CNN's Brian Stelter: Fox News "is bigger than Trump" -- if he fights the network, he'll lose

[marmar]

CNN's Brian Stelter: Fox News "is bigger than Trump" — if he fights the network, he'll lose
CNN media critic on his new book and the "unhealthy relationship" between Fox News, Donald Trump and the audience

DEAN OBEIDALLAH
SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 11:00AM (UTC)


(Salon) Do executives at Fox News secretly hope that Donald Trump loses this November because that would be good for the network's ratings? Before you dismiss that as crazy talk, given the record ratings Fox News has seen during Trump's presidency, realize that Fox could see even higher ratings when it no longer has to defend Trump's unpredictable words and deeds and can solely focus on what Brian Stelter calls its "secret sauce": attacking Democrats and liberals.

Stelter, the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and author of the new book, "Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth," raised that very scenario during our "Salon Talks" conversation. As he explains it, Fox News has always been more comfortable attacking Democratic administrations, which traditionally has yielded a ratings boon for the network. "The network in a Biden presidency is almost a situation where tails you win and heads you win," he said. Fox News might face other problems with Trump as a former president, however. Stelter describes Trump as the Frankenstein monster that Fox News helped create, and as in the tale of Frankenstein, he could end up turning against his creator and starting a competing right-wing network.

In our recent conversation, Stelter also addressed Trump's nonstop attacks on the media, which Stelter says have taken a toll on the credibility of the Fourth Estate: "He has said 'fake news' and 'hoax' so many times that it has poisoned the public discourse. It's like a slow-acting poison that kind of gradually moves to the veins of the American body. And we can't fully know what the impacts are of that yet."

....(snip)....

Your book "Hoax" is like a feedback loop. Does Trump drive Fox News, does Fox News drive Trump, or does it move back and forth all the time?

It is hard to tell where Fox ends and Trump begins. But if I had to choose one side of this, I would say Fox drives Trump more than Trump drives Fox. Fox has more of an agenda setting role than the President does, which is an astonishing thing to say. But when you look at the power of "Fox & Friends," when you look at the power of Sean Hannity and recently Tucker Carlson, who is achieving policy goals based on segments he produces on his show. I think it's clear that Trump is usually in a reactive mode, reacting to what he sees and hears on Fox. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/09/14/cnns-brian-stelter-fox-news-is-bigger-than-trump--if-he-fights-the-network-hell-lose/

[Buckeye_Democrat]

1. I agree.

Trump constantly watches Fox News, as he did before running for office. Whenever I heard Trump, it was mostly him regurgitating the Fox News talking points.

And the Fox viewers loved it, of course, since he was "telling it like it is".

Edit: And it's not like Trump's lazy brain could do much better. He was basically copying the work of others, like he's surely been doing since grade school.

[Blue Owl]

2. Oooh, a big power move by Turdoch

[mzmolly]

3. Fox 'News' is running the country.

The reason Trump tunes in daily, is so he knows what he agenda/talking points should be.

[CrispyQ]

4. That was a good read.

Thanks!

[TheRealNorth]

5. You are assuming that Trump (via Putin)

doesn't have something on Murdoch. Remember back in 2015 when Trump strong armed Murdoch into covering him favorably after the whole Meghyn Kelly thing.