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Zorro

(15,690 posts)
Wed Mar 13, 2019, 11:32 PM Mar 2019

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 Carlson’s 8 p.m. show on Fox News.

And she’s 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 Carlson’s tone on Fox since he took over for Bill O’Reilly 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 nonprofit’s 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/

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TwilightZone

(25,266 posts)
1. Calling out deplorable behavior isn't bullying.
Wed Mar 13, 2019, 11:35 PM
Mar 2019

Project much, Tucker?

He's just afraid that he's watching his millions in potential future income go down the drain. Very quickly.

Judi Lynn

(160,076 posts)
10. Just found a cool article she wrote last year for Common Dreams about this dirtbag:
Thu Mar 14, 2019, 03:34 AM
Mar 2019

Published on
Tuesday, August 07, 2018
by TalkPoverty.org

Watching Tucker Carlson Eats At My Soul. Here’s 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 Carlson’s show every night. I actually watch at least three hours of Fox News programming each evening, but Tucker Carlson Tonight is the network’s primetime anchor: He’s on five days per week, at 8 p.m.—the slot Bill O’Reilly held until the news of his sexual harassment settlements forced him out. I’ve been doing this every night for more than a year, but I still find Carlson’s 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 that’s a satisfactory answer. What I actually do is track right-wing media and fringe outlets to hold bad actors accountable for their actions, whether it’s Sean Hannity’s conspiracy theories, Lou Dobbs’ insistence that Trump’s critics should be jailed, or Laura Ingraham’s campaign against immigrant children.

For a country that still relies on television for its news, this has always been important work. But it’s 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 Mueller’s probe into connections between the Trump campaign and Russian propaganda.

That would be terrifying enough if Trump was the only one watching, but he’s 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 Trump’s first State of the Union, he attacked Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan’s 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 Ryan’s 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”). He’s 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.

Stuart G

(38,328 posts)
13. Thank You, Judi Lynn, for posting this article...by Madaline Peltz
Thu Mar 14, 2019, 09:07 AM
Mar 2019

It explains how Madeline does her work. It is informative and brilliant. Thank You again..!!

Botany

(70,219 posts)
4. Is little Cucker Tarlson being picked on?
Wed Mar 13, 2019, 11:47 PM
Mar 2019

"She said Carlson’s response to the audio’s 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)
5. If by "powerful bully" he means "savvy opponent" then damn right he is...
Wed Mar 13, 2019, 11:52 PM
Mar 2019

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)
7. I don't get it. Why would anyone who considers themselves to be a
Thu Mar 14, 2019, 12:47 AM
Mar 2019

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)
9. they should know they don't have to listen to it much any more thanks to AI
Thu Mar 14, 2019, 02:15 AM
Mar 2019

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.

 

tonedevil

(3,022 posts)
17. Tucker Carlson is the victim of a bully...
Thu Mar 14, 2019, 07:30 PM
Mar 2019

how powerful is debatable, but that punks alligator mouth overruns his humming bird ass every day.

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