Don’t look back

Checking in with Fox News, Jan. 6, 2022:
A snapshot of coverage on the anniversary of the insurrection/riot at the Capitol

Time and station: Fox News, along with CNN and MSNBC, via Sirius satellite radio, from approximately 3 pm to 4 pm EST. 

Context: In Washington, D.C., several events commemorated the anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol by protestors on Jan. 6, 2021. The riot or insurrection led to the deaths of at least five people and is considered the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812 and one of the worst cases of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, not the least because it took place as Congress was counting the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. The insurrection resulted in the historic second impeachment trial of President Trump and is the subject of ongoing investigations. 

And in other news:
Although other mainstream outlets carried extensive coverage of the events marking the anniversary of Jan. 6, Fox’ coverage was much more limited, and it cut away early to cover other stories such as a teacher’s strike in Chicago. It also spent a good deal of this time segment on editorial comments about how COVID-19 relief money was being spent. 

Say what, now? 
A common feature of Fox News commentary and reporting is the insertion of questionable or outright false statements by pundits who breezily make these assertions as though they are accepted facts—and there is seldom pushback, correction, or fact checking from anyone at the network. 
 
In this case, Dan Henninger of the Wall Street Journal, while lambasting Democrats for politicizing the Jan. 6 insurrection, said the following (emphasis mine): “Democrats have decided their best weapon is associating Donald J. Trump with [the insurrection] …  That’s what they did with Russian collusion narrative that lasted for four years, John Durham finally said there was nothing to it, but I didn’t see too many Democrats apologizing for what they put the country through with that.”
 
Um, hold on. John Durham did not say that. And nothing in his ongoing investigation has cast serious doubt on the findings of the Mueller investigation—an effort that resulted in convictions, guilty pleas, and prison sentences for several top Trump aides. Durham is a special prosecutor looking at whether government agencies overstepped their bounds in the investigation—and so far, he has not found much wrongdoing—in fact that investigation has gone month after month with almost no developments. A couple of individuals have been accused of false statements, but it is simply incorrect to claim that Durham has found there was “nothing” to the Russia investigation. 

Found the pony!
Fox News personalities do sometimes tell the truth, but it can be startling when they do so. And it’s also deeply frustrating—I have felt like tearing my hair out during the pandemic at times, when one hour on Fox News features guests promoting vaccines and masking, and the next features a conservative downplaying or even denying the importance of vaccines and masking. This whiplash-inducing coverage on Fox is less common than it used to be, as more traditional and ethical journalists leave the station and are replaced by demagogues, but it still happens. 
 
For example, the same segment that included Henninger’s whopper also included the comments of Guy Benson, political editor at the very-conservative TownHall.com site. Benson offered up the usual talking points about how incredibly partisan Democrats were for talking about Jan. 6 on the anniversary of Jan. 6, but then, having gotten that out of the way, launched into an impassioned defense of recognizing the importance of Jan. 6: 

“Because it’s the anniversary, I think it’s important to speak and remember clearly what happened a year ago: we witnessed a national disgrace that can never be allowed to happen again,” Benson said. “We had an angry mob, that was too often violent, storm the US capitol and try to shut down and disrupt the counting of the electoral vote; the peaceful transition of power—that’s sacred in this country. And that mob, those rioters were inspired by a series of lies about the 2020 election. Lies that were told primarily by the former President, Donald Trump.
 
“He had an opportunity, with his team, to prove his claims about the election in court. They couldn’t, they couldn’t come close, but those claims persisted anyway, and some people took that very seriously. And the result is history, and it’s a history that we look back on and reflect on today. It’s very sad to think about, I was sickened at the time, I was sickened again thinking back on it, and I think we have to acknowledge what really happened that day and tell the truth, even when it’s painful. And this truth—it’s pretty damn painful.” 

Benson is right about all of that. And that kind of truth-telling is far too rare on Fox News. 
 
Fair and balanced—on another channel:
The constant repetition of the claim that Democrats were being partisan about Jan. 6 is ironic coming from Fox, which started decades ago as a conservative-leaning network and has gradually morphed into a blindly partisan propaganda channel. 

There were no Democrats or anyone from outside the usual suspects at Fox News commenting on the Jan. 6 anniversary during this time segment. Juan Williams, who not so long ago gave up his seat as a moderate punching bag on “The Five,” one of Fox’s most egregiously obnoxious programs, did pop up during this hour, but even he carried on with the party line of slamming Democrats for recognizing the seriousness of an attack on our democracy. Apparently, Williams decided to mute his recent strong criticism of Trump in this appearance. It’s not an uncommon occurrence with Republicans who know the cost if they fail to stick to the approved narrative. 

On the other hand, CNN featured the perspectives of two Republicans: Charlie Dent, former U.S. Congressman, and Stephanie Grisham, a former White House official who resigned on Jan. 6 in protest of President and Melania Trump’s unwillingness to speak out against the violence. On MSNBC, toward the end of the hour, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele talked about the irresponsible way Republican office holders have been downplaying the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

But on Fox News, they were back to complaining about mandates and lockdowns. For them, the insurrection was in the rearview mirror. At least, they hoped it was. 

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