Dishonesty Award

If there was an Emmy Award for Dishonesty, Fox News and Tucker Carlson would be prime contenders each year. And in 2020 they would have won by a mile.

When did we come to accept lies as the default in politics and the, mainstream media? I can't tell you exactly, but I'm almost certain that it began when the media became owned and ruled by corporations and money. You see, we were already accustomed to being lied to by salesmen who never told the whole truth about the products they tried to sell us. The used cars salesmen have built a reputation for their dishonesty, as did the snake oil salesmen before them. We're used to the lies for money, be it fraud, pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing schemes or what have you.

The mainstream media, and increasingly much of the so called independent media on the internet, have become for profit businesses and individual programs and shows have to meet certain profitability criteria, even the news. To keep viewers interested, in order to be able to sell advertising time, the news has become sensationalized; "when it bleeds, it leads." Their primary task is not to inform you, not to fulfill a role in the upkeep of a functional democracy, but to sell you something. If you understand this, it's much easier to understand why the news isn't the news anymore. The news was further sensationalized with the advent of 24-hour news-channels, like CNN; the task of keeping the viewer glued to the screen became an even bigger challenge. National and international crises, wars, disasters and a pandemic are the bread and butter for these channels. Every little change in our daily reality has become "breaking!" news; if you're read yesterday's post, you'll immediately see how the mainstream media do much of the work of keeping us in a constant state of emergency. And how they actively participate in the destruction of an already fragile democracy.

This general rule holds for any news-channel or broadcasting company. But with the clear division along ideological and partisan lines, the urge to sensationalize, exaggerate and lie becomes even greater. And here's where Fox News, and other conservative right wing channels, take the lead in the race to the Emmy Award for blatant Dishonesty. Especially in 2020, when they became the bull-horn for Trump's Big Lie about the "stolen elections". Maybe the anchors should receive an award for acting as well, as they knew they were lying to their audience. Maybe these anchors should start a career as professional poker players; I'm sure they'll be able to bluff their way to victory, no problem at all.

Of course any sane person already new the Big Lie was a lie, but now there's evidence that Fox News knew it too. Leaks have shown that they felt that the had to keep the Big Lie alive out of fear of losing viewers to channels like Newsmax. They had to lie for money. Well... What else is new? Nothing much. So watch the below linked video about these "breaking!" leaks, and let's demand that Fox News gets the award if there's ever one recognizing excellence in mendacious propaganda.

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