APP - Are Newsmax, OANN, and Fox Media threats to American Democracy?

ThatOwlWoman said:
I for one am grateful that they finally happened upon a new one. "Commie" and "socialist" were so overused.
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Trumpers constantly whine about how the “MSM” is pushing the narrative yet they are the most guilty of letting Fox News, Newsmax and OANN drive their own narrative.
 
Doc Dutch said:
Trumpers constantly whine about how the “MSM” is pushing the narrative yet they are the most guilty of letting Fox News, Newsmax and OANN drive their own narrative.
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They moved away three years, but we used to have neighbors who got their "news" exclusively from Fox. In fact, whenever we visited with them they were either watching Fox or the Hallmark Channel. The guy would occasionally make odd statements like "coal isn't harmful to the environment and is cheaper than natural gas," "illegals are swarming all of our borders" (their son works for the Border Patrol at the Canadian border), and so on. We tried to stay far away from politics with them, but one time Mr. Owl had had enough, I guess. The lady had gone back to Germany to visit her folks so we had him over for supper. He was going on and on about coal is good and cheaper than NG, so Mr. Owl hauled out his computer and showed him the actual data. He seemed almost shocked to discover that the opposite was true. He had really believed that the decommissioning of our local coal-burning electric generating facilities and the conversion to NG-power plants was some dastardly liberal plot, in league with those Green ppl.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
They moved away three years, but we used to have neighbors who got their "news" exclusively from Fox. In fact, whenever we visited with them they were either watching Fox or the Hallmark Channel. The guy would occasionally make odd statements like "coal isn't harmful to the environment and is cheaper than natural gas," "illegals are swarming all of our borders" (their son works for the Border Patrol at the Canadian border), and so on. We tried to stay far away from politics with them, but one time Mr. Owl had had enough, I guess. The lady had gone back to Germany to visit her folks so we had him over for supper. He was going on and on about coal is good and cheaper than NG, so Mr. Owl hauled out his computer and showed him the actual data. He seemed almost shocked to discover that the opposite was true. He had really believed that the decommissioning of our local coal-burning electric generating facilities and the conversion to NG-power plants was some dastardly liberal plot, in league with those Green ppl.
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Sadly, fear and ignorance have replaced the Constitution and American ideals in the Republican Party.
 
Fox like many anti-American democracy sources lies to their audience. They are foreign owned and care nada for America. Excellent coverage in YouTube below.


"New evidence from a defamation lawsuit reveals Fox hosts and staff secretly viewed Trump’s election lies as "mind-blowingly nuts," "reckless" and "insane" while promoting the claims and related guests on air."

'Fox News admits the 'B.S.' in leaked text scandal: Hosts secretly trashed Trump lies'

 
Honesty and democracy won today. Time Americans paid attention and recognized the fact Fox OANN and Newsmax are propaganda networks that promote lies that support political agendas that are not honest and do not support America's freedom and values.

"There is nothing in those documents to show they operate like a real news organization," said Doug Gordon, a Democratic strategist. "If you are running a campaign in 2024, how do you in good faith hand your ads to Fox when you know they handed them over to Republicans? If there are any general election debates, how do you let Fox be a moderator?"

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/04/dems-cut-fox-off-lawsuit-revelations-00085469

'Fox News Lost the Lawsuit.... The network will pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems as the price of retaining its audience.'


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/fox-news-lost-lawsuit-won-war/673760/
 
Wow who would have thought Tucker would be fired! I guess his Jan 6th lies and his racist thought caught up with him. But reading article below demonstrates how Fox is just another daytime soap opera with cast and characters. And still Americans tune and buy in.

'Why Did Fox News Fire Tucker Carlson? Revelations from recent lawsuits may have led to his sudden downfall.'

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/tucker-carlson-has-left-fox-news.html


"The high-pitched squeals and goofy facial expressions were the superficial expressions. The deeper and more sinister aspect of Carlson’s success was his realization that his audience craved racist and nativist resentment in higher doses than his predecessor had been able to supply."
 
midcan5 said:
Wow who would have thought Tucker would be fired! I guess his Jan 6th lies and his racist thought caught up with him. But reading article below demonstrates how Fox is just another daytime soap opera with cast and characters. And still Americans tune and buy in.

'Why Did Fox News Fire Tucker Carlson? Revelations from recent lawsuits may have led to his sudden downfall.'

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/tucker-carlson-has-left-fox-news.html


"The high-pitched squeals and goofy facial expressions were the superficial expressions. The deeper and more sinister aspect of Carlson’s success was his realization that his audience craved racist and nativist resentment in higher doses than his predecessor had been able to supply."
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Fox did to Tucker what the Army did to 2Lt Calley after Mai Lai.

IMO, Tucker is only the first of several sacrificial lambs that Fox will use to escape the consequences of their actions.
 
I rarely watch Fox but it seems they have changed a bit? On the other hand, OAN and Newsmax are as anti-democracy as ever. You'd think the only thing going on in the world was Hunter Biden's laptop. Come on folks, he is a private citizen, do they ever mention Jared or Ivanka? hmm...

'Why Conservatives Can’t Stop Acquiring Media Companies'

'Recent conservative media acquisitions reflect the right's long-standing desire for mainstream acceptance of unpopular ideas.'

https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...quiring-media-companies-musk-twitter-00064443
 
midcan5 said:
I rarely watch Fox but it seems they have changed a bit?

On the other hand, OAN and Newsmax are as anti-democracy as ever.

You'd think the only thing going on in the world was Hunter Biden's laptop. Come on folks, he is a private citizen, do they ever mention Jared or Ivanka? hmm...

'Why Conservatives Can’t Stop Acquiring Media Companies'
'Recent conservative media acquisitions reflect the right's long-standing desire for mainstream acceptance of unpopular ideas.'
https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...quiring-media-companies-musk-twitter-00064443
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Billion dollar lawsuits will do that. When the investors are looking at suing those in charge, i.e. the Murdochs, that will also cause change.

OAN and Newsmax don't have as much to lose. They'll just fold up shop, create a new name and pop up elsewhere on Youtube and Twitter.

In a way, it's a good thing the only thing the Alt-Right can bitch about Joe Biden is that his only remaining son is a dirtbag. Agreed, no one is going after the Trump kids...although I think there's a good chance Don Jr. and/or Eric could end up in court over the 1/6 coup attempt.

I❤Irony The Alt-Right constantly bitches and whines about the MSM....but now they are the MSM. LOL
 
My solution is to watch news of the words or actions stated by said politicians. I don't need a filter or pundit to tell me what I heard or saw. I want to hear the words from the horse's mouth.
 
midcan5 said:
Most of the information presented by Fox OAN and Newsmax pretends to be news but is opinion. Opinion that appeals to a segment of society that already agrees. Opinionated presentation targets divisive issues rather than reporting or analysis. It is an internal political correctness that sees news or politics through an agreed upon lenses that is often anti-democratic, anti-science, and even anti-intelligence. These media sources pretend to be conservative they are not. They conserve nothing, they posture, dismiss, and divide.

It is an irony that Fox has become worse in an attempt to keep OAN and Newsmax at bay. Viewers are money. Modern American so called Conservative media now vies for the ridiculous if it feeds a bias, a hate, or criticizes. Add to this the death of local media along with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, Citizen's United, and the goose is cooked. Dark Money now rules.

Add online media sources that appear in searches and news feeds. Many of these are dark money supported sites pretending to be news when they are agitprop. Political power and corporate power do not like democracy. Democracy too often muddies the water, a citizen sees the world differently than a government bureaucrat or a profit seeking corporate officer. How does that corporation control democracy, it controls the information media presents and it targets information based on the social profiles of its viewers, often white and rural. Dog whistles dominate.

Democratic government is the favorite bogeyman of autocratic government. Lesser players in this game of deception include Breitbart, Townhall, and a host of sites that can be found in Internet searches - questionable sources are covered in links below. Online trolls have also proliferated in online social media. Some even gravitate to conspiracy sites or ideas of secession. This divisiveness takes many forms such as private schools, religious separation, and isolated rural community settings. Public education is too democratic, too open. How for instance could a pandemic become something other than a pandemic. Gaslighting from Fox ET AL have created a world of doubt. America leads the world in Covid-19 deaths, misinformation has consequences.

So how do we understand the topic question when media is opinion, distortion, dog whistles, targeted, oppositional, using loaded words, words meant as pejorative or audience specific? Content without thought, words like 'cancel' 'woke' 'leftist' 'liberal' 'socialist' 'border' 'trans' 'guns' etcetera. What do they really mean outside the club? Their appeal is to tribe, to emotion, not content or analysis. Misinformation and distortion weaken a nation's political conversation. Ask always who benefits, what is its purpose, and is the information news or opinion. Seek sources that explain without always pointing fingers.

Daniel Pipes wrote. "First, democracy is more than holding elections; it requires the development of civil society, meaning such complex and counter intuitive institutions as the rule of law, an independent judiciary, multiple political parties, minority rights, voluntary associations, freedom of expression, movement, and assembly. Democracy is a learned habit, not an instinctive one, that requires deep attitudinal changes such as a culture of restraint, a commonality of values, a respect for differences of view, the concept of loyal opposition, and a sense of civic responsibility."

'The Five Biggest Threats Our Democracy Faces'

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/five-biggest-threats-our-democracy-faces

And the SCOTUS threat:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...-biden-expand-supreme-court-trump-republicans

Information Sources to check:

https://iffy.news/
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fake-news/
http://politics.flackcheck.org/patterns-of-deception/

One online news site I recommend: https://www.theguardian.com/us


"Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders, on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America." Bernie Sanders
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Answer: NO. But CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and NPR are because they support the idea of a Democratic Party autocracy and act as a propaganda arm and enabler of leftist talking points.
 
Denying First Amendment Rights is the only threat I see to democracy when mentioning news agencies you do not like, one should maintain the reality in their mind that some folks don't believe the "news" sources one uses is worthwhile either. Seriously. You need to get out of the echo chamber, or the circle jerk, whatever you want to call it... stop listening to folks who say that others who disagree with you are a "threat to democracy".
 
Damocles said:
Denying First Amendment Rights is the only threat I see to democracy when mentioning news agencies you do not like, one should maintain the reality in their mind that some folks don't believe the "news" sources one uses is worthwhile either. Seriously. You need to get out of the echo chamber, or the circle jerk, whatever you want to call it... stop listening to folks who say that others who disagree with you are a "threat to democracy".
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I don't think what you just said can be emphasized enough. Reminds me of the old adage "I disprove of what you say but will defend to death your right to say it". The whole "threat to democracy" claim shows how far away we've gone from that.
 
Damocles said:
Denying First Amendment Rights is the only threat I see to democracy when mentioning news agencies you do not like, one should maintain the reality in their mind that some folks don't believe the "news" sources one uses is worthwhile either. Seriously. You need to get out of the echo chamber, or the circle jerk, whatever you want to call it... stop listening to folks who say that others who disagree with you are a "threat to democracy".
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Not to contridict myself based on my previous response but I do think the polarization of how we get our news is not a good thing for the country. People sitting in their echo chambers 24/7 is no bueno. (you see it manifested on this site where people can barely have actual discussions with each other)

This may be a partisan rant but I'll say it anyway. First off, I fully acknowledge there is a right-wing echo chamber. I just find it highly ironic that people who read the NY Times, listen to NPR, watch MSNBC, watch Colbert, Kimmell, the Daily Show and SNL complaining about others living in an echo chamber while never acknowledging their own.
 
Damocles said:
Denying First Amendment Rights is the only threat I see to democracy when mentioning news agencies you do not like, one should maintain the reality in their mind that some folks don't believe the "news" sources one uses is worthwhile either. Seriously. You need to get out of the echo chamber, or the circle jerk, whatever you want to call it... stop listening to folks who say that others who disagree with you are a "threat to democracy".
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Yet, denying first amendment rights is what the Democratic Party is all about. The ones who cackle the loudest about threats to democracy while shutting down any news that doesn't fit their narratives are the real threats. That and a compliant media who enable the party to get away with its corrupt efforts.
 
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