I love Fox News.
I dedicated two decades of my life to helping build it, and know it's been an invaluable asset to America. It’s often been a singular voice against a media that’s turned into a public relations arm of liberalism, and an ongoing onslaught of progressive groupthink.
Even after it tossed me aside in the post-Roger-Ailes shakeup, I find myself routinely defending it.
I'm not alone, because the viewers of Fox News are much more than just "viewers." We're supporters and allies in a relationship that goes well beyond simply watching a channel.
Has an NBC viewer ever spent Thanksgiving dinner defending the network from the latest overwrought accusation from the legacy press? Or have to explain to friends that, no, it's not a racist network despite what the New York Times says? Or even sleep, as I do, on an overpriced foam pillow?
Fox News "viewers" are much more than that, and it's time the network started treating us that way again. The Tucker Carlson incident is tough to take.
The channel doesn't have an obligation to address every perceived mistake, but more transparency would help. Whether it was Chris Wallace's liberal approach to the presidential debate, Fox's election night inconsistencies, or even its attitude towards Donald Trump, there's been a radical lack of openness. After the election, their news reporters downplayed election fraud while their opinion hosts cozied up to it. Which were we supposed to believe?
The Dominion lawsuit led to hundreds of anti-Fox stories. The media, and sometimes our friends, hyperventilated over every leaked email implying the network didn't actually believe what its anchors were saying. And while I and others defended it as we could, the network largely held its tongue, but did tell us those were cherry-picked facts that they would explain in court.
Then it paid $788 million to avoid that court appearance, and never even attempted to explain its actions, either defending them as proper or apologizing for mistakes. At best, Fox's defenders were left confused, and the only ones talking were the smug elites who, once again, let us know we weren't that smart.
Then came Tucker Carlson's firing.
For many, watching Tucker Carlson Tonight was a nightly ritual. We came to trust Carlson as a voice of courage, someone unafraid to challenge the lies and arrogance of the establishment. On many issues, he was a lone voice of sanity.
But now, Fox has made him disappear without a trace, without an apology, and without any kind of explanation. That silence has made it impossible to judge whether Tucker was treated unfairly, and it's no way to treat millions of viewers who understandably feel confused, even betrayed.
It's not just the on-air talent that makes a network successful; it's the viewers who tune in every night, who stand up for the network when it's under attack, and who spread the word to friends and family about the importance of conservative media.
This isn’t an evil plan by Fox executives. It’s fear of making things worse, while hoping it will all blow over, as it has for them in the past. That’s a dangerous gamble at a time when Fox’s enemies are emboldened and its defenders are demoralized.
We've been there for Fox News through thick and thin, and we deserve transparency and honesty from the network we have long defended.
Your defense of Fox is admirable in light of your absolutely correct assessment on the effect Tucker Carlson’s removal has had on those of us who watched and trusted him every night. We DO feel betrayed, to the point of feeling a gut punch that leaves us reeling, fearing the future of our country and the western world as never before. My own reaction was to remove every scheduled program I have been taping on Fox
My wife and I are so stung by the removal of Tucker that we have turned Fox off completely. Hannity is now irrelevant with his audience Howdy Doody Show. Waters is Tucker’s towel boy. Laura has always quacked like an angry spinster. When Tucker put conservative voices on from Canada, Norway, UK, Brazil, Czech Republic and elsewhere, he was alone in bringing us vital news of globalist extremism. That alone makes him irreplaceable. Sorry Ken but this household’s loyalty had hung on one program and now our daily ritual has been stolen from us. This is exactly what the left wanted. All the lawsuits, all the attacks on Tucker, all of it was engineered by Brock and Company. And they’ve won. I hope Murdock dies a painful death. And soon.