Tucker Carlson says he's the victim of a powerful bully. Meet the 24-year-old who found the tapes.
Madeline Peltz works the night shift at the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America. Given the timing of that particular shift, one of her main responsibilities is watching Tucker Carlsons 8 p.m. show on Fox News.
And shes watched a lot of Tucker Carlson.
Carlson has been in the public eye for some 20 years first as a print journalist, then a television commentator, founder of the conservative site the Daily Caller, and now, Fox News host, with a prime time slot and a salary in the millions. But people have been confused by Carlsons tone on Fox since he took over for Bill OReilly in 2018, noting concern about diversity and demographics in his show.
After many Carlson-watching hours, the 24-year-old researcher developed a working theory, which she outlined on the nonprofits website: that Carlson is using his platform on Fox News to introduce white nationalist ideas to the mainstream, making him a uniquely prominent mouthpiece for white supremacy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/03/14/tucker-carlson-says-hes-victim-powerful-bully-meet-year-old-who-found-tapes/
TwilightZone
(25,266 posts)Project much, Tucker?
He's just afraid that he's watching his millions in potential future income go down the drain. Very quickly.
Beakybird
(3,323 posts)UpInArms
(51,243 posts)For fortitude
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,103 posts)Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!
Judi Lynn
(160,076 posts)Published on
Tuesday, August 07, 2018
by TalkPoverty.org
Watching Tucker Carlson Eats At My Soul. Heres Why I Do It Anyway
Fox News is still the highest-viewed news network in the country, which means the stories it focuses on and the language it uses to report them holds a tremendous amount of sway
byMadeline Peltz
I watch Tucker Carlsons show every night. I actually watch at least three hours of Fox News programming each evening, but Tucker Carlson Tonight is the networks primetime anchor: Hes on five days per week, at 8 p.m.the slot Bill OReilly held until the news of his sexual harassment settlements forced him out. Ive been doing this every night for more than a year, but I still find Carlsons opening jarring: As soon as I hear it, my shoulders tense, I roll my eyes, and sigh. Sometimes during commercial breaks, I lie on the floor.
Unlike the 2.9 million people who choose to watch Fox News prime time, I do this as part of my job. When friends and family ask me about it, I usually just say, I work in media and hope thats a satisfactory answer. What I actually do is track right-wing media and fringe outlets to hold bad actors accountable for their actions, whether its Sean Hannitys conspiracy theories, Lou Dobbs insistence that Trumps critics should be jailed, or Laura Ingrahams campaign against immigrant children.
For a country that still relies on television for its news, this has always been important work. But its gotten more important now, since the president is Fox News most important and vocal fan. Trump reportedly forgoes daily intelligence briefings in favor of watching Fox and frequently tweets quotes from guests and hosts on the network. My colleague Matt Gertz has documented how the information feedback loop between Trump and Fox News has influenced immigration policy, generated presidential pardons, and launched daily attacks aimed at discrediting Robert Muellers probe into connections between the Trump campaign and Russian propaganda.
That would be terrifying enough if Trump was the only one watching, but hes definitely not alone. Fox News is still the highest-viewed news network in the country, which means the stories it focuses on and the language it uses to report them holds a tremendous amount of sway. And more often than not, that sway is used to shame the poor and scapegoat immigrants.
This is where Tucker Carlson really shines. His bread and butter is pitting white working-class folks against immigrants (or, more accurately, his idea of white working class folks against his idea of immigrants). On the evening of Trumps first State of the Union, he attacked Ohio Congressman Tim Ryans choice to host an empty chair as his guest to represent a Youngstown businessman who had been deported after 39 years in the U.S. In an interview with Ryan, Carlson dismissed concerns about deportations and suggested that Ryans concern for immigrants is at odds with addressing issues facing rural white communities. In another incident, he blamed immigrants for lowering the U.S. birth rate (to support this, Carlson incorrectly claimed that immigration is depressing wages among men, therefore decreasing the attractiveness of men as potential spouses thus reducing fertility). Hes also made the argument that DACA distracted congress from addressing unemployment and opioid overdoses, and claimed that Mexico in its entirety is a dangerous country filled with violent people.
More:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/08/07/watching-tucker-carlson-eats-my-soul-heres-why-i-do-it-anyway
Talk about a sacrifice! Madeline does it so we won't have to! God bless Madeline.
UpInArms
(51,243 posts)Am not certain that even I could possess her fortitude
Stuart G
(38,328 posts)It explains how Madeline does her work. It is informative and brilliant. Thank You again..!!
MontanaMama
(23,219 posts)Holy gawd, she deserves hazard pay.
Botany
(70,219 posts)"She said Carlsons response to the audios publication is a sign that it had an effect. Media Matters says it has
more material; it is not clear if the releases will continue."
RockRaven
(14,709 posts)Releasing stories about each terrible tape in a series rather than all at once is going to have a bigger, and hopefully better, impact.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)serious journalist (more of a pundit but whatever - and notice I said consider THEMSELVES to be...) go on a show with a jerk like Bubba The Love Sponge and then engage in conversation of that genre. Same with Howard Stern. You know what type of dialogue is going to ensue and to be a willing participant in that conversation is beyond me. And now, he wants to cry like a big ol' baby that he is a victim?
As for his current gig - well, that speaks for itself. He is a Fox bullshit artist for the right wing and feels he is in a safe place to let his racist/misogynist freak flag fly. Hope he loses his show and will join O'Reilly in some obscure podcast or blog.
certainot
(9,090 posts)companies like sonix.ai can transcribe faster, easier, cheaper ($5/hr!) than ever before
that means archived podcasts and other recordings can be digitized fast and cheap
republicon talk radio is doomed if the left finally lets the ad industry know how easy it is now to associate their clients with the hate, gw denial, and ignorance.
ExciteBike66
(2,275 posts)localroger
(3,592 posts)...oh wait, that already happened LOL
Stuart G
(38,328 posts)tonedevil
(3,022 posts)how powerful is debatable, but that punks alligator mouth overruns his humming bird ass every day.