Sammon, W
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">pension plan?</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">started at NYT?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">is a tool</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">hume quit (b/c he's a jrnlist), replaced by sammon (several 4 fluff books on b2, as well as Wa Times 1st book on how gore tried to steal election</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sammon canned for correct az call, needed a scapegoat?
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/blockbuster-report-fox-executives-and-top-anchor-bret-baier-tried-subvert-decision-desk">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/blockbuster-report-fox-executives-and-top-anchor-bret-baier-tried-subvert-decision-desk</a></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">matt g</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.38;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Top Fox News executives interfered with the election projections of the network’s vaunted “decision desk” due to blowback from then-President Donald Trump, according to a new book. The reports — and the actions Fox took with regard to its decision desk following the 2020 election — <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/timeline-decimation-foxs-news-side" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">demolish the network’s argument</a> that its “news side” is a credible journalistic operation walled off from the “opinion side’s” Republican Party propaganda machine. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In<b> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021</span>,</b> Peter Baker and Susan Glasser report that while Fox’s decision desk had been comfortable with its election night call that Joe Biden had won Arizona, “<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox executives were freaking out” that week as the network came “under tremendous pressure from Trump and his allies.” Fox’s call made it <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/06/13/fox-news-arizona-election-biden-trump-jan-6-hearing/7611567001/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">more difficult</a> for Trump to subvert the election after declaring victory on election night, and he responded by <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-desperate-push-preserve-viewers-exposes-hollowness-its-news-side" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">successfully encouraging</a> Fox viewers to switch to its competitors.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Jay Wallace, Fox’s president and executive editor, took a direct action overriding the decision desk in hopes of avoiding further criticism from Trump supporters on the Friday after election day, according to Baker and Glasser.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wallace “overruled the Decision Desk team including <b>Bill Sammon, </b>Arnon Miskin, and Chris Stirewalt, refusing to let them call Nevada for Biden even after other networks did, a level of interference that had been unheard of in past elections,” they write. “The reason had little to do with Nevada. Because of the Arizona projection, calling Nevada would give Biden enough electoral votes for victory. Wallace did not want Fox to be the first to call the election and declare Biden president-elect.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Wallace’s act followed two other proposals from senior Fox employees to interfere with the decision desk for Trump’s benefit, according to the book.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">First, “at 8:30 the morning after the election, Suzanne Scott, the chief executive officer, even suggested that Fox should not call any more states until they were officially certified,” they reported. As Baker and Glasser noted, “official state certifications typically took days or even weeks and no network had ever waited until then before telling their viewers who had won.” </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“A couple other top executives backed up Scott,” while <b>Sammon, the Washington managing editor who directed the decision desk, advised against the move, according to the book. (That <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/bill-sammon-secret-weapon-shaping-fox-news-debate" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Sammon</a>, who slanted Fox’s reporting to the right and bragged about falsely portraying Barack Obama as a socialist during the 2008 election, </b>was the voice of reason here shows how far the network had gone.</span>)</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But two days later, they report that Fox chief political anchor Bret Baier sent Wallace an email arguing that Fox should reverse its Arizona call and instead project that Trump had won the state — even though he trailed at the time by more than 10,000 votes.</b></font></p></div></div><blockquote class="block-quote block-quote--collapsable" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="block-quotequote" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 1.5rem;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The Trump campaign was really pissed,” he wrote in an email to Jay Wallace, the president and executive editor at Fox. “This situation is getting uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. I keep having to defend this on air.” He accused the Decision Desk of “holding on for pride” and added: “It’s hurting us. The sooner we pull it—even if it gives us major egg [on our faces]—and we put it back in his column the better we are in my opinion.</font></p></div></blockquote><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Fox executives sell ads by touting the purported firewall between the network’s right-wing “opinion side” and its respectable “news side.” But here we have the network’s top “news side” anchor imploring the head of “news side” programming to make the “news side” decision desk fraudulently award a state to Trump because his campaign was demanding it</b>. That says more about Fox’s role as GOP propaganda than any “opinion side” monologue. (In a statement, Baier <a href="https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1572284340968763395" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">denied</a> writing that the Trump campaign “was really pissed,” claiming that the quote was “from an external email that I referenced,” but complained only of the “context” of the remainder of the quotes.)</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Wallace didn’t follow through on Baier’s proposal, but according to Baker and Glasser he blocked the decision desk’s Nevada call the following day. </b>The day after that, Fox saw the writing on the wall and followed CNN, ABC, CBS, and The Associated Press in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/business/media/presidential-election-tv-networks-call.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">declaring</a> that Biden had won the election.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But that wasn’t the end of it. The network’s brass subsequently established an incentive structure that would dissuade similar “news side” threats to Fox’s bottom line.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Baker and Glasser report that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Sammon and Stirewalt were then “summarily fired</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">” with the announcement delayed until January and described as a “retirement” and part of a “restructuring,” respectively. </span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Over the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/timeline-decimation-foxs-news-side" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">months that followed</a>, “opinion side” hosts Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters, who had both <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-stars-keep-undermining-the-networks-arizona-call-for-biden" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">questioned</a> the network’s Arizona call, were given their own weeknight shows. They each took over time slots that had previously been occupied by “news side” programs. Other prominent election deniers were also <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/jeanine-pirro/jeanine-pirros-promotion-says-lot-about-reckless-future-fox-advertisers-should-take" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">promoted</a> and given <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-face-fox-news" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">increased prominence</a> at the network.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Everyone who works at Fox now knows that if they help Republicans try to steal an election, they’ll be richly rewarded. If they try to interfere with that effort by accurately stating that the Democrats won, the network’s top executives may overrule them and they will find themselves looking for a new job.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Fox’s decision desk is now just another piece of the right’s <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-loaded-gun-aimed-american-democracy" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">election subversion machine</a> </b>— one its executives can deploy at will — and its projections should be treated as such. Any future Fox election calls that diverge from other networks to the benefit of the GOP should be treated with extreme skepticism.</font></p></div></div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ggl 3 23 no lnx</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Washington Post</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Murdoch admits some Fox hosts 'were endorsing' election falsehoods</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CNN</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The 10 biggest revelations from Dominion's explosive Fox News legal filing</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Bulwark</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Exposed: Fox's Pander-for-Profit Business Model</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fox Leaders Wanted to Break From Trump but Struggled ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The New York Times</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://www.nytimes.com › 2023/02/28 › business › media</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">21 hours ago — The elder Mr. Murdoch also told Ms. Scott to get rid of a senior Fox News manager, Bill Sammon, telling her that it would go a long way with ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Bill Sammon</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Wikipedia</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Bill_Sammon</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Bill Sammon is a former managing editor and vice president for Fox News, as well as an author and newspaper columnist. He had previously worked as White ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Career · Controversy · Fox News memos</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Rupert Murdoch Said Fox News Was Seeing 'Green ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Gizmodo</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://gizmodo.com › rupert-murdoch-fox-news-trum...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">23 hours ago — Billionaire Fox Corporation Chair Rupert Murdoch thought all the ... Bill Sammon was the bureau desk chief who oversaw the Arizona call.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fox leaders wanted to break from Trump but struggled ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Seattle Times</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://www.seattletimes.com › business › fox-leaders-...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">16 hours ago — Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of the Fox Corporation, in New York, Nov. ... also told Scott to get rid of a senior Fox News manager, Bill Sammon, ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fox Leaders Wanted to Break From Trump but Struggled ...</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Yahoo</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://finance.yahoo.com › news › fox-leaders-wante...</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">9 hours ago — Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of the Fox Corporation, in New York, Nov. ... also told Scott to get rid of a senior Fox News manager, Bill Sammon, ...</font></font></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">many more</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-news-team-essential-cog-corrupt-propaganda-machine">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-news-team-essential-cog-corrupt-propaganda-machine</a></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2019</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">there will be no Fox News debate for this year’s Democratic presidential primary contest. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/democratic-national-committee-rejects-fox-news-for-debates-citing-new-yorker-article/2019/03/06/a0bdf55c-402e-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html?utm_term=.67c62eb93b32" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">closed the door</a> to the right-wing network on Wednesday, telling <em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">The Washington Post</em> that the party had rejected the network’s bid in light of the “inappropriate relationship” between Fox News and President Donald Trump that <em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">The New Yorker</em>’s Jane Mayer documented in her <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">damning new story</a></span>. <b>Perez’s statement brought a <a href="https://twitter.com/mlcalderone/status/1103362496965103618" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quick response</a> from Bill Sammon, Fox News’ senior vice president and Washington managing editor, who urged the DNC to “reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism,” from moderating a debate.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sammon’s comment is a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2009/10/13/foxs-news-programs-echo-its-opinion-shows-smear/155660" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">well-worn talking point</a> familiar to anyone who has followed the network’s public relations campaigns over the years. Fox executives and flaks are constantly telling <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/04/report-trump-has-loyalty-scale-fox-news-hosts/?utm_term=.68507239a28b" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">reporters</a> and <a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/fox-news-tv-advertising-upfront-america-watching-1203135697/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">advertisers</a> alike that the network simply has separate “news” and “opinion” sides like any other news outlet. In their telling, it is unfair to hold the conspiracy theories and naked bigotry of Fox’s right-wing prime-time hosts against Wallace, Baier, MacCallum, Shep Smith, and the rest of the purportedly objective news team.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But Mayer’s piece is more than a dissection of Fox’s merger with the Trump White House and emergence as a propaganda tool for his administration. It also helps underscore the farcical nature of the narrative that Sammon and his fellow Fox executives use in pushing back against the network’s detractors</span>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Fox’s defenders view such criticism as unfounded and politically biased,” Mayer writes, noting that in response to her inquiries, “Fox’s public-relations department offers numerous examples of its reporters and talk-show hosts challenging the Administration.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This argument was <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2009/10/13/foxs-news-programs-echo-its-opinion-shows-smear/155660" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">never credible</a>, but the network’s reinvention as state TV has rendered it utterly appalling. Everyone at Fox is complicit in what the network has become.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">the Fox-Trump fusion that Mayer reveals -- the total breakdown of basic journalistic standards, the endless propagation of paranoid conspiracy theories bolstering Trump, the revolving door between network and White House, the Fox hosts advising the president by day and shilling for him on air by night -- came about while Wallace and company were collecting paychecks from the network. To the extent they may have wished to halt that slide, they were obviously unable to do so.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">That's because Fox is -- by design, and to its core -- a right-wing propaganda apparatus that relies on misinformation, disinformation, and outright bigotry to promote the conservative movement and Republican Party. </span>That is its <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/05/18/roger-ailes-professional-legacy-creating-propaganda-machine-s-hurting-america/216543" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">business model and its political project</a>. It also employs some reporters, who have little influence over the bulk of the network’s operations. The reporters may at times criticize the unwillingness of other Fox employees to follow basic media ethics, but to no avail; as Mayer points out, “many Fox News reporters were angry, and provided critical anonymous quotes to the media” after Sean Hannity appeared on stage at a Trump political rally, but Fox supported Hannity nonetheless. The network’s pro-Trump talkers provide Fox with an audience, ratings, and political heft, and so its executives will choose the Hannitys over the Wallaces every time.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Wallaces nonetheless play important roles -- ones that are unique in the media.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At a normal outlet, journalists report out stories and try to break news. At Fox, on-air talent who roughly adhere to journalistic standards serve a very different purpose: They provide Fox’s PR team a fig leaf to point to when critics decry the network’s vile programming. When Hannity, Tucker Carlson, or Laura Ingraham get in trouble, Fox corporate can point to the likes of Wallace or Smith “challenging the Administration” as evidence that the network is more than a right-wing fever swamp.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mayer highlights two examples of this phenomenon: Smith giving a monologue in which he “contradicted Trump’s scaremongering about immigrants,” and Wallace debunking one of the White House’s “wildly inaccurate” talking points during an interview with press secretary Sarah Sanders. Both instances <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/01/07/guess-which-cable-news-network-isnt-talking-about-chris-wallaces-interview-sarah-huckabee-sanders/222435" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">garnered media attention</a> precisely because <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=shep+smith+invasion&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS822US822&oq=shep+smith+invasion&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.3119j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">they cut against the right-wing lies and smears</a> typically seen on Fox programs with much bigger audiences.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That attention benefits Fox’s PR offensive: When clips like these go viral, they become examples the network’s team can highlight when they want to argue that Fox is not a monolithic pro-Trump apparatus. </span>Fox keeps people like Wallace and Smith on the payroll not in spite of these types of segments, but because these segments burnish the Fox brand for journalists, advertisers, politicians, and other elites who don’t watch the network’s programming on a regular basis, more than making up for the hosts’ hefty salaries.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But these deviations from Fox’s norms are ultimately hollow. </span>In effect, they are the new versions of former Fox host Megyn Kelly’s <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/06/12/megyn-kelly-turned-alex-jones-because-her-struggling-show-needs-viral-moment/216870" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“Megyn moments,”</a> bolstering the credibility of the hosts and their network, but without any broader impact on the trajectory of Fox’s programming. Smith may tell his audience that there is no immigrant “invasion,” but that doesn’t stop the network’s prime-time lineup from assuring its much larger audiences that there is one. Wallace can give Trump aides a hard time in his interviews, but those exchanges <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/01/07/guess-which-cable-news-network-isnt-talking-about-chris-wallaces-interview-sarah-huckabee-sanders/222435" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">end up going viral</a> everywhere except at Fox itself, which apparently prefers not to inform too many viewers about the administration’s false talking points.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As <em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">The Washington Post</em>’s Erik Wemple <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/10/31/shepard-smith-cant-redeem-fox-news/?utm_term=.9a56ccc6dbfb" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">put it</a>: “Nothing that Smith says during his Fox News program -- no matter how sick his burns on Trump might be -- neutralizes the impact of Dobbs or Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson or dozens of other Fox talking heads. Nothing. Episodic truth-telling about Trump doesn’t excuse fulsome conspiracy-theorizing about Trump.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Baier and, of late, MacCallum, are often included in these discussions, but they largely went unmentioned by Mayer. I find their typical inclusion in these discussions suspect. Both tend to avoid publicly criticizing their colleagues, unlike Smith and Wallace, and produce far fewer of these viral moments. Baier’s biggest story in recent years was <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2016/11/04/even-bret-baier-has-now-abandoned-bret-baiers-anonymously-sourced-fbi-report/214310" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">his quickly debunked and largely retracted report</a>, days before the 2016 election, that the FBI was conducting a “very high priority” investigation of “possible pay-for-play interaction” between Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation that would “likely” result in an indictment; more recently, he’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/business/media/sean-hannity-fox-news.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">breached ethical norms</a> by golfing with Trump. Meanwhile, MacCallum is <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2011/05/18/foxs-straight-news-anchor-martha-maccallum-regu/179762" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">every bit as pure an ideologue</a> as anyone else on the network, using her show to claim that a border wall is <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/11/30/fox-host-martha-maccallum-humanitarian-perspective-wall-what-needed/222201" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“needed”</a> to stop the immigrant <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/12/20/fox-host-pushes-trumps-position-border-wall-funding-lets-get-together-and-secure-border/222377" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“invasion”</a> and declare that <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/08/14/fox-host-martha-maccallum-dont-we-need-recognize-both-sides-have-gone-insane-these-attacks/217624" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“both sides”</a> were at fault during the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/09/24/fox-news-interview-brett-kavanaugh-was-sham-here-are-seven-reasons-why/221436" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">among</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/02/04/fox-news-host-trump-s-hours-executive-time-it-sounds-lot-work/222754" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">other</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/05/23/fox-news-added-more-female-hosts-still-had-same-abortion-misinformation-problem/220255" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">misdeeds</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s also telling that the network’s PR effort consistently focuses on these sorts of moments from Fox’s journalistically inclined anchors rather than major news stories that its reporters break. That’s because the dirty secret of Fox News’ “news” team is that the “news” team doesn’t break much news.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">The New York Times</span>, <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">The Washington Post</span>, CNN, and a host of other news outlets have spent the last few years producing scoops at a furious, exhausting rate. What Fox scoops can you remember? Despite unparalleled access to the Trump administration and other Republican officials, the network has little to show for itself.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead, the Fox “news” team provides daily fodder for the network’s right-wing stars to opine about. Their role is to fill the network’s “news” hours with reports on whatever stories conservatives are panicking over that day -<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">- <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/11/09/study-fox-spent-nearly-12-hours-pushing-uranium-one-pseudoscandal-over-last-three-weeks/218475" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Uranium One</a>, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2014/09/16/report-foxs-benghazi-obsession-by-the-numbers/200694" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Benghazi</a>, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/23/study-caravan-coverage-has-taken-over-news-cycle-s-exactly-what-fox-news-and-trump-wanted/221806" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">migrant caravans</a>, and the purported Justice Department <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/01/25/fox-goes-silent-its-secret-society-conspiracy-theory-falls-apart/219167" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conspiracy</a> against Trump among them.</span> They provide incremental stories, often sourced to Republican legislators, that advance the narratives with fresh details for the “opinion”-side hosts to freak out about[vid?]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>sammon himself is a key party to this dynamic.</b> In 2010 and 2011, this top “news”-side figure became the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bill+sammon+media+matters&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS822US822&ei=P-1_XKDAOObV5gK8g5C4Cw&start=10&sa=N&ved=0ahUKEwjg25KP8O3gAhXmqlkKHbwBBLcQ8tMDCGk&biw=1866&bih=1007" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">subject of widespread criticism</a> after <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Media Matters</span> produced a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2011/03/29/foxs-bill-sammon-problem/178036" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">series of reports</a> showing how he had used his position to slant the network’s news coverage to the right -- including by claiming on air during the 2008 election that Barack Obama was advocating socialism, a charge he admitted he did not believe</span>. <b>Rather than firing Sammon for lying to its audience, Fox curtailed his on-air appearances but let him keep his senior job overseeing the network’s news coverage. </b>Most recently, he was the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paloma/the-trailer/2019/02/07/the-trailer-2020-democrats-embrace-the-green-new-deal-litmus-test/5c5af92b1b326b66eb098634/?utm_term=.bc2f3ec7dbb3" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">point man</a> in Fox’s effort to get the Democratic National Committee to let the network host a presidential primary debate, an attempt that ended Wednesday when the DNC <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/democratic-national-committee-rejects-fox-news-for-debates-citing-new-yorker-article/2019/03/06/a0bdf55c-402e-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html?utm_term=.f69181ef77cd" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">announced</a> that it would not partner with Fox in light of Mayer’s story.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mayer points to two cases in which Fox considered taking a big swing at a major scoop. It’s instructive to consider them as a pair. First, during the 2016 presidential campaign, a FoxNews.com reporter put together the story that Trump had had a sexual relationship with the adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels and that a payoff and nondisclosure agreement had been arranged to prevent her from detailing the affair. Second, in 2017, a second FoxNews.com reporter <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/02/fox-news-seth-rich-investigation-almost-certainly-never-coming-because-network-doesnt-actually-care/221537" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">developed a story suggesting</a> that the murdered Democratic staffer Seth Rich, rather than Russian intelligence operatives, had stolen the DNC emails that were leaked during the campaign.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The former story, which would have been damaging to Trump, never ran. The latter, which benefited his claims that he had not been helped by Russia, did. The Rich story quickly unraveled, eventually forcing Fox to issue a retraction. The network also claimed it was conducting an internal investigation, but to this date no results have materialized and no employee held accountable.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That’s how things work at Fox. It’s long been a propaganda outlet, and now it’s merged with the White House. It is toxic, and no number of tough Wallace interviews or Smith viral monologues can redeem it.</font></p></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7byqw/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-fox-news-news-corp">https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7byqw/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-fox-news-news-corp</a></font></font></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">vice no lnx</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Rupert Murdoch Has Known We’ve Been in a Climate Emergency Since 2006, Documents Show</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Murdoch’s News Corp has spent the past 15 years mitigating its own climate risk while giving media outlets like Fox News carte blanche to deny climate change altogether.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By Geoff Dembicki</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>September 23<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, 2021</span></b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When Kevin Rudd was prime minister of Australia, he lived in fear of Rupert Murdoch. The Labor Party leader came to power in 2007 promising to address the climate emergency, but attacks from Murdoch-owned outlets were relentless to the point where Rudd said he’d “wake up every morning and wonder how they would seek to crucify us that day, with rusty nails.</span>” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Papers such as the Australian, the country’s equivalent of the New York Times, ran high-profile pieces attacking Rudd’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, an attempt to force companies to pay for the climate-warming carbon they release into the atmospher</b>e,<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> including a front-page story about an industry report claiming the policy would cost 23,000 resource sector jobs. And it worked: Australian Parliament eventually voted against Rudd’s carbon-reduction effort, his public opinion rating tanked, his own Labor Party led a coup against him, and he resigned in 2010. </span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“If there was no Murdoch media here, or if, say, they only owned half the media instead of two-thirds of the media,” Rudd told VICE News, “we would have a carbon price today.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">What few people knew during all this is that the parent company of these Australian news outlets, Murdoch’s News Corporation, actually thought carbon pricing was a good idea</span>. News Corp has meticulously documented its own carbon footprint since 2006 and sought to “take a leadership role on the issue of climate change” by reducing it, according to hundreds of pages of publicly available documents reviewed by VICE News.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Even as Murdoch-owned outlets tore down Rudd in 2010, News Corp was advocating “market-based mechanisms to support carbon reductions” in the U.S. and other places</b>. This is according to documents submitted to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a nonprofit group that has for two decades catalogued and rated environmental reporting from more than 300 companies including Apple, Coca-Cola, and Ford Motors.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">No one forced News Corp to make disclosures to the CDP, which the group publishes in a database on its website. And far from altruism, News Corp’s disclosures are cast as corporate self-interest. In 2010, for example, a filing explained that doing so would give the company “valuable expertise when responding to mandated reporting requirements” under a potential carbon pricing system, should any country implement one</span>. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">News Corp also modeled the potential financial damage it faced due to extreme weather, wildfires, and other physical dangers intensified by climate change. “The company believes it is in a better position than others to mitigate those risks,” the documents read. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">News Corp has submitted yearly reports on its environmental progress to CDP since 2006, often receiving “A” grades for its efforts from the organization. Ateli Iyalla, North American managing director of the CDP, said News Corp’s disclosures place it among the world’s more responsible media corporations. “They have a strong understanding of climate issues and climate risk,” he told VICE News.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">VICE News reviewed more than a decade’s worth of those submissions, and the documents show a company that’s taking steps to protect its operations and thousands of employees from a climate emergency it knows is getting worse, while giving a massive media platform to people who say the emergency isn’t real.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The documents show that News Corp privately acknowledged climate change is making hurricanes worse, even as a Wall Street Journal Europe editorial writer claimed in 2012 that “‘climate change’ shouldn’t be blamed for Hurricane Sandy.”</b> The company in 2019 briefed employees on the dangers they could face from Australia’s “climate-related” bushfires as the Australian ran an editorial saying, “Experts keep telling us there is no direct link between climate change and bushfires; we know many fires are lit by arsonists.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Murdoch’s company in its 2020 disclosure cited severe droughts in California that lead to wildfires as a potential example of the “physical aspects of climate change.” But his top-rated Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, attacked Democrats for “insisting without evidence that climate change is causing California wildfires.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[News</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Trump and Fox News Are Ripping Off Australia's Climate Denial Playbook</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GEOFF DEMBICKI</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">09.16.20 ]</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In its 2020 disclosure to CDP, News Corp said it carefully evaluates the risk of sea-level rise and flooding when deciding to acquire new facilities</b>. That disclosure states that “members of the board are periodically updated” about the company’s sustainability initiatives and the risks it faces from climate disasters. The board of directors includes Murdoch himself. It also includes his eldest son, Lachlan, who is co-chairman of News Corp as well as CEO of Fox Corporation, the current corporate owner of Fox News. Meanwhile, one of Fox News’ rising stars, Greg Gutfeld, said this May the climate crisis “does not exist.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">VICE News presented a detailed list of questions asking about these events to News Corp, Fox News, Dow Jones (which publishes the Wall Street Journal), Fox Corporation, and the Australian, but none of these outlets and companies responded.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“If there’s a buck to be made, he’ll make a buck.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Taking serious measures to reduce corporate emissions while spreading climate denial might seem like a huge contradiction. But there may be a simple, coherent strategy at work. Murdoch is saving tens of millions of dollars due to the green initiatives, and at the same time earning record profits by feeding his global audience rage-inducing content attacking “out-of-control” liberals and downplaying the crisis. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“If there’s a buck to be made,” Rudd said of Murdoch, “he’ll make a buck.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Rupert Murdoch, now 90, seemed to abruptly decide in 2006 that the climate emergency was real. </b>“Until recently, I was somewhat wary of the warming debate,” he said that year during a speech in Tokyo outlining political and economic challenges facing Asia and the world in the decades to come. But he had become convinced that “the planet deserves the benefit of the doubt.” Murdoch had also made a financial calculation. “Being environmentally sound is not sentimentality,” he said. “It is a sound business strategy.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The following year, Murdoch held an event in midtown Manhattan that was webcast to all News Corp employees. The company would be launching a Global Energy Initiative, he said, whereby it would use renewable energy and energy efficiency to become carbon-neutral by 2010. Murdoch wanted to shrink his audience’s emissions, too. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“We can set an example, and we can reach our audiences. Our audience’s carbon footprint is 10,000 times bigger than ours. That’s the carbon footprint we want to conquer,</b>” he said. News Corp’s vast array of newspapers, TV stations, and movie studios could make the case for aggressive environmental change. “The challenge is to revolutionize the message. For too long, the threats of climate change have been presented as doom and gloom—because the consequences are so serious,” Murdoch explained. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">He wanted to make the issue “dramatic, make it vivid, even sometimes make it fun. We want to inspire people to change their behavior.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Some of News Corp’s papers seemed eager to follow their boss’s lead. “Go green with the Sun,” declared a weeklong series in 2006 on eco-friendly living run by the London-based media outlet, </b>which had previously run stories skeptical of climate change.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Australia’s Daily Telegraph that same year published multiple editorials criticizing the government for not taking climate change seriously enough. The New York Post during this period ran articles promoting New York’s Go Green Expo</span>. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[News </font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Fox News Totally Lost It Over Biden’s Vaccine Mandate</span></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PAUL BLEST </font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">09.10.21 ]</span></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This was an era when awareness of climate change was reaching unprecedented highs, and even prominent Republicans like Sen. John McCain of Arizona were calling for a price on carbon. But there may have been a personal reason for Murdoch’s newfound enthusiasm. “The primary mover behind it was James—Murdoch’s son,” said David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent and author of Murdoch’s World, echoing an argument that other observers of the family have made. James at the time was chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting. “I don’t think it happens without him,” Folkenflik said. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>(James Murdoch has an ownership stake in VICE Media Group</b> through his holding company, Lupa Systems.) “James is traveling and not participating in interviews right now,” spokesperson Juleanna Glover wrote to VICE News. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">During this period, Lachlan Murdoch was distancing himself from the company due to personal feuds with company executives in which Rupert sided against him.<b> That gave James, a political moderate whose wife, Kathryn, was becoming increasingly involved in climate issues, more influence over his father, Folkenflik said. In 2006, James helped arrange to have Al Gore present his film An Inconvenient Truth at a five-day gathering of News Corp executives</b> and employees entitled “Imagining the Future” at the Pebble Beach resort in California. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But even at that early stage, tensions were visible. After the screening, Andrew Bolt, then a columnist for News Corp’s Herald Sun paper in Australia who frequently questions the science of climate change, got up to speak, according to an account in the Bulletin: </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“Bolt opened his comments by congratulating Gore on his performance, then began to attack claims made by Gore in his film.</b> Soon, according to one onlooker, the pair were involved in ‘a full-on barney.’ Gore ended up shouting at Bolt. ‘It was brilliant,’ says one onlooker. ‘Embarrassing,’ recalls another.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In an email to VICE News, Bolt said, “I most certainly did not congratulate him on feeding the audience fake news</b>.” He went on, “Nor was there a ‘full-on barney.’ I calmly and politely asked him to explain three misrepresentations in his presentation, and he then went red and started shouting. This is more properly described as a meltdown.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Editors at the Australian were apparently not in agreement with Murdoch’s climate ambitions either. Asa Wahlquist, a former environmental reporter at the paper, said during an academic conference in 2010 that she had frequent fights with editors over her climate change coverage, calling it “torture” and “unbearable.” The paper’s then-editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell said at that time that “any reading of the (Australian’s) editorials on climate change would make it clear that for several years the paper has accepted man-made climate change as fact.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the U.S., however, Murdoch was confident he could get Fox News anchors such as Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly interested in doing more climate coverage. </span>“Probably Sean’s first reaction will be that this is some liberal cause or something, you know? But he’s a very reasonable, very intelligent man,” Murdoch said in 2007 in a rare sit-down interview with the environmental media outlet Grist. “He’ll see, he’ll understand it. As will Bill—he just likes to get debate going between people. And that has its benefits—someone says, ‘No there isn’t,’ someone says, ‘Yes there is,’ and they have it out for 10 minutes and it’s entertaining and creates more consciousness.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Around this time, as Murdoch’s World recounts, Fox Studios created a public service announcement featuring the head of Fox News, Roger Ailes, as well as Kiefer Sutherland, star of the studio’s hit show 24. But while Sutherland proclaimed that “global warming is a crime for which we are all guilty,” Ailes’ contribution was much more muted. “I was very clear,” he says in the video, “that energy was gonna be one of the things that was going to determine leadership for countries in the future.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">“Ailes’ line is fascinating,” Folkenflik said. “He came up with something that sounded supportive but committed him to nothing. The real question is, what was Murdoch committing himself to?”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By some measures, News Corp was doing a lot. “The company has made 24 the first major television production to be carbon-neutral, helped to pioneer the use of lighter-weight eco-friendly DVD cases in the home entertainment industry, launched a global tree planting campaign tied to the DVD release of the film Avatar, built the world’s largest and most energy-efficient print plant in the U.K., commissioned a study on the most effective way to communicate to the public on climate change policy, and committed to build the largest commercial solar PV installation at a single site in the U.S.,” reads its 2010 filing to CDP. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“These are just a few examples of ways in which the company is taking action on the issue of climate change,” it explained, “and avoiding the risks faced by those companies that are slow to do the same.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>But viewers of Fox News were receiving a much different message. President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 caused a backlash among grassroots conservatives, culminating in the far-right Tea Party movement</b>, many of whose adherents were hardcore climate change deniers. One of the movement’s targets was a major piece of U.S. carbon-pricing legislation proposed by Democrats called cap and trade. “Stopping cap and trade is a key priority for the Tea Party activists,” reads a 2010 Fox News opinion piece, referring to legislation somewhat similar to what Prime Minister Rudd had proposed in Australia. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Several months later, with Republicans and some conservative Democrats declining to support the policy, cap and trade died in the Senate. </b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fox News hosts like Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Neil Cavuto cheered the Tea Party movement on, in some cases broadcasting live from Tea Party events and encouraging viewers to join the protests. This was much different than the approach to coverage taken by outlets like CNN and the New York Times. <b>“The mainstream media hates the Tea Party,” claimed Fox News VP of News Bill Sammon in 2010. </b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Around that time, Sammon sent an email to Fox News staffers telling them to stress scientific uncertainty in the network’s coverage of climate change. “</span>Given the controversy over the veracity of climate change data,” Sammon wrote in the email, which was later leaked, “we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question. It is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>As Fox News became more successful at denying climate change, Murdoch’s views also appeared to shift—at least in publi</b>c. “Climate change has been going on as long as the planet is here, and there will always be a little bit of it. At the moment, the North Pole is melting, but the South Pole is getting bigger,” he said in a 2014 interview with Sky News. The following year, Murdoch tweeted an aerial photo of Arctic ice. “Just flying over N Atlantic 300 miles of ice,” he wrote. “Global warming!”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Internally News Corp continued to take climate change seriously. By 2011 it had achieved its goal of becoming carbon-neutral across its global operations. To celebrate the occasion, James Murdoch gave a speech that was broadcast to the company’s employees. </b>“Almost four years ago, our chairman, my father, asked us to ‘imagine the future’ for News Corp,” he said. “The goal was not superficial change, but to embed the principles of efficiency and sustainability in the core of our business.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">James Murdoch claimed that the company’s investments in green technologies—including a 4.1-megawatt solar power system in New Jersey—resulted in $180 of savings for every ton of carbon reduced. A project to more efficiently integrate News Corp’s data centers would reduce costs by $20 million per year, he said. And even smaller initiatives, such as putting heat-reflective coatings on the roofs of some facilities, could save $1.5 million annually. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Our company continues to grow—yet, for the first time, our absolute carbon footprint is shrinking.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Really, the results speak for themselves,” he said. “Our company continues to grow—yet, for the first time, our absolute carbon footprint is shrinking. Imagine a future in which every company is on this same path.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A year and a half after James’ 2011 speech, Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York City, killing 44 people, displacing thousands, and causing more than $19 billion in damage. The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece by two climate experts making the link to climate change. But its other opinion coverage of the intense and unprecedented storm was dismissive of the connection. “The idea that you can take one weather event, any given weather event, and attribute this cause to it, is from the standpoint of the research, it’s sort of a nonsense question,” Wall Street Journal Europe editorial writer Anne Jolis stated in 2012. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“There are no signs that human-caused climate change has increased the toll of recent disasters, as even the most recent extreme-event report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds,” read a separate 2012 opinion piece in the paper by University of Colorado at Boulder professor <b>Roger Pielke Jr</b>. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But that’s not how News Corp saw it. “In 2012, News Corporation was affected by Superstorm Sandy through filming interruptions, plant shutdowns, and box office closings in the Northeast U.S.,” its 2013 disclosure to CDP reads. “The storm indicated that News Corporation can be negatively impacted by climate-related weather impact</span>s.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>The Wall Street Journal’s opinion coverage</b> of Sandy wasn’t an isolated occurrence. When researchers with the advocacy organization Climate Nexus later analyzed 20 years of opinion pieces in the paper about climate change, they found a “consistent pattern that overwhelmingly ignores the science, champions doubt and denial of both the science and effectiveness of action, and leaves readers misinformed about the consensus of science and of the risks of the threat.</span>”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[News </font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Fox News’ Bret Baier Has Been Spreading Climate Misinformation Since 2009: Report</span></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GEOFF DEMBICKI </font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">06.16.21]</span></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>There was a similar disconnect during the horrific Australian bushfires in early 2020,</b> which razed an area larger than all of South Korea, resulted in at least 34 deaths, and killed millions of wild animals. It was obvious to scientists the fires wouldn’t have become so extreme without dry conditions brought on by global temperature rise, yet Murdoch-owned papers instead pushed a narrative that environmentalists and arsonists were to blame. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“Bushfires: Firebugs fuelling crisis as national arson arrest toll hits 183</b>,” read a headline in the Australian at the height of the fires. After receiving complaints, the Australian Press Council later investigated the reporting that went into the story, and while it found that the article was not misleading, it “accepts that the publication’s initial representation of the data may have led readers to consider that an unusually high number of ‘arsonists’ had been arrested since the beginning of the 2019-20 fire season.” In reality, most of the major fires were sparked by lightning.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Our coverage has recognized Australia is having a conversation about climate change and how to respond to it,” the company said in a 2020 email to the New York Times. “The role of arsonists and policies that may have contributed to the spread of fire are, however, legitimate stories to report in the public interest.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The story on arsonists was the top-read item on the Australian’s website that day and was given an international platform by people like Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted to his more than 6 million followers: “Truly disgusting that people would do this! God Bless Australia.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As with Hurricane Sandy, the Australian’s parent company, News Corp, knew full well there was a strong link between the disaster and climate change. “Climate-related events such as floods, cyclones (for example, those that regularly occur in Northern Queensland), and bushfires also have an impact on News Corp Australia's ability to operate efficiently,” reads its CDP filing for 2020. “The 2019-2020 Australian wildfires added additional strain on our logistics and on our effectiveness to deliver our products to our customers.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">News Corp explained in that same document that for years it has taken measures to protect its own employees from climate-related dangers. “Prior to each bushfire and cyclone season, the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) team works with the business units in properties that may be exposed to these weather conditions to ensure safety for staff such as editors, photographers, and journalists while they are out in the field,” it reads. “The WHS team brief staff on risks and ensure protocols are in place to secure their safety.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>News Corp also fretted about the climate risks faced by employees in the U.S. “Climate projection models make it difficult to know exactly which businesses or locations are most prone to the physical aspects of climate change</b>,” it wrote in its 2020 CDP filing. “However, it is clear from past severe weather events that some of News Corp’s businesses are susceptible to such extreme events. Extended and severe droughts in California and Colorado that lead to an increased frequency and intensity of wildfires are a concern, and could impact employees, facilities, and productions in the region.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">You wouldn’t know about the connection between climate change and disasters from watching Fox News’ coverage of the record-smashing 2020 wildfire season on the U.S. West Coast. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Massive wildfires unprecedented in their scope continue to sweep across huge portions of the West tonight,” Tucker Carlson said in a September 2020 broadcast. “How did climate change do that? They didn't tell us, but they just kept saying it. In the hands of Democratic politicians, climate change is like systemic racism in the sky: You can't see it, but rest assured it's everywhere and it's deadly.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The top executive at Fox knew that there was in fact a connection between climate change and extreme weather. As co-chairman of News Corp and member of its board of directors, Lachlan Murdoch was “periodically updated” about the company’s climate and sustainability reporting to the CDP, as News Corp’s 2020 disclosure states. And as CEO of Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corporation, he wrote in the 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility report: “We believe our main climate risk is related to business continuity in the event of more extreme weather events.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In the summer of 2020, James Murdoch decided to step back for good from the Murdoch media empire. </b>“My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions,” he said at the time. Earlier that year, James and Kathryn had released a statement criticizing News Corp and Fox’s “ongoing denial” of climate change “given obvious evidence to the contrary.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">JAMES MURDOCH WITH HIS WIFE, KATHRYN, IN 2015 WHEN HE WAS CEO OF 21ST CENTURY FOX. OBSERVERS OF THE FAMILY SAY JAMES IS A PRIMARY REASON WHY NEWS CORP STARTED TAKING CLIMATE CHANGE SERIOUSLY. PHOTO BY DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But James Murdoch’s climate change legacy lives on at News Corp. His father said in 2019 during a shareholders meeting in New York that “there are no climate deniers around, I can assure you.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The company’s 2020 disclosure to CDP explains that “our News Corp global real estate team reviews climate change risks when deciding where to purchase or lease new facilities around the world. These risks include hurricane/storm potential, water-stressed areas, and flooding risks.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The company is attempting to reduce its emissions in line with meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold that scientists say is our best shot at keeping the emergency under control. Meeting previous climate goals has saved the company at least $18 million, Murdoch said during the 2019 New York meeting. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">These days, even News Corp’s stridently climate-change–denying Australian media outlets may be changing their tune. According to the New York Times, several Murdoch-owned papers as well as the 24-hour Sky News channel will next month publish “features and editorials” that promote net-zero emissions by 2050. The new editorial position “could be a breakthrough that provides political cover for Australia’s conservative government to end its refusal to set ambitious emission targets,” the Times said. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Rudd, the former Australian prime minister, is skeptical, tweeting that the apparent rebrand is “Murdoch’s attempt to ‘greenwash’ themselves in the lead-up to the Glasgow climate conference. It’s all politics.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">It’s clear that Murdoch’s empire isn’t earning huge profits by making earnest statements about climate change to its viewers. In Fox Corp’s third quarter financial update for 2021, Lachlan Murdoch told investors, “Fox News channel finished this last quarter as the most-watched cable network in primetime and finished March as the most-watched cable news network overall.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Lachlan Murdoch attributed some of this success to the launch of Gutfeld!,</b> a new late-night program hosted by longtime Fox host and panelist Greg Gutfeld, which Lachlan said is currently drawing an audience larger than NBC’s The Tonight Show. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">In May, Gutfeld did a segment attacking President Biden’s climate policies. </span>“By the way, if you want to make electric cars the choice for Americans, you don’t try to hit them with guilt and virtue-signaling and tying it to a climate crisis that does not exist,” he said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Gutfeld assured his viewers that extreme weather in their communities has nothing to do with global temperature rise. “Because our own data says that is not actually happening,” he said. “That is not due to the climate crisis.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Follow Geoff Dembicki on Twitter.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">TAGGED:</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">MEDIACLIMATE CHANGEWORLDNEWSRUPERT MURDOCHNEWS CORPMURDOCHFOX NEWSCLIMATE DENIALKEVIN RUDDAUSTRALIAJAMES MURDOCH</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 23 brochure?</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Bill Sammon</b> is a former managing editor and vice president for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News" title="Fox News" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Fox News</a>, as well as an author and newspaper columnist. He had previously worked as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_correspondent" class="mw-redirect" title="White House correspondent" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">White House correspondent</a> for<b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times" title="The Washington Times" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Washington Times</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Examiner" title="Washington Examiner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Washington Examiner</a></b> before joining Fox News in August 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup></font></font></p><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Personal_life">Personal life</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 0; unicode-bidi: isolate; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span></span></font></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A graduate of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ignatius_High_School,Cleveland,Ohio" class="mw-redirect" title="Saint Ignatius High School, Cleveland, Ohio" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Saint Ignatius High School</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland,Ohio" class="mw-redirect" title="Cleveland, Ohio" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cleveland, Ohio</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_University" title="Miami University" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miami University</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford,Ohio" title="Oxford, Ohio" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Oxford, Ohio</a>, Sammon lives in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland" title="Maryland" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Maryland</a> with his wife, Becky, and their five children.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup> He is 6 feet 7 inches tall and was reportedly nicknamed by President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George W. Bush</a>, as "Big Stretch", or "Superstretch".<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></font></font></p><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Career">Career</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 0; unicode-bidi: isolate; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span></span></font></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" style="" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sammon authored four <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times_Best_Seller_list" title="The New York Times Best Seller list" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">New York Times bestsellers</a>: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election; Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism From Inside the White House; Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, <b>Media Bias and the Bush Haters; </b>and Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media. These books have been largely derided as overtly favorable to President George W. Bush and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_George_W.Bush" title="Presidency of George W. Bush" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">his administration</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_Fair(magazine)" title="Vanity Fair (magazine)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Vanity Fair</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> critic </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolcott" title="James Wolcott" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">James Wolcott</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> listed Strategery among other related books on Bush written by "faithful holdouts in Bush's pep squad [who] are happy to have endowed him with superpowers" as "hagiography mash notes whose toothy gleam of triumphalism was almost blinding".</span><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Reporter </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weigel" title="David Weigel" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">David Weigel</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> sarcastically referred to these books as "scathing critiques of presidential power".</span><sup id="cite_ref-Weigel_5-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-Weigel-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Prospect" title="The American Prospect" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">The American Prospect</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> wrote that Sammon "wrote an astonishing four books on the topic of Bush's super-awesomeness".</span><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He is a frequent guest on Fox News programs like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Report(TV_program)" title="Special Report (TV program)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Special Report with Brit Hume</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Sunday" title="Fox News Sunday" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Fox News Sunday</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannity%26_Colmes" title="Hannity & Colmes" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hannity & Colmes</a>. On September 13, 2007, Sammon appeared on Special Report and argued that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Olson" title="Theodore Olson" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Theodore Olson</a> should be confirmed as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General" title="United States Attorney General" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Attorney General</a>.</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On February 27, 2009, Sammon was promoted to vice president of Fox News and Washington managing editor.</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" style="" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In January 2021, Sammon announced he was retiring at the end of the month, with his position to be assumed by editorial staff members. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On the night of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election" title="2020 United States presidential election" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2020 United States presidential election</a>, Sammon had supervised the network's Decision Desk HQ, which had controversially declared <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Arizona</a> for then-Democratic presidential candidate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Joe Biden</a>. Sammon's departure, along with that of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Stirewalt" title="Chris Stirewalt" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Chris Stirewalt</a>, was seen as retaliatory in light of President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Donald Trump</a>'s criticism of the network and subsequent decline in viewership.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[7]</a></sup> It was subsequently reported that <b>Murdoch suggested that it was "maybe best to let Bill go right away" as a "big message with Trump people</b>".</span><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup></font></font></p><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Controversy">Controversy</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 0; unicode-bidi: isolate; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span></span></font></font></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.6; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Fox_News_memos">Fox News memos</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 0; unicode-bidi: isolate; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span></span></font></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" style="" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Media watchdog group <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Matters_for_America" title="Media Matters for America" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Media Matters for America</a> published memos allegedly written by Sammon while he was Washington managing editor at Fox News where he reminded recipients not to refer to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_option" class="mw-redirect" title="Public option" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">public option</a> proposal in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act" class="mw-redirect" title="Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act</a> by name, but instead use terms like<b> "government-run health insurance" </b>or to use various qualifiers</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The publication of the memos received attention from media observers.</span><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a></sup></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Another leaked memo showed Sammon had given orders for<b> Fox News to cast then-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Senator</a> Obama as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism" title="Socialism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">socialist</a></b>. "Sammon repeatedly said Obama's remarks were 'tantamount to socialism', on-air and in a FoxNews.com column, while sending around a memo noting 'Obama's references to socialism, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_liberalism" class="mw-redirect" title="American liberalism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">liberalism</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism" title="Marxism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Marxism</a> and Marxists' in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_From_My_Father" class="mw-redirect" title="Dreams From My Father" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dreams From My Father</a></i>."<sup id="cite_ref-Salonism_13-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-Salonism-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a></sup> Some questions that were asked by Fox journalists were allegedly scripted by Sammon.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a></sup> Sammon later explained the incident as a product of his "rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched".<sup id="cite_ref-Salonism_13-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-Salonism-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a></sup></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" style="" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In 2009, during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference" title="2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Copenhagen Summit</a>, Sammon instructed Fox News reporters to "refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">."</span><sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a></sup></font></font></p><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="References"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></span></font></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#door"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#door</font></a></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7/16</font></font></font></p><div class="item-summary" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 30px 15px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(204, 204, 204); clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roger Ailes is reportedly exiting Fox News, the cable network where he has served as CEO since its founding in 1996, amid controversy over his alleged years-long pattern of sexual harassment. Despite its "Fair and Balanced" slogan, Fox News under Ailes' leadership has embraced its role as the communications arm of the Republican Party. During the Obama administration, this partisanship accelerated as the network openly campaigned for Republican candidates, launched the tea party movement, became a farm system for Republican politicians, and served as the stage for Republican presidential primaries, among other egregious ethical issues.</font></font></font></p></div><div class="item-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#right" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Fox News “Took A Hard Right Turn” And Became “The Alamo” After President Obama’s Election</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#door" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The Revolving Door Between Fox News And Republican Officials</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#trail" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Fox News On The Campaign Trail: Employees Fundraised, Stumped For Dozens Of Republican Candidates</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#tea" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Fox Aggressively Helped Launch And Support The Anti-Obama Tea Party Movement</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#2012" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The Fox News Primary: The 2012 And 2016 Republican Primaries Played Out On Fox Airwaves</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/07/19/roger-ailes-legacy-building-gops-communications-arm-under-guise-news-network/211722#sammon" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Fox News Executive Bill Sammon Admitted To Lying On-Air About Obama, Kept Job</font></a></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="media" name="media" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Report Ailes Is Reportedly On His Way Out Due To Fallout From Numerous Sexual Harassment Allegations</strong></a></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">NY Times</em></strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">: “Roger Ailes Is Negotiating His Departure As Chairman Of Fox News.” </strong>From a July 19 article:</font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 25px 30px 10px; margin: 20px 20px 25px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 6px 0px -4px; clear: both; float: left; width: 612.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roger Ailes’s tenure as the head of Fox News appears to be over.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Ailes and 21st Century Fox, Fox News’s parent company, are in the advanced stages of discussions that would lead to his departure as chairman, Susan Estrich, one of Mr. Ailes’s lawyers, said in an interview on Tuesday.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The development follows a sexual harassment suit filed July 6 against Mr. Ailes by a former anchor, Gretchen Carlson. The suit prompted 21st Century Fox to conduct an internal review.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since then, Mr. Ailes’s future at Fox News has been the subject of intense speculation, which increased on Monday with a report from New York magazine that the executives leading 21st Century Fox — Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan — had determined that Mr. Ailes must go. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The New York Times, </em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/business/media/roger-ailes-fox-news-murdoch.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">7/19/16</a>]</font></font></font></p></blockquote><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="right" name="right" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News “Took A Hard Right Turn” And Became “The Alamo” After President Obama’s Election</strong></a></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Roger Ailes On Obama's Election: "I See This As The Alamo." </strong>A March 6, 2009, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Los Angeles Times</em> article reported that, in a meeting with former Fox News host Glenn Beck, Ailes declared that his network would challenge the Obama administration, reportedly saying, "I see this as the Alamo." Bill Shine, Fox News' senior vice president for programming, also reportedly described the network as "the voice of the opposition on some issues" to "this particular group of people in power right now." [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/09/12/foxs-four-year-campaign-to-make-obama-a-one-ter/189834#section7" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">9/2/12</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News Executives Admitted To Howard Kurtz That “The Entire Network Took A Hard Right Turn After Obama's Election."</strong> In an article for <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Newsweek, </em>Howard Kurtz, who now works as a media reporter for Fox News, reported, "Fox executives say the entire network took a hard right turn after Obama's election, but, as the Tea Party's popularity fades, is edging back toward the mainstream." [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Newsweek, </em><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/roger-ailes-repositions-fox-news-67507" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">9/25/11</a>]</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="door" name="door" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Revolving Door Between Fox News And Republican Party</strong></a></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Numerous Republicans Have Left Fox News To Run For Office</strong>. Numerous Fox News personalities have left the network to run for office (several returned to Fox after losing). In many instances, Fox News helped launch those Republicans’ political careers while on the network’s payroll. Those Republicans include: Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Rick Santorum, Liz Cheney, Angela McGlowan, Pete Snyder, Rep. Mark Sanford, and Scott Brown. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/12/22/6-of-the-worst-media-scandals-of-2013/197368#candidates" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">12/22/13</a>; <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/11/20/revolving-door-scott-brown-reportedly-rejoining/201657" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">11/20/14</a>; <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/05/how-fox-news-seized-control-of-the-republican-p/204765#four" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">8/5/15]</a></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Numerous Fox News Contributors Were Republican Candidates</strong>. Fox News has employed numerous contributors over the years who previously ran for office (successfully and unsuccessfully) as a Republican. They include Herman Cain, Al D'Amato, John LeBoutillier, KT McFarland, Oliver North, Jeanine Pirro, and Allen West. Fox News infamously hired Sarah Palin (twice); she has since left the network. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/07/revolving-door-fox-news-hires-back-ex-candidate/198770" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/7/14</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News Hired Numerous Former Bush Administration Officials. </strong>Fox News has hired numerous former Bush administration officials over the years. Current contributors Karl Rove, Dana Perino, Richard Grenell, and John Bolton worked in the Bush administration. Fox News also hired former Bush officials Elaine Chao and Liz Cheney; both are no longer with the network. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/10/26/research-and-communications-arm-fox-news-is-hom/156122" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">10/26/09</a>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/09/10/the-members-of-romneys-campaign-who-work-for-fo/189821" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">9/10/12</a>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/03/fox-news-contributor-behind-pr-campaign-for-sol/199565" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">6/3/14</a>; LinkedIn.com, accessed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainechao" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">7/19/16</a>] </font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="trail" name="trail" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News On The Campaign Trail: Employees Fundraised, Stumped For Dozens Of Republican Candidates</strong></a></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">30-Plus Fox Hosts And Contributors Supported GOP In 600-Plus Instances During 2009-2010 Midterms.</strong>A <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em> report found that during the 2009-2010 election cycle, more than 30 Fox News personalities endorsed, raised money, or campaigned for Republican candidates or organizations in more than 600 instances. The Republican support was given to more than 300 different races or party organizations in at least 47 states. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2010/10/27/report-more-than-30-fox-newsers-support-gop-in/184095" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">10/27/10</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[pix poster ad]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">30-Plus Fox Hosts And Contributors Campaigned For Republicans In 2011-2012 Election Cycle</strong>. According to a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em> review, at least 32 Fox News figures backed Republican efforts in more than 300 instances during the 2011-2012 election cycle. The Fox News personalities campaigned for Republicans nationally and in more than 40 states. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/11/01/report-30-fox-news-hosts-and-contributors-who-a/191014" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">11/1/12</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">12 Fox News Contributors Took Part In Romney's Campaign. </strong>During the 2012 presidential campaign, 12 Fox News contributors took part in Romney's campaign by being featured in a campaign event (such as a fundraiser or speech), advising his campaign, or both. They were: Fred Barnes, John Bolton, Liz Cheney, Alfonse D'Amato, Mike Huckabee, William Kristol, Thomas McInerney, Dennis Miller, Chuck Nash, Walid Phares, Karl Rove, and Pete Snyder. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/11/01/report-30-fox-news-hosts-and-contributors-who-a/191014" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">11/1/12</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img alt="" height="522" src="https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/images/item/chart-20121101-fnc-campaign-1.png" width="645" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 645px; margin: 0px auto; display: block;" /></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News Continued Employing Karl Rove Despite Massive Ethical Conflict</strong>. Rove has worked for Fox News while serving as a major adviser and fundraiser for American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS. Those organizations have spent hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to elect Republicans over the years. Fox News regularly failed to disclose Rove's involvement in races he discussed on the air. Fox News has also promoted Crossroads content without disclosing Rove’s ties. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/09/12/foxs-four-year-campaign-to-make-obama-a-one-ter/189834#section7" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">9/2/12</a>; <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/04/did-a-right-wing-media-backlash-kill-karl-roves/197913" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">2/4/14</a>] </font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="tea" name="tea" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;">Fox Aggressively Helped Launch And Support The Anti-Obama Tea Party Movement</a></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tea Party Express Founder: "There Would Not Have Been A Tea Party Without Fox." </strong>A 2011 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York</em>magazine profile on Ailes, headlined, "The Elephant in the Green Room," featured a quote from Tea Party Express founder Sal Russo proclaiming: "There would not have been a tea party without Fox." [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York</em>, <a href="http://nymag.com/news/media/roger-ailes-fox-news-2011-5/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">5/22/11</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em></strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Report Found Fox Aired At Least 20 Segments And 73 Promos On Tea Party Protests In Lead Up To 2009 Tax Day Protests.</strong> In April 2009, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em> reported that Fox News had frequently aired segments not only covering tea party protests but encouraging viewers to get involved. An April 15, 2009, study found that from April 6-13, Fox had aired 20 segments and 73 in-show and commercial promotions on the tea party protests scheduled for April 15. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters,</em> <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/04/08/report-fair-and-balanced-fox-news-aggressively/149009" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/8/09</a>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/04/15/hosting-the-party-fox-aired-at-least-20-segment/149199" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/15/09</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News Hosts Attended "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties."</strong> In the days leading up to the "Tax Day" protests, Fox repeatedly aired on-screen text describing protests Fox news hosts would be attending as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties." [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/04/09/fox-news-again-declares-ownership-with-label-fn/149062" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/9/09</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[pix?]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox's Tax Day Coverage Promoted Protesters' Cause, Urged Viewer Involvement.</strong> Fox News and Fox Business also hyped the tea party during its coverage of the "Tax Day" protests on April 15, 2009. Hosts and guests on several shows promoted the protesters' cause and urged viewers to join the protests and visit tea party websites. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/04/16/fox-news-tea-party-coverage-makes-mockery-of-cl/149247" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/16/09</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News Hosts Participated In More Than A Dozen Tea Party Events In 2010.</strong> Fox News hosts participated in more than a dozen tea party events during the week of April 15, 2010. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/04/15/fox-newsers-participating-in-more-than-a-dozen/163261" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/15/10</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">For more about Fox News’ heavily involvement in the tea party movement, go </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/09/12/foxs-four-year-campaign-to-make-obama-a-one-ter/189834#section5" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">here</em></a><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">. </em></font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="2012" name="2012" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Fox News Primary: The 2012 And 2016 Republican Primaries Played Out On Fox Airwaves</strong></a></font></font></font></h2><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2016</font></strong></font></font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">During 2016 Election, Fox Devoted More Than 200 Hours To Airing Interviews With Republican Primary Candidates. </strong>Between May 1, 2015, and May 3, 2016, Fox News devoted 202 hours and 2 minutes to airing 1,481 original and reaired interviews with the 17 Republican candidates. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/05/05/study-trump-won-fox-primary-doubling-any-other-candidate-interview-airtime/210249" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">5/5/16</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Network Aired Over 49 Hours Of Interviews With Eventual Nominee Donald Trump, More Than Twice As Much As Any Other Candidate. </strong>[<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/05/05/study-trump-won-fox-primary-doubling-any-other-candidate-interview-airtime/210249" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">5/5/16</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sen. Ted Cruz: Murdoch And Ailes “Have Turned Fox News Into The Donald Trump Network.” </strong>Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the runner-up for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, lamented that “network executives have made a decision to get behind Donald Trump. Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes at Fox News have turned Fox News into the Donald Trump network, 24/7.” [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters,</em> <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/05/03/ted-cruz-rupert-murdoch-and-roger-ailes-have-turned-fox-news-donald-trump-network/210192" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">5/3/16</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Four 2016 Candidates Worked For Fox News. </strong>Rick Santorum, John Kasich, Ben Carson, and Mike Huckabee all worked for the network for various periods of time before launching their bids. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/05/how-fox-news-seized-control-of-the-republican-p/204765" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">8/5/15</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Huckabee: Fox News Job Put Me In “People’s Homes Every Week.” </strong>During a visit to Iowa before he launched his presidential bid, Mike Huckabee reportedly credited his platform hosting a show at the network with boosting his name recognition in the crucial primary state of Iowa. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/10/24/mike-huckabee-my-fox-news-show-helps-me-for-201/201305" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">10/24/15</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">CNN Host Brian Stelter: "There Really Is No Disputing Fox's Power In Influencing The GOP." </strong><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Reliable Sources </em>host Stelter noted that Fox News has been a frequent stop for presidential candidates announcing their candidacies. [CNN, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Reliable Sources</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2015/04/19/cnns-brian-stelter-on-the-fox-primary-there-rea/203336" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/19/15</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Politico</em></strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">'s Hadas Gold: Fox News Is The "Central Place Where All The Conservatives Are Going ... They Have A Huge Influence." </strong>[CNN, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Reliable Sources</em>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2015/04/19/cnns-brian-stelter-on-the-fox-primary-there-rea/203336" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">4/19/15</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">LA Times</em></strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">' Doyle McManus: Fox News Is The "Gatekeeper" Of The Republican Primary. </strong>McManus, a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Times </em>Washington columnist, wrote that Ailes "will decide which candidates can compete in Republican presidential primaries next year" and "One side effect, GOP strategists say, is that during the next two months, those candidates will be even more desperate to boost their name recognition -- by appearing on Fox News." He added, "Fox won't exactly be judge, jury and executioner, but it will be rule-maker, gatekeeper and moderator." [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Los Angeles Times</em>, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0531-mcmanus-fox-debates-20150531-column.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">5/30/15</a>]</font></font></font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">2012</font></span></font></font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News And Fox Business Devoted More Than 77 Hours Of Interview Airtime To 12 Republican Candidates During 2012 Race. </span>[<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/02/27/the-fox-primary-8-months-12-candidates-604-appe/185876" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">2/27/12</a></span>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Newt Gingrich And Rick Santorum Worked For Fox Before Launching 2012 Bids. </span>[<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </span><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/02/27/the-fox-primary-8-months-12-candidates-604-appe/185876" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">2/27/12</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Santorum Boasted That Fox News Employment Had “Helped Folks Remember Who I Am” As He Prepped Run. </span>[<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </span><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/11/03/santorum-my-fox-news-employment-is-great-for-my/172858" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">11/3/10</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York Times </span>In 2011: “Fox News Practically Owns And Operates” Republican Primary. </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The New York Times</span>’ Alessandra Stanley reported in 2011 of Fox News’ coverage of the Republican primary campaign:</font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 25px 30px 10px; margin: 20px 20px 25px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 6px 0px -4px; clear: both; float: left; width: 612.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There’s a reason Fox News is beginning to look like a meet-the-candidate pancake breakfast in Council Bluffs, Iowa.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You don’t win Iowa in Iowa, you win it on this couch,” is how the Republican commentator Dick Morris put it on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday. Mr. Morris said that the Republican debates and Fox News had forged a national primary that “imposes itself on Iowa.”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s certainly obvious in Iowa that candidates are investing a lot more time in television interviews than they are on the campaign trail. It’s a safe bet: a recent New York Times/CBS News poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus participants showed that 37 percent said they get most of their information from Fox News, that’s compared with 27 percent who cited broadcast news and a mere 2 percent who said they relied on MSNBC.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Accordingly, caucus and primary voters have a voice on Fox News. All the networks, broadcast and cable, are closely covering the campaign, but Fox News practically owns and operates it: its viewers are seeing the world through the eyes of a Tea Party activist in Davenport, or a small business leader in Ames — my own private Iowa. [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York Times, </em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/us/politics/a-republican-primary-campaign-waged-on-fox-news.html?r=2" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">12/</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/us/politics/a-republican-primary-campaign-waged-on-fox-news.html?r=2" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">1</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/us/politics/a-republican-primary-campaign-waged-on-fox-news.html?r=2" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">0/11</a>]</font></font></font></p></blockquote><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="sammon" name="sammon" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; outline: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News Executive Bill Sammon Admitted To Lying On-Air About Obama, Kept Job</strong></a></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bill Sammon: Engaged In "Mischievous Speculation About Whether Barack Obama Really Advocated Socialism" Even Though He "Privately" Thought That Was "Far-Fetched." </strong>During a speech on a high-priced cruise, Fox News executive Sammon admitted he promoted the idea that Barack Obama "really advocated socialism" on Fox News prior to the 2008 election, even though he "privately" found the concept "far-fetched"<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">:</strong></font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 25px 30px 10px; margin: 20px 20px 25px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 6px 0px -4px; clear: both; float: left; width: 612.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Speaking in 2009 onboard a pricey Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college, Fox Washington managing editor Bill Sammon described his attempts the previous year to link Obama to "socialism" as "mischievous speculation." Sammon, who is also a Fox News vice president, acknowledged that "privately" he had believed that the socialism allegation was "rather far-fetched."</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Last year, candidate Barack Obama stood on a sidewalk in Toledo, Ohio, and first let it slip to Joe the Plumber that he wanted to quote, 'spread the wealth around,' " said Sammon. "At that time, I have to admit, that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched." [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters,</em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2011/03/29/cruise-ship-confession-top-fox-news-executive-a/178013" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">3/29/11</a>]</font></font></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ailes Gave Sammon A Reprieve After "Fox Critics" Reportedly Called For His Firing In Response To Smear. </strong>"Fox critics" criticized Sammon when the speech became public and called for his removal as Washington managing editor, but Ailes "reprimanded Sammon but he also let it be known he didn't consider it a firing offense," according to Ailes' authorized biographer. From Zev Chafets' <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Roger Ailes: Off Camera</em>:</font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 25px 30px 10px; margin: 20px 20px 25px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 6px 0px -4px; clear: both; float: left; width: 612.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2009, on a Mediterranean cruise, Bill Sammon regaled his conservative audience with a tale of inside news making. During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama had famously told 'Joe the Plumber,' an Ohio blue-collar voter, that there was nothing wrong with spreading the wealth around. "I have to admit that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched," Sammon boasted. Fox critics learned about the speech and castigated Sammon for this obvious misuse of his position. There were rumblings in the Fox Washington bureau that Sammon should be replaced as bureau chief. Ailes reprimanded Sammon but also let it be known that he didn't consider it a firing offense. [Zev Chafets, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Roger Ailes: Off Camera</em>, via <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YPqKDdDtRYQC&pg=PT107&lpg=PT107&dq=sammon+ailes&source=bl&ots=TuktBRAbxW&sig=QPQO80zfLBxa12TSGAU16DWPkpM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAGoVChMIyoufp46NxwIVA8k-Ch0LywEO#v=onepage&q=sammon%20ailes&f=false" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">Google Books</a>]</font></font></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Internal Fox Emails Also Showed Sammon Routinely Exerting Influence To Slant Fox’s News Coverage. </strong>A series of emails Sammon sent to the network’s journalists that were leaked to <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters</em> revealed a pattern of Sammon urging staffers to tilt Fox’s news coverage in a conservative direction. For example, Sammon sent an email in 2010 during global climate talks that read, in part: “Given the controversy over the veracity of climate change data […] we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question.” [<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters, </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">12/15/10</a>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/04/bill-sammon-is-the-secret-weapon-shaping-the-fo/204734" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">8/4/15</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sammon Is Currently Fox News’ Vice President Of News And Washington Managing Editor. </strong>[FoxNews.com, accessed <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/person/s/bill-sammon.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">7/19/<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">16</strong>]</a></font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">---</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you want to force action on climate change, Fox News needs to be fought -- not engaged with. That's what <i>Media Matters</i>' Evlondo Cooper<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=c178a9092d9e8c2118939ae71f8d13d11fad7c3fbffe29e04439063c90794b02b6e9db3083ed72c1d0dc8b8385a5cdc73755ea862360e534" title="wrote about this week">wrote about this week</a>, pointing to years of its misinformation and bad faith attacks. Even now, the network is <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=c178a9092d9e8c2126e429bc0c2ff34b942d6b882aae04f25115cb4a9ef0e911974d09ae6ec20bf919820b5621d7625797da9f786464cf8c" title="leading the charge">leading the charge</a> to attack the Green New Deal. And while it's tempting to argue with them, as an institution it's not going to change unless forced -- and the way to force that change is through sustained pressure, not arguments. The Democratic tactic of engaging with Fox News has failed: Fox News is more vulnerable than it's ever been, but it's not going down without pressure. <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=c178a9092d9e8c2192d11549def006da9eff39ba905229bd20af1d622196e58e25f1c1799024774a8868e8e02eb7504a458ed766df24ed4b" title="It's time to fight">It's time to fight</a>.</font></span></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/04/12/Candidates-who-care-about-climate-change-should-be-wary-of-partnering-with-Fox-News/223427"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/04/12/Candidates-who-care-about-climate-change-should-be-wary-of-partnering-with-Fox-News/223427</font></a></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">F<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ox News is trying to entice Democratic presidential candidates to participate in town halls on the network, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) is</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-fox-news-town-hall_n_5ca4f796e4b0ed0d78102058" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">scheduled</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">to do on April 15. Though Sanders has</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-fox-news_n_5caaae7ae4b0a00f6d418be3" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">explained his reasoning</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">for wanting to do a town hall on Fox, there are plenty of good reasons why other candidates should</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/04/04/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-throwing-fox-news-lifeline/223336" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">think carefully</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">about whether they want to partner with the network. </span></font></font></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Fox is a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/07/foxs-news-team-essential-cog-corrupt-propaganda-machine/223071" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">pernicious propaganda machine</a> for the Trump White House, and it has a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/24/timeline-fox-news-role-in-the-climate-of-doubt/190906" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">long</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/11/fox-news-has-gone-saying-climate-change-wasn-t-real-arguing-it-s-too-hard-try-stop-it/221646" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">history</a> of both denying and downplaying climate change and helping to block climate action</b>. Fox is currently at the peak of its political influence, but it's also at a precarious point both financially and in the court of public opinion. Many advertisers <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/tucker-carlson-and-laura-ingraham-boycotts-have-cost-millions-in-ad-losses-data-shows-exclusive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">have</a> <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tucker-carlson-advertisers-fleeing-807985/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">fled</a> and others are considering following suit, not wanting to be associated with the network's bigoted and toxic commentary. Fox is now <a href="https://action.mediamatters.org/secure/drop-fox" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">desperately courting advertisers</a> by <a href="https://adage.com/article/special-report-tv-upfront/fox-news-opens-doors-advertisers-ahead-tv-upfronts/316967" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">trying to paint itself</a> as a legitimate news outlet ahead of May 13, when it will host an "upfront" event at which it aims to sell about 60 to 70 percent of its advertising space for 2020. Democratic candidates might want to keep their distance and not enable Fox's attempt at whitewashing its toxicity.</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox consistently spreads right-wing misinformation, lies, and climate denial</font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The New Yorker</em> recently <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">exposed</a> how Fox News has developed a symbiotic relationship with the Trump administration and has become a nexus of the right-wing disinformation network. And earlier in April, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The New York Times Magazine</em> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/03/magazine/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">detailed</a> how Fox founder Rupert Murdoch’s media empire “helped elevate marginal demagogues, mainstream ethnonationalism and politicize the very notion of truth” in the U.S. and beyond, “destabiliz[ing] democracies around the world.”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New Yorker</em> published its piece in March, the Democratic National Committee <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/06/700807729/dnc-bars-fox-news-from-hosting-2020-primary-debates" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">barred Fox News</a> from hosting any of its upcoming presidential primary debates.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Fox News has been especially destructive on the climate change narrative, serving as an echo and amplification chamber for climate denial and environmental deregulation efforts.</b> For years, Fox has played a critical role in undermining the public consensus around climate change by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/aug/08/global-warming-denial-fox-news" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">eroding trust</a> in climate scientists and scientific institutions, according to a 2013 <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963662513480091" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">study</a>. A separate <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/solutions/fight-misinformation/cable-news-coverage-climate-change-science.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">study</a> by the Union of Concerned Scientists <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/04/cable-news-fox-climate-science-accuracy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">found</a> that 72 percent of Fox News segments about climate science in 2013 "contained misleading statements." In the years since, the network has continued to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/04/05/foxs-diamond-and-silk-earth-rotating-1000-miles-hour-ok-365-days-year-we-subject-feel-climate/223353" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">parade</a> a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/31/fox-guest-says-man-made-climate-change-hoax-and-calls-rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-shrill-talking/223291" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">coterie</a> of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/27/tucker-carlson-says-climate-change-may-make-natural-disasters-less-catastrophic/223264" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">network personalities</a>, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/01/03/fox-friends-climate-denier-attacks-proposed-green-new-deal-carbon-based-fuels-actually-improve/222401" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">fringe</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/20/hosting-climate-change-denier-tucker-carlson-complains-about-relentless-propaganda-about-climate/223199" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">cranks</a>, and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/13/fox-host-peer-reviewed-climate-studies-are-done-people-agendas-these-enviro-terrorists-these-eco/223120" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">conspiracy</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/12/fox-friends-guest-whole-climate-crisis-not-only-fake-news-its-fake-science/223111" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">theorists</a> to push misinformation about climate change and attack those working to confront the climate crisis.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During the Trump administration, Fox News has also <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/02/Scott-Pruitt-appeared-on-Fox-more-than-twice-as-often-as-other-major-TV-networks-combined-/219534" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">provided</a> a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/04/19/Interior-Secretary-Ryan-Zinke-has-appeared-on-Fox-News-four-times-more-than-on-the-other-m/219998" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">safe haven</a> for <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/14/A-timeline-of-scandals-and-ethical-shortfalls-at-Scott-Pruitts-EPA/219623" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">disgraced</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/05/07/A-timeline-of-scandals-and-ethical-shortfalls-at-Ryan-Zinkes-Interior-Department/220123" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">officials</a> like former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Not only did Pruitt and Zinke prefer Fox News over other news networks, they both used their appearances on Fox to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2018/02/21/58339/fnc-fox-friends-20170919-pruitt" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">question climate science</a> and to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2018/04/16/59190/fnc-fnan-20171109-zinkeinterview" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">advocate for harmful environmental rollbacks</a>, often with little to no pushback from fawning hosts.</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox's "straight news" anchors are not honest brokers on climate change and other critical issues</font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News claims that Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier, the Fox hosts who will anchor the town hall with Sanders, are straightforward newscasters. But a closer look at their past comments and reporting reveals that they <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/19/fox-news-anchor-touts-brazils-bolsonaro-bulwark-against-socialists-mexico-and-venezuela/223183" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">cannot</a> be <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/14/foxs-news-side-runs-farcical-report-doj-ordered-fbi-not-charge-clinton/223139" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">trusted</a> to foster good-faith discussions about key issues, including climate change.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MacCallum has denied basic climate science and made ridiculous claims about global warming. In 2014, on Fox News Radio's <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Kilmeade & Friends</em>, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2014/05/07/fox-news-anchor-martha-maccallum-climate-change/199207" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">she said</a>:</font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 25px 30px 10px; margin: 20px 20px 25px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 6px 0px -4px; clear: both; float: left; width: 612.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MARTHA MACCALLUM: I mean the climate has changed over the course of the thousands and thousands of years that the Earth has been in existence. It has changed, you know, by several degrees up and down over the course of it. I just don't think that there is convincing evidence that the presence of man has altered that more dramatically than say the earth being covered with volcanoes emitting, you know, naturally noxious gases.</font></font></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That same year, MacCallum <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2014/03/11/fox-news-shrugs-off-urgency-of-climate-change-a/198453" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">downplayed</a> the importance of climate change and argued that Democrats in Congress should be concentrating on other issues instead. And in March 2015, after the Obama administration announced a voluntary emission-reduction pledge ahead of the U.N. climate talks in Paris, MacCallum was critical of the move and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2015/04/01/32-reasons-fox-is-wrong-about-global-climate-ne/203125" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">falsely said</a> that the U.S. was going to the "upper end of the range" with its commitment and "nobody else has to do it." In fact, dozens of other countries had by that point announced targets to cut or curb their greenhouse gas emissions, including the European Union, whose target was more ambitious than the one the U.S. put forth.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Baier has a reputation for not being as bad as some of the more explicit climate deniers on his network, but according to a 2014 <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/Science-or-Spin-report.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">analysis</a> by the Union of Concerned Scientists, he has still aired "a number of segments containing inaccurate statements about climate science." He has given climate skeptics a platform to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR52Rm6i5nY" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">attack climate science</a> and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2015/11/24/43425/fnc-sr-20151124-krauthobamarebuke" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">climate action</a>, often with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-condemns-dems-full-socialism-on-display-admits-green-new-deal-vote-was-for-show" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">very little pushback</a>.</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox is now desperately trying to convince advertisers that it's not toxic</font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March, Fox News executives held an <a href="https://www.cjr.org/analysis/fox-news-protest-media-matters.php" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">unprecedented meeting with its advertisers</a> to persuade them not to abandon the network after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-fox-news-advertisers-leaving-2018-12" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">more than 30 companies</a> had dropped their ads since the initial push began in December of last year. Recent calls for companies to pull their ads from <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tucker Carlson Tonight </em>and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Justice with Judge Jeanine</em> came in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/03/13/advertisers-ditch-tucker-carlson-jeanine-pirros-fox-news-shows-protesters-urge-companies-join-them/?utm_term=.34634863eb93" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">response</a> to <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters </em>releasing audio of Fox host Tucker Carlson's <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2019/03/11/unearthed-audio-shows-tucker-carlson-using-white-nationalist-rhetoric-and-making-racist-remarks/223105" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">racist</a> and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2019/03/10/unearthed-audio-tucker-carlson-makes-numerous-misogynistic-and-perverted-comments/223092" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">misogynistic rants</a> on the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bubba the Love Sponge Show</em> from 2006 to 2011, and to Fox personality Jeanine Pirro’s <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/03/10/foxs-jeanine-pirro-says-rep-omars-hijab-may-mean-shes-against-constitution/223095" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">anti-Muslim tirade</a> against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For years, Fox News has let its prime-time hosts spew bigotry, propaganda, and dangerous conspiracy theories on a nightly basis, while using its so-called "news" programming to give the network a veneer of respectability. But the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/07/foxs-news-team-essential-cog-corrupt-propaganda-machine/223071" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">"news" side</a> and the "opinion" side of Fox News are <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/13/even-fox-news-wants-distance-itself-fox-news/223128" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">two sides of the same coin</a>. Fox is dangerous and corrupt from top to bottom.</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px; clear: both; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 153, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Fox executive wooing Democratic candidates has actively hampered honest reporting on climate change</font></strong></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bill Sammon, Fox's senior vice president and Washington managing editor, is courting Democratic candidates for town halls and <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-fox-news-town-hall_n_5ca4f796e4b0ed0d78102058" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">trying</a> to get the DNC to reconsider its decision not to let Fox host a debate.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sammon has a notoriously terrible record on climate change. In 2009, he <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">sent a memo</a> to Fox journalists ordering them to curtail honest reporting on climate change:</font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 25px 30px 10px; margin: 20px 20px 25px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 6px 0px -4px; clear: both; float: left; width: 612.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question.</font></font></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He sent the memo out less than 15 minutes after a Fox correspondent accurately reported that U.N. scientists said the 2000-2009 period was "expected to turn out to be the warmest decade on record." When the correspondent returned to the air a few hours later, he added views from climate "skeptics" into his reporting. Sammon has also tilted Fox's coverage of other issues further <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2011/03/29/foxs-bill-sammon-problem/178036" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">to the right</a>.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Four years ago, Sammon played a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/04/bill-sammon-is-the-secret-weapon-shaping-the-fo/204734" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">key role in crafting questions</a> for a Republican presidential primary debate. Do Democratic candidates want to invite Sammon to craft questions for them now?</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With Fox on the ropes with advertisers, Democratic candidates should consider if they want to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/04/04/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-throwing-fox-news-lifeline/223336" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: 700; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">throw Fox News a lifeline</a> this spring.</font></font></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></font></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><h1 itemprop="name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.67em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 40px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox News Asks Sen. Graham: How Can Republicans ‘Trust’ You After Working on Climate Bill?</font></font></font></h1><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">D<span style="line-height: 25.2px;">uring yesterday’s 5 p.m. ET Fox News Republican presidential debate, moderator Bill Hemmer asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) how Republicans could “trust” him after his “extremely unpopular” collaboration with Democrats on a cap-and-trade bill</span><strong style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </strong><span style="line-height: 25.2px;">to address</span><span style="line-height: 25.2px;"> </span><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="blank" style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">climate change</a><span style="line-height: 25.2px;">. Graham reportedly </span><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/10/03/new-yorker-graham-feared-fox-news-backlash-agai/171444" target="blank" style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">warned</a><span style="line-height: 25.2px;"> Democrats at the time that they needed to accelerate negotiations on the bill as quickly as possible, “before Fox News got wind of the fact that this was a serious process.” The network would go on to make a deliberate effort to undermine efforts to pass</span><span style="line-height: 25.2px;"> </span><a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/04/clean-power-plan-carbon-free-economy/" style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">climate legislation</a><span style="line-height: 25.2px;">.</span></font></font></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/07/debate-climate-keystone/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">During the debate</a>, Hemmer asked Graham, “you worked with Democrats and President Obama when it came to climate change, something you know is extremely unpopular with conservative Republicans. How can they trust you based on that record?”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[vid]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ryan Lizza <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/11/as-the-world-burns?currentPage=all" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">reported</a> in <em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The New Yorker</em> that during 2010 negotiations on that climate bill, Graham urged fellow senators to move quickly on legislation before Fox found out about it (emphasis added):</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; line-height: 25.2px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At a climate change conference in South Carolina on January 5, 2010, Graham started to sound a little like Al Gore. “I have come to conclude that greenhouse gases and carbon pollution” are “not a good thing,” Graham said. He insisted that nobody could convince him that “all the cars and trucks and plants that have been in existence since the Industrial Revolution, spewing out carbon day in and day out,” could be “a good thing for your children and the future of the planet.” Environmentalists swooned. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Graham was the most inspirational part of that triumvirate throughout the fall and winter,” <a href="http://ecowatch.com/author/mbrune/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Michael Brune</a>, the executive director of the <a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=sierra+club" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Sierra Club</a>, said. “He was advocating for strong action on climate change from an ethical and a moral perspective.”</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; line-height: 25.2px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But, back in Washington, Graham warned Lieberman and Kerry that they needed to get as far as they could in negotiating the bill “before Fox News got wind of the fact that this was a serious process,” one of the people involved in the negotiations said. “He would say, <b>‘The second they focus on us, it’s gonna be all cap-and-tax all the time and it’s gonna become just a disaster for me on the airwaves. </b>We have to move this along as quickly as possible.'”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fox News hosts and guests would go on to </span><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/10/03/new-yorker-graham-feared-fox-news-backlash-agai/171444" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">viciously attack the bill</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, which never came to a vote in the Senate.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Graham ultimately withdrew from the bipartisan climate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">efforts, </span><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/lindsey-graham-musings-climate" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">subsequently claiming</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> that he didn’t believe human-caused emissions “are contributing overwhelmingly to global climate change.”</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Media Matters<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </em>later <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">obtained an email</a> from Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon to Fox journalists instructing them in the midst of the 2010 climate bill debate on Capitol Hill to “refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without immediately pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question.” Sammon has <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/04/bill-sammon-is-the-secret-weapon-shaping-the-fo/204734" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">since been identified</a> as the “secret weapon” helping Fox journalists “craft the questions” for the evening debate.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></font></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Sammon"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">fox effect:</font></a></font></font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">on rw cruise, aug 09 sammon admits his mischevious speculation" on obama as socialist was put on</font>
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<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Sammon"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Sammon</font></a>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox News insists that there's a difference between its "opinion" programming and its "news" programming. One top exec has been repeatedly proving his network wrong.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In exclusive new audio, <em>Media Matters for America</em> catches Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon bragging that he repeatedly lied when he speculated on-air "about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism," an allegation he privately found "rather far-fetched."</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you're looking for the walking embodiment of how Fox is a political attack machine disguised as a news network, look no further than Sammon, who has a pattern of using his position as a "news" editor to distort and slant the facts and push an ideological agenda.</font>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://mediamatters.org/action/sammons?src=email"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Click here to watch the video and get the word out about Bill Sammon.</font></strong></a>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Speaking in 2009 onboard a pricey Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college, Sammon described his public attempts the previous year to link Obama to "socialism" as "mischievous speculation." Sammon, who is also a Fox News vice president, acknowledged that he had "privately" believed that the socialism allegation was "rather far-fetched."</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A <em>Media Matters</em> review found that Sammon -- then the network's Washington deputy managing editor --linked Obama's "spread the wealth around" remarks to socialism in four separate October 2008 Fox appearances. And Sammon's "mischief" wasn't limited to his on-air appearances. As <em>Media Matters</em> reported, Sammon also pushed Fox News colleagues to play the socialism card.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition, multiple leaked emails to <em>Media Matters for America</em> show that Sammon pushes his political agenda into "news" programming on issues like climate change, health care, and the Middle East. He's even gone on right-wing talk radio to claim that President Obama has "controversial" views on "the white race."</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Sammon's position directing news coverage is a clear example of how Fox News hurts journalism. By making smears, falsehoods and attacks a higher priority than the facts, Sammon distorts our political process. It's Fox News' problem -- and ours.</font>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://mediamatters.org/action/sammons?src=email"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Click here to watch the video and get the word out about Bill Sammon.</font></strong></a>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thanks for your support in fighting Fox News' toxic effect on our national debate.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p>
<h2><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sammon Has Fundraised For Conservatives</font></strong></h2>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Sammon Attended High-Priced Fundraising Retreat For Conservative Activist David Horowitz's Organization. </strong>Sammon was a panelist at a 2006 fundraising retreat for conservative activist <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">David Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture (</span>now The David Horowitz Freedom Center). Sammon appeared on a panel discussing "The Media and the War" with conservative activist Frank Gaffney, Andrew Breitbart, and conservative radio host Tammy Bruce. Sammon opened his remarks by saying, "It's great to be here because I normally spend my days working and traveling with the White House press corps, and therefore it's not very often I find myself in a room surrounded by this much common sense." [<em>Media Matters, </em><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/201102080008" target="_blank">2/8/11</a>]</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Sammon Gave Keynote Speech At Fundraiser For Monroe County Conservative Party. </strong>In 2003, Sammon gave the keynote speech at the annual fundraising dinner for the Monroe County Conservative Party in upstate New York. According to a newsletter announcing Sammon's appearance, the fundraising dinner is the Monroe County Conservative Party's "primary source of funds which enables us to operate as an effective and respected political party." [Media Matters, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/201102080008" target="_blank" style="">2/8/11</a>]</font></p>
<h2><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sammon Wrote Several Fawning Books About Bush Campaigns, Administration</font></strong></h2>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election</span>. </strong>Sammon is the author of At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election (Regnery Publishing, 2001). According to Amazon.com, the book's inside flap reads in part:</font></p>
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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Al Gore was furious. He wasn't supposed to lose.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Drawing on exhaustive, on-the-scene reporting and exclusive interviews with the key players -- including President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney -- Washington Times reporter Bill Sammon has written the definitive account of the most contentious presidential election in U.S. history.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At Any Cost is a breathtaking examination of Vice President Al Gore's audacious and unprecedented effort to overturn the presidential election. Desperate to forestall the spectacular collapse of his political career and determined to inflict as much damage as possible on Bush, Gore pulled out all the stops in an extraordinary, thirty-six day campaign of scorched-earth political warfare that propelled the nation to the brink of a constitutional crisis.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[...]</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At Any Cost is a gripping, must-read account of the biggest attempted larceny in the history of American politics. [Amazon.com, accessed <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2Fproduct-description%2F0895262274%2Fref%3Ddp_proddesc_0%3Fie%3DUTF8%26n%3D283155%26s%3Dbooks">3/29/11</a>]</font></p>
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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism From Inside the Bush White House.</strong> Sammon is the author of Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism-From Inside the Bush White House (Regnery Publishing, 2002). Regnery's promotional materials <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.regnery.com%2Fregnery%2F021015_fightingback.html" target="_blank">state</a> of the book:</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>The First Book Ever on George W. Bush's Presidency...</strong>
WARTIME PRESIDENT
<strong>How Bush Led America Through "the Middle Hour of our Grief"</strong></font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Democrats underestimated him. The media ridiculed him. But when terror struck on September 11, 2001, George Bush proved what kind of man he truly is. And, as Bill Sammon recounts in his new book, that was just the beginning.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Fighting Back, you get the first book ever on George W. Bush's presidency -- and the first comprehensive look at how Bush is leading the war on terror. From the moment when Andy Card whispered into his President's ear "Mr. President, America is under attack," best-selling author Bill Sammon brings us an eye-witness account of that historic day, and the days that follow. </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[...]</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fighting Back gives you an extraordinarily dramatic, blow-by-blow account of a President thrust into a new kind of war. It describes history in the making, and the emergence of a great leader. [Regnery.com, accessed <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.regnery.com%2Fregnery%2F021015_fightingback.html">3/29/11</a>]</font></p>
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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias, and the Bush Haters.</strong> Sammon is the author of Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias, and the Bush Haters (HarperCollins, 2005). The publisher's promotional materials state of the book:</font></p>
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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"They misunderestimated me," George W. Bush famously remarked on the eve of his historic presidency. Fractured syntax aside, Bush was right: his detractors misunderstood his appeal to the American public, and underestimated his considerable political skills. In this compelling new book, Bill Sammon reveals how the president is turning these misperceptions to his advantage in the looming showdown with John Kerry and the Bush haters.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As senior White House correspondent for the Washington Times<i>,</i> Sammon has been granted extraordinary access to the president and his closest confidants, from political gurus Karl Rove and Andy Card to foreign policy advisers Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. The result is a compelling chronicle of the second eighteen months of George W. Bush's term, as the administration's focus shifts from al Qaeda and Afghanistan to Iraq and the 2004 election. Sammon's on-the-scene reporting and exclusive interviews with the president and his top advisers reveal how the White House is implementing the most profound shift in U.S. foreign policy in more than half a century, prompting an eminent Democratic historian to rank Bush alongside John Quincy Adams and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as one of America's "grand" strategists.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[...]</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>Misunderestimated</em> also meticulously tracks the rise of the Bush haters, a disturbing political phenomenon that colors everything from the war on terrorism to the presidential campaign. The impact extends to the press, which Sammon exposes for racing to brand Operation Iraqi Freedom another Vietnam "quagmire" less than eighteen months after making the same blunder during the Afghan war. [HarperCollins.com, accessed <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harpercollins.ca%2Fbooks%2FMisunderestimated-Bill-Sammon%2F%3Fisbn%3D9780060734305">3/29/11</a>]</font></p>
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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><em>Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media</em>.</strong> Sammon is the author of <em>Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media </em>(Regnery Publishing, 2006). Regnery's promotional materials state of the book:</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>Strategery</em> chronicles the perpetually "misunderestimated" president as he vanquishes John Kerry and then embarks on a breathtakingly audacious second-term agenda. He vows to rein in the judicial activism of a runaway Supreme Court, defeat the "Bush haters" who blame him for Hurricane Katrina, and, in his spare time, end tyranny around the globe. <em>Strategery</em> is a remarkably vivid portrait of the president as he is seldom seen.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[...]</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>Strategery</em> is the third installment in a multi-volume set of <em>New York Times</em> bestsellers chronicling this unlikely yet historic presidency, written with verve and piercing insight by Bill Sammon, who has been granted unprecedented access to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, and other senior White House officials. [Regnery.com, accessed <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.regnery.com%2Fbooks%2Fstrategery.html">3/29/11</a>]</font></p>
</blockquote>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><em>The Evangelical President: George Bush's Struggle to Spread a Moral Democracy Throughout the World.</em> </strong>Sammon is the author of <em>The Evangelical President: George Bush's Struggle to Spread a Moral Democracy Throughout the World</em> (Regnery Publishing, 2007). Regnery's promotional materials state of the book:</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But through it all, Sammon shows that President Bush took the high road, fighting to spread moral democracy around the world while the low-minded press focused on Vice President Cheney's accidental shooting of a friend while hunting and Virginia senator George Allen's use of the word macaca on the campaign trail</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[...]</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>The Evangelical President </em>is an unforgettable glimpse of a president at war, supported by an evangelical belief that tyranny should be overthrown, democracy supported, and America defended, combined with a steely stubbornness to see those goals through. [Regnery.com, acessed <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.regnery.com%2Fbooks%2Fevangelicalpres.html" target="_blank">3/29/11</a>]</font></p>
</blockquote>
<h2><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reviewers: Sammon Books Are "Conservative Polemic," He Makes "No Secret Of His Admiration" Of Bush</font></strong></h2>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><em>Plain Dealer</em> Review: <em>At Any Cost</em> Is "A Conservative Polemic," A "Mean-Spirited Political Assessment."</strong> In a June 24, 2001, review of <em>At Any Cost</em> for the <em>Cleveland Plain Dealer</em>, Sammon's former employer, Dylan Foley writes:</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bluntly put, 'At Any Cost' is a conservative polemic in which Sammon uses his reporting skills to advance his thesis that Al Gore and the Gore campaign used fraud and deceit to try to snatch the presidency from George W. Bush. The book is a mix of good journalism and mean-spirited political assessment of the Florida vote-counting scandals." He concludes: "In a college course 20 years from now, 'At Any Cost' would deserve a place on the syllabus as a conservative view of the Florida disgrace. It's a well-written book by an established journalist that would be an enjoyable book for conservative true believers. [<em>Cleveland Plain Dealer, </em>6/24/01, accessed via Nexis]</font></p>
</blockquote>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><em>Wash. Times</em> Review: In <em>Fighting Back</em>, Sammon "Makes No Secret Of His Admiration Of The President."</strong> In an October 27, 2002, review of <em>Fighting Back</em> for <em>The Washington Times</em>, Sammon's employer at the time, Roger Fontaine writes that in the book, Sammon "makes no secret of his admiration of the president -- which is fine -- there is plenty of the opposite from other journalists and pundits who don't fare too well in this account." [<em>The Washington Times</em>, 10/27/02, accessed via Nexis]</font></p>
<h2><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sammon's Publisher Exists To Prop Up Conservative Movement</font></strong></h2>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Regnery States They Are "Central To The Conservative Movement Today."</strong> From the "History of Regnery" posted at their website:
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/201103290007">http://mediamatters.org/research/201103290007</a>
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