Dear Commons Community,
Last night, I finished reading Brian Stelter’s book, Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox news and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth. It is a blow by blow account of how the relationship between Trump and Fox News has evolved. As a blurb on the inside jacket cover states, it is: “The urgent and untold story of the deadly collusion between Fox News and Donald Trump.” For those who follow Fox News not for its news but for its propagandistic treatment of the “news” especially on its prime time evening programs, Stelter fills in many of the gaps in stories that have been published elsewhere. If you are someone who does not follow Fox News at all and have little or no idea of its present operation, Hoax is an eye-opener. Below is a good review that came across my email from Mother Jones. It includes a link to an interview with Stelter. I think you will find Hoax a quick read and thought-provoking.
Tony
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Mother Jones
September 16, 2020
It is impossible to tell the story of President Trump’s rise to power without understanding his relationship with Fox News. Together they form one of modern America’s most defining duos, argues CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, who documents their symbiotic dance in his new book, Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth.
Through countless interviews with sources at various levels of power inside Fox, Stelter reveals how the wildly popular cable channel has subordinated journalistic integrity to President Trump’s political interests, while setting the broader daily agenda for his administration. “Every day’s a new episode,” Stelter told Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery during a livestream hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California. “Certainly Fox programs his presidency that way.”
Stelter argues there is no Trump without Fox. Trump entered the national political arena via a weekly call-in segment on Fox & Friends, during which he pioneered the racist birther lie; he regularly regurgitates talking points from Fox News’ The Five; he is emboldened by—and wed to—positive coverage from anchors like Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and Tucker Carlson, whose shows reach millions every night; and Hannity is a close adviser who even stumped for the president at a rally in Missouri.
“We don’t feel we have power to fact-check Trump,” Stelter recounted being told by one Fox journalist. “We feel like we’re being squeezed out by propaganda.”
The title of Stelter’s book was inspired by back-to-back uses of the word “hoax” by Trump and Hannity to describe the emerging coronavirus crisis in the United States. Both Trump and Fox downplayed the threat at the outset, a deadly error for which they face dual culpability (but zero accountability from Fox brass)—a travesty made all the more apparent following the recent release of Bob Woodward’s tapes.
For a look inside the Fox-Trump feedback loop that has distorted truth and threatened American democracy, read Jeffery’s interview with Stelter [link.motherjones.com], or listen to their conversation on this episode [link.motherjones.com] of the Mother Jones Podcast.
—Molly Schwartz
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