This man lives in the paranoid alternate universe of Fox News -- so you don't have to

[marmar]

This man lives in the paranoid alternate universe of Fox News — so you don't have to
Researcher Andrew Lawrence marinates daily in the racist terror and apocalypse porn of Tucker Carlson and friends

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 14, 2021 6:00AM


(Salon) In the upside-down world alternate universe created by Fox News, "real Americans" are under siege in "their own country" from nonwhite, non-English-speaking immigrants, Black and brown people more generally, and street violence orchestrated by antifa, the Black Lives Matter movement and other bogeymen

America's suburbs are being overrun by criminals (understood by default to be Black or brown), and patriotic Americans face relentless censorship and discrimination from the forces of "wokeness." Teachers and activists are spreading "critical race theory" in public schools, devoted to brainwashing white children into self-hatred.

"Socialism" is running amok and destroying America. Gay men and lesbians have ruined the institution of marriage, and trans people are sexual deviants who loiter in public bathrooms seeking to molest children — or, more to the point, seduce true American heterosexual manly men.

....(snip)....

Many outsiders to Fox News, who still live in normal society, cannot navigate or decipher the power that Fox News holds over its public and the larger right-wing political cult. For that we have Andrew Lawrence, a senior researcher at Media Matters and a professional guide to the Fox News universe, who told me that he watches the channel so others don't have to.

....(snip)....

You said you watch Fox News so other people don't have to. Why are their viewers so dedicated?

What Fox News is doing is capitalizing on fear, more than anything. That is the formula for keeping their viewers enraged and engaged. Using the COVID vaccine as an example, Fox News understands that their audience has a distrust in the government and some type of "they" who, in their minds, hold power and are controlling things. Fox News leverages that more than anything else. What I have realized, especially over the last six months, is that Fox News is just a grift.

They're just grifting their viewers and they're going to say anything that they have to in order to keep eyeballs on their station for as long as they can. Fox News will say whatever they need to in the exact moment necessary to tell their audience what it needs to hear to keep watching

What are the long-term themes that Fox News is emphasizing in the Age of Trump?

The main theme on Fox News right now is that the only racism that exists is racism against white people. "They" are coming for white people. It's a constant theme throughout the network. I would say Tucker Carlson is a little bit more upfront about it. He'll do segments on supposed anti-white policies. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/12/14/this-man-lives-in-the-paranoid-alternate-universe-of-fox-news--so-you-dont-have-to/

[mopinko]

1. even more than misery, stupid loves company.

that's the real secret, imho. the fear makes them stupid, and they stay for the company.

[Ferryboat]

2. Well worth the time to read this article

Highlights the futility of trying to reason with those who watch FOX, and how dangerous this media empire is.

[crud]

3. I've watched a bit of FOX Soul

And it seems to be geared towards stoking anger and fear also, with lots of stories about white people doing racist stuff. It is the same formula only in reverse. The FOX media empire is absolute evil.

[yankee87]

4. So true

I live outside Cleveland and go for the theater and dining on a regular basis. I was told by acquaintances of ours, that Antifa is going to kill you, and your wife if I go there. These are all day Fox news listeners who have unsecured firearms all around the house, do not go anywhere without carrying, won't take the "jab" even after their grandfather died a horrible death from Covid. Just my experience,