It has now been revealed for all the world to see that the top rated hosts at the Fox television network and many of its top leaders knew they were lying to their audience in the immediate aftermath and in the months following the 2020 presidential election. They were part of the big lie – in fact they were the primary purveyors of that lie – and they did it for ratings and for money.
One result of the lie was the formation of a misinformed mob that showed up at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th operating under the mistaken belief that the election had been stolen from Donald Trump and that they were the patriots called on to make it right. Fox played a major role in misinforming that mob.
The question now becomes what is the rest of the world of journalism going to do about it?
That is the question Matt DeRienzo, the former vice president of news for Hearst CT Media and the current editor in chief for the Center for Public Integrity is asking now that Fox has been exposed.
The fact that Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham will all be on the air this Monday evening(pending further developments) proves we are living in a “post-shame world.”
DeRienzo is right to ask the question. The bigger question though is what is the rest of the honest world going to do about it? If we do nothing; if we do not call for accountability, then we too are part of the problem.
