Media: Fox News, Racism, and White America in the Age of Trump

Abstract

Kalemba Kizito looked critically at Fox and other news organizations. What Kizito reveals is that Fox News and its audience are distinct from the others. Its most popular programs are not news but commentaries by Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, which, by the way, do not make any claim to be accurate and fact-checked. A large segment of the Fox audience relies only on Fox for their news and commentary. All the other news networks, including MSNBC, reply extensively on multiple sources and fact-check their news and commentary. High proportions of non-Fox news audiences also use multiple sources for their news and commentary. Fox News operates in an information silo where its audience misses most domestic news and virtually all international news. Additionally, there is little distinction between news and commentary. The outcomes are predictable. For one, a significant proportion of White America, who constitute the Fox audience, has been led into a dangerous worldview where they believe that their freedoms and government have been taken from them.