesource@tpr.org or tweet@TPRSource.
*This interview will be recorded on Monday, February 27.
