Chapter 13: Cable “News”

60       “Of the nearly two hundred different countries . . .”  “Transcript: ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” Fox News, August 5, 2021, updated August 6, 2021, www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 0:05–0:13.

60       “His name is Viktor Orbán . . .”  “Transcript: ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 0:13–0:16.

60       a trade agenda of “economic self-rule”  Adam Fabry, “Neoliberalism, Crisis and Authoritarian-Ethnicist Reaction: The Ascendancy of the Orbán Regime,” Competition & Change 23, no. 2 (November 21, 2018), doi.org/10.1177/1024529418813834; and Taylor Pearce, “Orban’s Victory and the Politics of Economy: Critics Fail to Acknowledge the Deeper Roots of Orban’s Appeal,” Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), April 7, 2022, www.omfif.org/2022/04/orbans-victory-and-the-politics-of-economy.

60       Trump’s America First agenda  Donald J. Trump, “America First Trade Policy,” The White House, January 20, 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/america-first-trade-policy/; and Garritt C. Van Dyk, “‘America First’ Trade Policy Is Pushing Economic Self-Sufficiency—but History Shows This Is Harder Than It Seems,” The Conversation, February 9, 2025, theconversation.com/america-first-trade-policy-is-pushing-economic-self-sufficiency-but-history-shows-this-is-harder-than-it-seems-248530.

60       blamed foreigners for the financial crisis Fabry, “Neoliberalism, Crisis and Authoritarian-Ethnicist Reaction: The Ascendancy of the Orbán Regime," doi.org/10.1177/1024529418813834; Pearce, “Orban’s Victory and the Politics of Economy,” http://www.omfif.org/2022/04/orbans-victory-and-the-politics-of-economy; and Juliet Johnson and Andrew Barnes, “Financial Nationalism and Its International Enablers: The Hungarian experience,” Review of International Political Economy 22, no. 3 (June 2015), www.jstor.org/stable/24673306, 536.

60       two-thirds parliamentary supermajority Pearce, “Orban’s Victory and the Politics of Economy,” http://www.omfif.org/2022/04/orbans-victory-and-the-politics-of-economy.

60       more than four hundred times  Nicholas Confessore, “What to Know About Tucker Carlson’s Rise,” New York Times, April 30, 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/business/media/tucker-carlson-fox-news-takeaways.html; and Karen Yourish, et al., “Inside the Apocalyptic Worldview of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’” New York Times, April 30, 2022, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-tonight.html.

60       more than fifty hours  John Bowden, “Buffalo Shooting: Anti-Racism Experts Condemn ‘Great Replacement’ Conspiracy Pushed by Tucker Carlson and GOP,” The Independent, May 16, 2022, www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/great-replacement-tucker-carlson-buffalo-b2079611.html; and Yourish et al., “Inside the Apocalyptic Worldview of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’” www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-tonight.html.

60       Australian-born billionaire and media magnate J. Edward Moreno, “How Rupert Murdoch Built His Media Empire,” New York Times, September 21, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/business/rupert-murdoch-media-empire.html.

60       most watched cable “news” network  Mark Joyella, “Fox News Ends 2019 with Biggest Prime Time Ratings Ever,” Forbes, December 11, 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2019/12/11/fox-news-ends-2019-with-highest-rated-prime-time-ratings-ever/.

61        established Canada’s Sun News Network Greg Elmer and Anthony Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” First Monday 27, no. 9 (September 5, 2022), doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        “Fox News North” Ira Basen, “Fox News North?: A Canadian Perspective on the Partisan Press,” Center for Journalism Ethics, University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, January 18, 2011, ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2011/01/18/fox-news-north-a-canadian-perspective-on-the-partisan-press.

61        lost 46 million Canadian dollars  Elmer and Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        The day after SNN closed in 2015  Elmer and Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        announced Rebel Media Rebel News, “Can We Start a New TV Channel? Should We Try?” YouTube, February 16, 2015, youtu.be/i0qp4Q2m6lY?si=we0ZnDEcrXegH41o; and Elmer and Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        Lilley resigned in 2017  Simon Little, “Rebel Media Cofounder Brian Lilley Explains Decision to Quit,” Global News, August 15, 2017, globalnews.ca/news/3672577/rebel-media-cofounder-brian-lilley-explains-decision-to-quit; and Elmer and Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        “Like many of you, I had family . . .”  Brian Lilley quoted in Elmer and Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        People like Lauren Southern  Elmer and Burton, “Rebel Personalities: Canada’s Far Right Media,” doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12546.

61        in the hundreds of thousands  Jason Wilson, “Lauren Southern Is on the Comeback Trail, and Australian Conservatives Are All Too Happy to Help,” The Guardian, opinion, August 9, 2020, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/10/lauren-southern-is-on-the-comeback-trail-and-australian-conservatives-are-all-too-happy-to-help.

61        followed Breitbart News Network “Rebel Media functions as an equivalent of Breitbart News.” Cas Mudde, The Far Right Today (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2019), 56. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/1083715030.

61        took Breitbart’s helm as executive chairman  Steve Bannon: The Trump-Whisperer's Rapid Fall from Grace,” BBC News, August 20, 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42636667.

61        used “Great Replacement” and “Great Replacement Theory” as tags  See https://www.breitbart.com/tag/great-replacement/ and www.breitbart.com/tag/great-replacement-theory/.

61        started catering to the voters who would soon usher Murillo Camarotto, “As Fox News Settles Its Case for $787m, a Similar Outlet in Brazil Is in Legal Trouble,” Reuters Institute, University of Oxford, April 18, 2023, reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/fox-news-settles-its-case-787m-similar-outlet-brazil-legal-trouble.

61        their decades-old radio station soon topped the ratings charts  Camarotto, “As Fox News Settles Its Case for $787m, a Similar Outlet in Brazil Is in Legal Trouble,” reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/fox-news-settles-its-case-787m-similar-outlet-brazil-legal-trouble.

61        phrase: “the real press”  Camarotto, “As Fox News Settles Its Case for $787m, a Similar Outlet in Brazil Is in Legal Trouble,” reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/fox-news-settles-its-case-787m-similar-outlet-brazil-legal-trouble.

61        launched its own television channel  Camarotto, “As Fox News Settles Its Case for $787m, a Similar Outlet in Brazil Is in Legal Trouble,” reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/fox-news-settles-its-case-787m-similar-outlet-brazil-legal-trouble.

61        eclipsed the ratings of CNN Brazil  Camarotto, “As Fox News Settles Its Case for $787m, a Similar Outlet in Brazil Is in Legal Trouble,” reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/fox-news-settles-its-case-787m-similar-outlet-brazil-legal-trouble.

61        “very few media outlets that are really unbiased”  Based Media, “Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro’s FULL INTERVIEW with Tucker Carlson (2022),” YouTube, April 23, 2023, youtu.be/duasJSpeH6Q?si=gKZa0QXykENyOBuH, 12:10–12:13.

61–62  praised . . . as an example of “excellent” journalism  Based Media, “Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro’s FULL INTERVIEW with Tucker Carlson (2022),” youtu.be/duasJSpeH6Q?si=gKZa0QXykENyOBuH, 12:16–12:24.

62       “over time, to undermining the confidence . . .”  Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, Attorney General’s Office in the State of São Paulo, Regional Attorney’s Office for Citizens’ Rights, Public Civil Inquiry No. 1.34.001.000088/2023-11 (2023), Ministério Público Federal, www.mpf.mp.br/sp/sala-de-imprensa/docs/acp-jovem-pan, 11, via Google Translate.

62       in 2017, billionaire Vincent Bolloré  Valentine Faure, “The Fox News of France,” Nieman Reports, January 20, 2024, niemanreports.org/the-fox-news-of-france-bollore-cnews/.

62       the “French Rupert Murdoch”  Eleanor Beardsley, “French News Channel, Referred to as French Fox News, Gains in Popularity,” Morning Edition, NPR, June 2, 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002368856/french-news-channel-referred-to-as-french-fox-news-gains-in-popularity.

62       “the French Fox News”  Cole Stangler, “France Is Becoming More Like America: It’s Terrible,” opinion, New York Times, June 2, 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/opinion/france-cnews-americanization.html.

62       appeared on CNews to answer . . . “What is the great replacement?” Faure, “The Fox News of France,” niemanreports.org/the-fox-news-of-france-bollore-cnews/; and Alexis Lévrier, Twitter, October 31, 2021, 3:32 p.m., x.com/Alexlevrier/status/1454894187476889603, via Google Translate.

62       nothing to do with race and everything to do with defending civilization  Lara Bullens, “How France’s ‘Great Replacement’ Theory Conquered the Global Far Right,” France 24, November 8, 2021, www.france24.com/en/europe/20211108-how-the-french-great-replacement-theory-conquered-the-far-right.

62       connected . . . to the growing popularity of Marine Le Pen Faure, “The Fox News of France," niemanreports.org/the-fox-news-of-france-bollore-cnews/; and Beardsley, “French News Channel, Referred to as French Fox News, Gains in Popularity,” www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002368856/french-news-channel-referred-to-as-french-fox-news-gains-in-popularity.

62       boosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  Isabel Kershner, “An Israeli TV Channel for Netanyahu Fans Rapidly Gains Influence,” New York Times, September 13, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/world/middleeast/israel-tv-news-channel-14-netanyahu.html.

62       created the Jewish “heritage channel”  Amy Spiro, “As Divisions Sharpen, an Incendiary Right-Wing News Channel Finally Finds an Audience,” Times of Israel, July 20, 2023, www.timesofisrael.com/as-divisions-sharpen-an-incendiary-right-wing-news-channel-finally-finds-an-audience/.

62       permitted . . . to broadcast “news” full-time and exempted the channel . . . Spiro, “As Divisions Sharpen, an Incendiary Right-Wing News Channel Finally Finds an Audience,” www.timesofisrael.com/as-divisions-sharpen-an-incendiary-right-wing-news-channel-finally-finds-an-audience/.

62       viewed these moves as an attempt to increase Channel 14’s popularity Spiro, “As Divisions Sharpen, an Incendiary Right-Wing News Channel Finally Finds an Audience,” www.timesofisrael.com/as-divisions-sharpen-an-incendiary-right-wing-news-channel-finally-finds-an-audience/.

62       “Israel’s Fox News” “The Israel Palestinian Media Disconnect,” All Things Considered, NPR, May 5, 2024, www.npr.org/2024/05/05/1249263716/the-israel-palestinian-media-disconnect.

62       the country’s second-most-watched channel  “The Israel Palestinian Media Disconnect,” www.npr.org/2024/05/05/1249263716/the-israel-palestinian-media-disconnect.

62       “the Fox News of India”  Jeffrey Gettleman et al., “Indian Police Accuse Popular TV Station of Ratings Fraud,” New York Times, October 9, 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/asia/india-republic-tv-ratings.html.

62       co-founder of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami Gettleman et al., “Indian Police Accuse Popular TV Station of Ratings Fraud,” www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/asia/india-republic-tv-ratings.html.

62       “most loved and loathed TV anchor” “Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” BBC News, November 21, 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379.

62       has aggressively defended Prime Minister  “Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor," www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379; and Gettleman et al., “Indian Police Accuse Popular TV Station of Ratings Fraud,” www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/asia/india-republic-tv-ratings.html.

62       “In a country where 80 percent . . .” Arnab Goswami quoted in “Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379.

62–63  “I ask today that if a Muslim cleric or . . .” Arnab Goswami quoted in “Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379.

63       Goswami was commenting on an incident  “Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379.

63       Two Hindu sadhus, or “godmen,” were headed  Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379; Arshad R. Zargar, “110 Arrested Over Latest Deadly Lynch Mob Attack in India,” CBS News, April 20, 2020, www.cbsnews.com/news/palghar-lynching-india-arrests-110-suspends-police-officers-rumor-fuelled-slayings-3-men/; and Zeeshan Sheikh, “Palghar Lynching: All You Need to Know,” Indian Express, April 24, 2020, indianexpress.com/article/explained/palghar-mob-lynching-mahant-kalpavruksha-giri-6370528/.

63       gang of child kidnappers was operating in the area  Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379; and Zargar, “110 Arrested Over Latest Deadly Lynch Mob Attack in India,” www.cbsnews.com/news/palghar-lynching-india-arrests-110-suspends-police-officers-rumor-fuelled-slayings-3-men/.

63       pulled the travelers from the car, and beat them to death “Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh . . . said none of the 101 people arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case is a Muslim.” “No Muslim Arrested for Palghar Lynching Incident: Maharashtra Minister Anil Deshmukh,” Economic Times, April 22, 2020, economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/no-muslim-arrested-for-palghar-lynching-incident-maharashtra-minister-anil-deshmukh/articleshow/75286533.cms?.

63       Videos captured the attack  Zargar, “110 Arrested Over Latest Deadly Lynch Mob Attack in India,” www.cbsnews.com/news/palghar-lynching-india-arrests-110-suspends-police-officers-rumor-fuelled-slayings-3-men/.

63       lying to viewers that the travelers were killed because they were Hindu “Arnab Goswami: India’s Most Loved and Loathed TV Anchor,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379.

63       launch of the online platform Nius (News) in Germany  Kira Ayyadi, “‘Nius’: Fox News in German?” Media Diversity Institute, June 17, 2024, www.media-diversity.org/nius-fox-news-in-german.

63       developed his own show, seemingly using Tucker Carlson Tonight as the prototype “Since April 2022, [Reichelt] has published videos almost daily under his own direction on his channel ‘Achtung, Reichelt!’” which “is strongly modelled on the right-wing populist opinion journalism of the American news channel Fox News. In particular, the rhetorical devices of the former Fox News talker, Tucker Carlson, seem to have won over [Reichelt]. Like Carlson, Julian Reichelt is also focussing on the ‘culture war.’ Just like the AfD, he presents himself as the voice of the people . . . But both Carlson and Reichelt are representatives of this ruling class.” Ayyadi, “‘Nius’: Fox News in German?” www.media-diversity.org/nius-fox-news-in-german.

63       In a May 2024 audience survey Ayyadi, “‘Nius’: Fox News in German?” www.media-diversity.org/nius-fox-news-in-german.