As Hannah Arendt observed, “Lies
are often much more plausible, more appealing to reason, than reality, since
the liar has the great advantage of knowing beforehand what the audience wishes
or expects to hear."
Fox News displays its open
contempt for facts because it is a right-wing authoritarian propaganda machine,
and I mean that literally. Fox News does not practice journalism. It SUBVERTS
journalism. It is the Fourth Estate's Fifth Column. You can always find Fox
News by backtracking the trail of slain messengers who tried to tell somebody
the truth. And yes, the Big Lie works.
1) Right-wing bloggers, talk radio hosts, and other conservative media
outlets start promoting a fringe or false story.
2) Fox News picks up the story and gives it heavy, one-sided coverage.
3) Fox News and conservative media attack the "liberal media"
for ignoring it.
4) Mainstream media outlets eventually cover the story, echoing the
right-wing distortions.
5) Fox News receives credit for promoting the story.
6) The story is later proved to be false or wildly misleading, long after
damage is done.
The Fox Cycle is the reason why some people believe that Planned
Parenthood is in the business of selling fetal body parts, why some people
still think the 2012 presidential election was rigged against Mitt Romney, why
some people are convinced that voter ID laws prevent fraud and why climate
denial is rampant. Even after the truth has emerged, proving the story false,
there are still many people left with the impression that there’s some truth or
credibility to the claims.
While Fox News is mainly to blame for picking up these fringey stories
in the first place, mainstream news outlets must be careful not to echo their
right-wing manufactured distortions as truths. Fact checking and debunking
misinformation is especially important this campaign season.
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