Right wing media consolidation/expansion is designed to adopt the Fox strategy to places like CBS News and even CNN. As you noted, a lot of what Fox does is it just doesn't cover the things that it cannot even plausibly brush aside or else try to shoe horn more sympathetic coverage or angles into stories that are pretty damning overall to MAGA or the GOP. I think about 50% of Americans get their news from the television and that will probably continue to decline. Trust in media is at an ATL too so they might be too late to truly transform political coverage for the benefit of MAGA.
Assuming that this behavior will not change, and that's a safe assumption, what will happen if the Democrats take back the House and Senate in the midterms. It most likely will become another stolen election in the minds of those who get their news from Fox and the broadcasts will feed that notion. I would not be surprised to see another Jan. 6 moment, perhaps in more than one location. Paranoid you say? Had I said the same on Jan. 5, 2021, it would have seemed paranoid as well.
Especially interesting in that Fox seems to have consolidated conservative the viewership at 11% versus CNN (5%), PBS (3%), MSNBC (3%) allowing Fox to lead and homogenize the news even further.
Rather startling that 50%+ of Fox viewers still think that Trump is doing well on inflation.
One question on the population of the graphic: What is the % of total respondents for "Never/Not Following" the news versus those actually reported on the graphic ("all of the time" + "most of the time"+ "sometimes")?
Whenever I am in a public space…Doctor’s office, hotel lobby or any other space where Fox News playing, I ask politely, to whomever is in charge, to please change the channel, because “I am deeply offended by the propaganda and disinformation”. While I am not naive to believe they won’t change the channel back when I leave, I feel it is important to raise the issue while there and challenge their status quo.
Another factor to consider is where FOX news is aired in waiting rooms, etc. At a motel that provided a breakfast, I took mine into another room to eat. When the owner asked why, I said, "I can't stand FOX news." He immediately said he would change the channel. When I had a root canal five years ago, I had the choice of two endodontists, each in a city an hour away from my rural area. We needed to go to one city for another reason, so I chose that one. When I went to my chair, a TV screen was blaring FOX news, as were screens in all the other procedure rooms. The noise was enough for my already frazzled nerves that I asked for it to be turned off. I recall how startled the dental assistant was as she looked at the endodontist, who after a pause, told her to turn it off. When I went back for the second part of the procedure, the TV was not as loud, and I knew there would be no grinding in my mouth, so I said nothing. In addition to the FOX lies about the Biden economy, I was treated to running political commentary by the endodontist and a different dental assistant. (I have never had a dentist of any kind watch TV and work in my mouth simultaneously.) Clearly, he and this staff member were true believers in Trump and FOX. The dental work was excellent, but if I should ever need another procedure, I will be going to the endodontist in the other city.
Radio is a significant silo with Clear Channel Communications as the number one radio station owner in the U.S. "Clear Channel owns, operates, programs, or sells airtime for nearly 1,200 radio stations; it also has equity interests in 240 international stations." Clear channel has 239 million monthly listeners in the U.S. and hits 9 out of 10 Americans monthly. Conservative talk radio dominates the commercial news/talk format. In an analysis of top commercial station owners, approximately 91% of total weekday political talk radio programming was found to be conservative, compared to 9% progressive.
Like the push to field candidates in all races, there is a need to communicate across all media (not ceding a particular channel) for any party wishing to maximize electoral performance.
This is very on point. Also, in rural places, especially TX, we are in our cars ALOT getting to a grocery or a hospital or your job or to visit family. There is no FM radio in many spots, and many times no satellite signal if you spend $ on Sirius. Talk radio does a better job keeping drivers awake than music, and AM is all we have. The right-wing has dominated that sphere of influence since Rush Limbaugh ruled the roost.
On a recent road trip to New Mexico my wife and I noticed that there were few or no NPR stations, while there were always 3 or four "Christian "stations . Lots of these are mainly right wing talk shows. Gets worse in Louisiana . There is some very dangerous content on there! Sort of like G. Elloitt turning off the sound, I like to switch to a Spanish radio station and just enjoy the drive! Prospero Ano Nuevo!
I do wonder, though, if even hardcore Fox News viewers haven't begun to notice the contradictions between the network's claims and their own family finances.
After all, Trump did promise to lower prices on Day One, lower healthcare and medication costs, etc., and yet prices are very much UP, the job market is frozen, and only the AI bubble is holding the economy up.
And when those healthcare premium increases kick in (plus all those small business bankruptcies), rural hospitals and clinics close down, SNAP and Medicaid benefits disappear, farmers find themselves unable to pay off their yearly bills and see no end in sight to the capricious tariffs that are killing their markets, I just wonder if at least some Trumpublicans will begin to question the president's focus on building a ballroom and slapping his name on the Kennedy Center instead of keeping his campaign promises.
And then there are those unrelenting Epstein files...
Thanks for this. Great topic. Question and a comment. (1) Why not attribute the Fox result as spurious (people who like Trump choose to watch only positive news on Trump) as I think the passing reference to MSNBC intends? (2) I find the biggest miss among political analysts and take makers is that most humans i know don't really follow any news other than what they see force fed into their instagram reels or other passing social media (or glances at TVs in cabs or elevators and the like).
Thanks for this. It is something I’ve seen here in TX for a very long time, so it’s nice to see data back it up. Fox is the default channel here- you will see it on in the background in waiting rooms everywhere. The news silos are absolutely real and when the Republicans lose elections in 2026 they will use the altered reality they’ve cultivated to weaponize their base to action, as we have seen before. Republicans asleep and oblivious will wake up to someone stealing the elections and will lose their collective minds. Again.
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Right wing media consolidation/expansion is designed to adopt the Fox strategy to places like CBS News and even CNN. As you noted, a lot of what Fox does is it just doesn't cover the things that it cannot even plausibly brush aside or else try to shoe horn more sympathetic coverage or angles into stories that are pretty damning overall to MAGA or the GOP. I think about 50% of Americans get their news from the television and that will probably continue to decline. Trust in media is at an ATL too so they might be too late to truly transform political coverage for the benefit of MAGA.
Assuming that this behavior will not change, and that's a safe assumption, what will happen if the Democrats take back the House and Senate in the midterms. It most likely will become another stolen election in the minds of those who get their news from Fox and the broadcasts will feed that notion. I would not be surprised to see another Jan. 6 moment, perhaps in more than one location. Paranoid you say? Had I said the same on Jan. 5, 2021, it would have seemed paranoid as well.
Interesting graphic.
Especially interesting in that Fox seems to have consolidated conservative the viewership at 11% versus CNN (5%), PBS (3%), MSNBC (3%) allowing Fox to lead and homogenize the news even further.
Rather startling that 50%+ of Fox viewers still think that Trump is doing well on inflation.
One question on the population of the graphic: What is the % of total respondents for "Never/Not Following" the news versus those actually reported on the graphic ("all of the time" + "most of the time"+ "sometimes")?
Add up the three non Fox channels and the result also is 11%!
Another great post! Thank you!
Whenever I am in a public space…Doctor’s office, hotel lobby or any other space where Fox News playing, I ask politely, to whomever is in charge, to please change the channel, because “I am deeply offended by the propaganda and disinformation”. While I am not naive to believe they won’t change the channel back when I leave, I feel it is important to raise the issue while there and challenge their status quo.
Another factor to consider is where FOX news is aired in waiting rooms, etc. At a motel that provided a breakfast, I took mine into another room to eat. When the owner asked why, I said, "I can't stand FOX news." He immediately said he would change the channel. When I had a root canal five years ago, I had the choice of two endodontists, each in a city an hour away from my rural area. We needed to go to one city for another reason, so I chose that one. When I went to my chair, a TV screen was blaring FOX news, as were screens in all the other procedure rooms. The noise was enough for my already frazzled nerves that I asked for it to be turned off. I recall how startled the dental assistant was as she looked at the endodontist, who after a pause, told her to turn it off. When I went back for the second part of the procedure, the TV was not as loud, and I knew there would be no grinding in my mouth, so I said nothing. In addition to the FOX lies about the Biden economy, I was treated to running political commentary by the endodontist and a different dental assistant. (I have never had a dentist of any kind watch TV and work in my mouth simultaneously.) Clearly, he and this staff member were true believers in Trump and FOX. The dental work was excellent, but if I should ever need another procedure, I will be going to the endodontist in the other city.
No chance to persuade voters you don't reach.
Radio is a significant silo with Clear Channel Communications as the number one radio station owner in the U.S. "Clear Channel owns, operates, programs, or sells airtime for nearly 1,200 radio stations; it also has equity interests in 240 international stations." Clear channel has 239 million monthly listeners in the U.S. and hits 9 out of 10 Americans monthly. Conservative talk radio dominates the commercial news/talk format. In an analysis of top commercial station owners, approximately 91% of total weekday political talk radio programming was found to be conservative, compared to 9% progressive.
Like the push to field candidates in all races, there is a need to communicate across all media (not ceding a particular channel) for any party wishing to maximize electoral performance.
This is very on point. Also, in rural places, especially TX, we are in our cars ALOT getting to a grocery or a hospital or your job or to visit family. There is no FM radio in many spots, and many times no satellite signal if you spend $ on Sirius. Talk radio does a better job keeping drivers awake than music, and AM is all we have. The right-wing has dominated that sphere of influence since Rush Limbaugh ruled the roost.
On a recent road trip to New Mexico my wife and I noticed that there were few or no NPR stations, while there were always 3 or four "Christian "stations . Lots of these are mainly right wing talk shows. Gets worse in Louisiana . There is some very dangerous content on there! Sort of like G. Elloitt turning off the sound, I like to switch to a Spanish radio station and just enjoy the drive! Prospero Ano Nuevo!
I do wonder, though, if even hardcore Fox News viewers haven't begun to notice the contradictions between the network's claims and their own family finances.
After all, Trump did promise to lower prices on Day One, lower healthcare and medication costs, etc., and yet prices are very much UP, the job market is frozen, and only the AI bubble is holding the economy up.
And when those healthcare premium increases kick in (plus all those small business bankruptcies), rural hospitals and clinics close down, SNAP and Medicaid benefits disappear, farmers find themselves unable to pay off their yearly bills and see no end in sight to the capricious tariffs that are killing their markets, I just wonder if at least some Trumpublicans will begin to question the president's focus on building a ballroom and slapping his name on the Kennedy Center instead of keeping his campaign promises.
And then there are those unrelenting Epstein files...
Thanks for this. Great topic. Question and a comment. (1) Why not attribute the Fox result as spurious (people who like Trump choose to watch only positive news on Trump) as I think the passing reference to MSNBC intends? (2) I find the biggest miss among political analysts and take makers is that most humans i know don't really follow any news other than what they see force fed into their instagram reels or other passing social media (or glances at TVs in cabs or elevators and the like).
Thanks for this. It is something I’ve seen here in TX for a very long time, so it’s nice to see data back it up. Fox is the default channel here- you will see it on in the background in waiting rooms everywhere. The news silos are absolutely real and when the Republicans lose elections in 2026 they will use the altered reality they’ve cultivated to weaponize their base to action, as we have seen before. Republicans asleep and oblivious will wake up to someone stealing the elections and will lose their collective minds. Again.
Trump is trying to give the Murdochs control of TikTok, so they can put their worm into the brains of the younger generations more easily.
Ellison has it covered.
It’s on everywhere in a lot of states and military bases. The people that have downplayed this do us all a disservice
U.S. citizens living, serving, or studying abroad—you can vote from wherever you are! 🌍 Visit https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas ballot.
It’s quick, free, and valid for all elections in 2026. Need help? Write to help@votefromabroad.org.
Vote from Abroad volunteers are ready to assist you with any questions about requesting or returning your ballot. Don’t wait! Request your ballot today and make your voice heard! 🗳️
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