Fox News – the cause behind America’s highly polarized politics… or is it?

~ richzacaroli

Earlier this week, while appearing on the new Netflix series “My next guest needs no introduction with David Letterman”, Barack Obama probably summed it up best when Letterman asked Mr. Obama what he thinks is the most dangerous threat to a democracy.

“One of the biggest challenges we have to our democracy is the degree to which we don’t share a common baseline of facts,” Obama said. “If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you are listening to NPR.”

It’s true. You don’t even need to watch Fox News. All you need to do is, and nearly any given time, compare the headlines on Fox News’ web site home page to any other news outlet. The 35% or so of Americans… which is not coincidentally the same percentage of Americans as Donald Trump’s base… who watch Fox News on a regular basis, and no other news channel, live in an alternate universe of “facts”.

Fox News isn’t even really about “news”. The New York Times may have said it best in an article last December titled “America’s New Religion: Fox Evangelicalism”. It is a hybrid kind of prostelitizing infotainment that interweaves conservative politics with conservative religious values and talking points that try to justify the occasionally outrageous things Donald Trump says or does based on religious grounds, and yet forgives him for his indiscretions at the same time.

So, the conclusion that those who are left of center might come to is that Fox News, and other lesser evangelizing conservative “news” outlets, are a major part of the problem. But is that entirely fair?

Recently on Jake Tapper’s CNN Sunday morning program, I was disturbed when Mr. Tapper abruptly ended an interview with Steven Miller, Trump’s senior advisor for policy, because Mr. Miller did not want discuss the latest Trump outrages that Mr. Tapper wanted to discuss. But what Mr. Miller was trying to say at the moment Tapper gave him the hook is that CNN does not give the people in the middle of the country who have lost their jobs and their homes, who are struggling to feed their children, the people who voted for Trump hoping for a savior, a voice. Nor do most major 24-7 news networks, frankly. They only have the “Fox Evangelical Channel” to turn to to hear a voice they think is sensitive to their problems. But really isn’t.

 

 

 

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Published by richzacaroli

Following his military service, Richard (Rich) Zacaroli has enjoyed a long and successful career in the private sector. Leading organizations and guiding innovation that creates value for shareholders and stakeholders have been Rich’s core strengths. Rich has traveled to over 50 countries, and for many years lived as a U.S. expatriate in Europe. Through his experiences Rich developed an understanding and empathy for what we must do a global citizens to enable progress for the betterment of the global community. Rich earned an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management with a certificate in Change Management, a BS from Wichita State University. He has served on numerous NGO boards and is a member of Rotary International.

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