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Actual question (not trying to be snarky): Is Fox News considered state media, and if not, will it be?

by nlh 7y ago

carbocation 7y ago
From the article, which doesn't directly address your question but does address it in the meta: How will we define state-controlled media in this context? This policy will apply to news media entities that are either financially or editorially controlled by the state. It has been informed by established academic and civil society leaders in this space. Sources include Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Freedom House, the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index, the European Journalism Centre’s Media Landscapes Report, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and UNESCO's framework to assess media development and independence.
dawhizkid 7y ago
Ultimately I don’t think it matters much. I’ve only very rarely seen promoted news stories in my feed from media companies - I don’t think spending money to promote links to articles is very widely used at all.
seanmcdirmid 7y ago
When even Donald Trump thinks Fox News is conspiring against him, I don’t think there is even a fringe argument to made in support of Fox News being state media.
_bxg1 7y ago
I'm a huge critic of Fox News, but this is a totally empty accusation. Fox News is the exact opposite of state media: it's a capitalistic organization designed to be as inflammatory as possible, towards one particular segment of the population, in hopes of making lots of money. Like Trump himself, its motivations are nothing so elaborate as trying to push a sinister ideology: it just wants attention.
- jrockway 7y ago
  Yeah. Fox News has been consistent to their own ideals throughout political changes. They hated Obama because he was a Democrat and love Trump because he's a Republican. If a Democrat is elected in 2020, I don't foresee them being a mouthpiece for her. They like their Republicans. The majority of electoral college members switch it up from time to time, but Fox News doesn't change at all.
  - mschuster91 7y ago
    > If a Democrat is elected in 2020, I don't foresee them being a mouthpiece for her. I wouldn't be so certain about the Democrats putting up a woman against Trump. 1) A woman would be a prime target for utterly vile sexist campaigning - Trump himself has resorted to that in the past ("blood coming out of her wherever"), and his fan base is orders of magnitude worse. I believe that women will (unfortunately) be voted out in the primaries as voters will want to spare a candidate from this sort of treatment. 2) Centrist Democrats are going for people who voted Trump in '16 but maybe willing to switch (especially frustrated white older men in rural/"flyover" areas) - for that demographic, a "strong man" has it easier to gather support than a woman (or, for that matter, also male candidates with a harsher view on gun regulations, or supporting the right to abortion and LGBT equality). If I were the Democrat leader, I'd put up a moderate middle-aged white male for the '20 election who (w/c)ould fix the most urgent mess resulting from the current Presidency, and building up a promising left-leaning, progressive woman candidate for 2024.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- _bxg1 7y ago
  To get slightly off-topic, this is why Trump isn't really a white-supremacist. He's a Donald Trump-supremacist, and he plays the part of an America-supremacist because it makes lots of people clap for him and give him more power. And it just so happens that actual white-supremacists get inspired by that kind of rhetoric, and he doesn't care enough about anyone other than himself to bother disavowing them, because they're just more people clapping for him. The banality of evil, etc.
  - nlh 7y ago
    I think you're exactly right here. Very good and insightful point. Thanks!
- nlh 7y ago
  This is a great and thoughtful answer. Thanks!
duskwuff 7y ago
I don't think there's any valid argument that Fox News is a state-controlled media organ. Whether the United States is a media-controlled state, however, remains an open question.

Actual question (not trying to be snarky): Is Fox News considered state media, and if not, will it be?

by nlh 7y ago

Actual question (not trying to be snarky): Is Fox News considered state media, and if not, will it be?

From the article, which doesn't directly address your question but does address it in the meta: How will we define state-controlled media in this context? This policy will apply to news media entities that are either financially or editorially controlled by the state. It has been informed by established academic and civil society leaders in this space. Sources include Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Freedom House, the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index, the European Journalism Centre’s Media Landscapes Report, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and UNESCO's framework to assess media development and independence.

dawhizkid 7y ago

Ultimately I don’t think it matters much. I’ve only very rarely seen promoted news stories in my feed from media companies - I don’t think spending money to promote links to articles is very widely used at all.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

When even Donald Trump thinks Fox News is conspiring against him, I don’t think there is even a fringe argument to made in support of Fox News being state media.

_bxg1 7y ago

I'm a huge critic of Fox News, but this is a totally empty accusation. Fox News is the exact opposite of state media: it's a capitalistic organization designed to be as inflammatory as possible, towards one particular segment of the population, in hopes of making lots of money. Like Trump himself, its motivations are nothing so elaborate as trying to push a sinister ideology: it just wants attention.

jrockway 7y ago
Yeah. Fox News has been consistent to their own ideals throughout political changes. They hated Obama because he was a Democrat and love Trump because he's a Republican. If a Democrat is elected in 2020, I don't foresee them being a mouthpiece for her. They like their Republicans. The majority of electoral college members switch it up from time to time, but Fox News doesn't change at all.
- mschuster91 7y ago
  > If a Democrat is elected in 2020, I don't foresee them being a mouthpiece for her. I wouldn't be so certain about the Democrats putting up a woman against Trump. 1) A woman would be a prime target for utterly vile sexist campaigning - Trump himself has resorted to that in the past ("blood coming out of her wherever"), and his fan base is orders of magnitude worse. I believe that women will (unfortunately) be voted out in the primaries as voters will want to spare a candidate from this sort of treatment. 2) Centrist Democrats are going for people who voted Trump in '16 but maybe willing to switch (especially frustrated white older men in rural/"flyover" areas) - for that demographic, a "strong man" has it easier to gather support than a woman (or, for that matter, also male candidates with a harsher view on gun regulations, or supporting the right to abortion and LGBT equality). If I were the Democrat leader, I'd put up a moderate middle-aged white male for the '20 election who (w/c)ould fix the most urgent mess resulting from the current Presidency, and building up a promising left-leaning, progressive woman candidate for 2024.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
_bxg1 7y ago
To get slightly off-topic, this is why Trump isn't really a white-supremacist. He's a Donald Trump-supremacist, and he plays the part of an America-supremacist because it makes lots of people clap for him and give him more power. And it just so happens that actual white-supremacists get inspired by that kind of rhetoric, and he doesn't care enough about anyone other than himself to bother disavowing them, because they're just more people clapping for him. The banality of evil, etc.
- nlh 7y ago
  I think you're exactly right here. Very good and insightful point. Thanks!
nlh 7y ago
This is a great and thoughtful answer. Thanks!

duskwuff 7y ago

I don't think there's any valid argument that Fox News is a state-controlled media organ. Whether the United States is a media-controlled state, however, remains an open question.