CNN hosts Brianna Keilar and Brian Stelter criticized Fox News in a Friday segment of “CNN Newsroom,” claiming the network was taking a hard right politically to drive ratings.
Keilar and Stelter argued Fox was allowing opinion shows to drive the network — in an effort to continue to provide viewers with “red meat” — as straight news journalists become irrelevant. (RELATED: CNN’s Brian Stelter Says Andrew Cuomo Has Resorted To ‘Media Bashing’, Compares Him To Trump)
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“In January, Fox had its worst ratings in two decades, and now it’s going even further off the anti-truth rails in an effort to remedy that. Fox is going full Tucker: more outrageousness, more opinion, and consider what that means,” Keilar said. She cited a court case in which attorneys had successfully defended Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a defamation case by arguing his show was “exaggeration and nonliteral commentary.”
“And yet still, what he dishes out is what a huge chunk of the country is consuming as if it’s the gospel. Clearly, Fox is, to quote Demi Lovato, ‘Sorry, not sorry,'” Keilar continued, introducing Stelter as her guest. (RELATED: ‘It Is Consequence Culture’: Brian Stelter Says Lou Dobbs Was Not A Victim Of ‘Cancel Culture’)
“It is an anti-Democrat network. That’s the agenda,” Stelter said, arguing the opinion shows were the ones driving the network. “The opinion shows are what define Fox News. All of the newscasts have been shrinking and the audience for those news programs have been shrinking as well.”
Stelter went on to say Fox was increasingly becoming the “Tucker Carlson Channel” because the viewers wanted the kind of “red meat” Carlson’s show and others like it would provide. Keilar noted there were some straight news journalists at Fox but claimed the “shrinking” group were not usually the ones who hosted their own shows.
“Murdoch admitted that the Fox audience, Brian, is disappointed in the election results. How much does that factor into this strategy moving forward and the Fox lineup?” Keilar turned the question to Stelter.
“That is the big story. That is the major factor,” Stelter replied, saying that there wasn’t a market in the Fox audience for bad news about Republicans or good news about Democrats.
“So it is all a ratings ploy,” Stelter concluded. “This is all about business, all about profit.”