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And yet, Murdoch allowed the Dominion story to run. Tucker had Powell and others on his show to further the Big Lie about the election. Hannity pushed the same lies that the "insane" and "idiotic" Giuliani peddled. At no point did anyone at Fox stop and say, "This is wrong. We need to tell the truth." In fact, the filings from the Dominion case show that higher-ups at Fox, including show hosts, were worried they would lose viewers to NewsMax because the upstart Right-wing news channel was running with the same lies. The channel that once prided itself on being "fair and balanced" that put forth a show whose host proudly called a "no-spin zone" cast aside any claim to legitimacy to chase after viewers and dollars.
Fox willingly and knowingly spun a story that only worsened our echo chambers. And they did it because they understood that telling the truth would make them guilty in the eyes of Trump supporters for associating with the so-called "liberal" media by telling the truth that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Fox is not the only news organization that deepens our echo chambers and either lies or tells a distorted view of the truth. But this is a blatant example of how American media chooses to fail their viewers for money over truth-telling. So what are we to do when faced with media that cannot always be trusted to be honest?
Here are a few tips:
- Read news from multiple sources/sites. Even if one news outlet breaks a piece, others will do their own reporting to back up stories or expose falsehoods in the original report.
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Follow individual reporters over news outlets. Especially when it comes to deeply reported pieces, like Nancy French's reporting on abuse at Kanakuk camp, journalists are building relationships and want to relay fair and honest information.
5 More Things
1) Jon Ward reports on how radical beliefs in a spiritual battle played a role in the Jan 6 insurrection. This may seem like old news to many, but the piece is worth reading, especially for the insight from Matthew D. Taylor, a scholar of Protestantism at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. Taylor has his finger on the pulse of the New Apostolic Reformation and offers fascinating information into the goings on of the movement's leaders, especially regarding how the NAR is supporting Trump. If you're on Twitter, Matthew is worth following.
2) PsyPost has promising and hopeful news that introducing people to scientific reasoning can lower their chances of falling for conspiracy theories. PsyPost reports that two groups were introduced to conspiracies regarding Covid-19. One group was shown scientific reasoning that debunked the conspiracy step-by-step, and the second group was not. The group exposed to scientific reasoning was not only able to see the flaw in the Covid-19 conspiracies but also other conspiracies moving forward.
3) Vanity Fair has an excerpt from Will Sommer's new book, Trust the Plan, about the rise of QAnon. While I have yet to read the book, if it's anything like the excerpt or Sommer's podcast appearance on The Bulwark, it will be a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the QAnon movement better.
4) The Washington Post reports that Kristy Kamaro, who lost her election for Michigan Secretary of State by 14 points, has been elected chair of the GOP in Michigan. Kamaro was not backed by Trump, who chose Matt DePerno but appears to have won because Kamaro refused to concede that she lost while DePerno conceded his election.
5) If you're interested in seeing how misinformation spreads so quickly on social media, this quick Go Viral game is up your alley. In about 5 minutes, Go Viral shows how COVID-19 misinformation spreads and teaches you how to spot it. Let me know if you score higher than 23,000 likes.
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