A POLITICAL PROPAGANDA MACHINE DISGUISED AS A CREDIBLE TELEVISION NETWORK
Fox News Plays Political Theater With American Democracy For Profit, Power, And Putin
Americans Are Being Entertained to Death
What is Political Theater?
Political theater is a genre of entertainment in film, television, or live performance with a political component to the story, meaning it addresses a political issue, event, or a person in politics. These stories can be fiction, non-fiction, or based on real events with artistic liberty. Audiences today can turn on Netflix to watch The Crown, check out a rerun of Parks and Recreation, or admire Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on Turner Classic Movies. Each, in its own way, is an example of political theater. Source
Fox News plays political theater for its viewers, fooling them into thinking it's a legitimate news source. The scripted, attention-seeking programming of Fox News is more like performative professional wrestling.
Doesn't everyone know it's fake?
It's all FAKE! Those are the words people have used to describe the pro-wrestling genre for years. When the public discovered it to be fake, the industry relaunched its "scripted but real" rebranding, which as of March 16, 2023, the pro wrestling market was valued at $6.09 billion.
Should Fox News have to face a rebranding to force it to accept responsibility for the lies they've spread?
Is Fox News Cheap Entertainment or Informative News?
According to Federal U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil's opinion in McDougal v. Fox News Network, L.L.C., №1:2019cv11161 — Document 39 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)
She wrote: "Fox persuasively argues that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes." Source
Does she know most Fox News viewers never change the channel and don't realize what they consider authentic and trustworthy journalism is political theater, posturing for entertainment, and attempting to curry favor with Putin?
Fox News media manipulation and lies are destroying families. I can assure you reasonable viewers are not what becomes of people after watching Fox News.
Fox News vaccine disinformation has contributed to the deaths of hundreds of THOUSANDS of reasonable viewers, despite the hosts being 90% vaccinated while lying about Covid-19.
What about the unspeakable death and destruction caused by gun violence while a Fox News host works for the gun industry?
The dangers of propaganda are felt around the world. But never more than the pressure it puts on our soldiers who are subjected to Fox News non-stop on military bases around the globe.
VoteVets.org has published an excellent video ad about the disinformation broadcast on military bases. Our soldiers — the heart of the country — are the target of propaganda designed to destroy America from within.
America's heart lies in its volunteers who take an oath to defend its interests against all domestic and foreign enemies who are inundated with propaganda scripted by Russia.
Murdoch's "news" source pumps propaganda into our soldiers' barracks, P.X.s, mess halls, and everyday life as they desecrate faith in American beliefs.
Attempting to destroy American democracy from within is not entertainment — it's contemporary Russian propaganda.
Reasonable viewers deserve the right to know they're being entertained and not informed.
Murdoch's lies are not harmless slanted programming. It's propaganda intended to advance Putin's anti-democracy agenda.
Why Doesn't The F.C.C. Do Something About the Lies Fox News Tells?
Because Fox News does not use public airwaves like A.B.C., C.B.S., and N.B.C., the F.C.C. has limited power over them.
The F.C.C. Can't sanction Fox News. What Can Be Done About the Lies Fox Tells?
Democracy depends on honest journalism. When a major news corporation chooses to leave legitimate journalism and knowingly spread propaganda for profit, they must be exposed, held accountable to the people they have hurt, and forced to pay the price to make people and communities whole again.
The only deterrent which can protect democracy now and in the future is holding Fox News accountable for damaging democracy, communities, and America.
That's a start. But with the limited reach of the F.C.C. and the deep pockets of the Murdochs and their Dark Money supporters — fighting the propaganda with the typical tools is almost pointless.
According to N.B.C. News, Rupert Murdoch admitted he could have stopped the spread of election lies about the 2020 Election but chose not to — which, by extension, helped spread the Big Lie the 2020 election was stolen — was because of money.
“I could have,” Murdoch said in the court documents. “But I didn’t.”
It's not about the money. It was never about the money.
The reason Fox News lies to the American public is not for financial gain.
Whoever controls the media; controls the mind.
— Jim Morrison, The Doors
What's the point of serving the American people when you can manipulate them instead?
Donald Trump said last weekend that he won't drop out of the 2024 presidential race if he's indicted.
That is the whole point! Clearly, Donald Trump is only in politics for the grift and the potential to avoid accountability for his crimes. He wants to be president to avoid consequences for crimes against all Americans.
After a lifetime of crime, Donald Trump found protection in politics, his power-hungry enablers, and the power of Fox News propaganda; he felt unstoppable.
While he consistently expresses support for Putin, terminating the Constitution and destroying democracy, he has the full support of Fox News and will again should he receive the G.O.P. nomination.
There are many Republicans in office now who have committed crimes against the American people. With Fox News as a cover, they can continue manipulating narratives, avoiding consequences, and the American people will continue to pay the price.
The manipulation on Fox News is all about control and power.
If you control the media, you can do ANYTHING — as long as you blame democrats, liberals, and the public on Fox News.
Ron DeSantis is a perfect example of this. He focuses on "woke" policies and "parental rights" because "woke" are vague, undefinable concepts that trick people into giving up constitutional protections.
Currently, parents have "parental rights" over their children — DeSantis offers parental rights to White Nationalists while undermining Constitutional rights that protect us from overreach by the government. The Republican Party is using DeSantis' double talk to gain power.
It's not about your rights! It was never about giving you rights! Just giving them power.
The purpose of any lawsuit is to make the at-fault party responsible for the injury or damages "financially accountable" for the damages.
In their current lawsuits, Dominion Voting and Smartmatic seek more than 3.3 billion in damages as restitution for Fox News' defamation of their companies.
How much would it take to make American democracy whole again?
Is propaganda a practice in Russia as well?
Whether broadcast as talking points on T.V. shows or appearing in the ambiguous symbol "Z," this propaganda works and will continue to work because it has been tried and tested in Russia's complicated history.
Putin's propaganda is rooted in Russian history — and that's why it works.
Most people exposed to Fox News daily have never been exposed to this type of propaganda before. The American people have no way of properly defending themselves against what appears to be legit news but are nothing but cheap-shot marketing and manipulation of Russian propaganda.
What Can We do About Fox News' Political Fuckery and How to Fight Back Against Propaganda
The Lucid Substack newsletter by Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an incredible resource, and I cannot recommend it enough. She is an authoritarianist expert and has been a resounding voice in the fight for democracy.
Every authoritarian takeover depends on enablers from business, religion, the law, industry, and the media. In return for profits and privileges, elites agree to tolerate and/or facilitate the rollback of rights, the spread of propaganda narratives, and the recourse to violence against state enemies. These participants in the destruction of democracy often go unpunished, even if the politicians at the center of that takeover are eventually prosecuted. This has been the case with Fox.
Authoritarian dynamics help us to assess Fox’s actual role in America today as it intensifies its partnership with a autocratic party. Both Fox and the GOP are complicit in the coup attempt, and both are desperately trying to shut down all damaging investigations and narratives. Fox’s actions resemble those of a media outlet owned by a crony of an illiberal politician. It is a network dedicated to demonizing the political opposition and indoctrinating viewers to blindly believe the party, no matter how destructive to society the consequences may be.
There are several ways to deal with Fox News and its propaganda, including supporting initiatives like the one I mentioned above, supporting VoteVets.org, and opposing Fox News on military bases.
- Don't allow the normalization of propaganda.
- Democracy is a one-sided issue — you either support it or don't.
- America's democracy is under attack by Russia
Another great resource for securing democracy is;
Democracy is waiting for a superpower like us!
Join the ranks of other people who are supporting democracy with #WeAreTheGuardrails! Democracy needs you!
Kimberlee Jakobe publishes We Are The Guardrails on Medium; follow her here and get each post in your email–and if you're not a Medium member, you can join here.
Your membership fee directly supports Kimberlee Jakobe and other writers you read. You'll also get full access to every story on Medium.
