Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Giving "Thanks" To Rupert Murdoch (UPDATED)

 

In discussing the mass murders in Buffalo by a racist white nationalist, Lawrence O'Donnell puts the blame where it belongs, on the evil thing in charge of the largest and most powerful megaphone of hate in America:

 

UPDATEFox "News" decides to take cover --

Fox News programming went virtually silent on the racist conspiracy theory that reportedly inspired a mass shooting over the weekend, largely refusing to mention the so-called “great replacement” theory by name in its coverage of the massacre. Fox’s decision to avoid the topic stood in stark contrast to its cable news competitors, which discussed the shooter’s racist motivations at considerable length. It also represented an about-face for Fox, which has previously been more than happy to spread racist “replacement” paranoia.

On Saturday afternoon, an 18-year-old man entered a supermarket in a majority-Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, and shot 13 people, killing 10. The alleged shooter broadcast his attack on the livestreaming service Twitch and published a 180-page manifesto detailing his beliefs and motivations, including the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.

The conspiracy theory, originally popularized in right-wing online communities before joining the conservative mainstream, claims that a cabal of liberals and Jews are trying to “replace” white Americans in the population and remove them from positions of power. The theory has been routinely promoted by Fox News personalities, including prime-time stars Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham.

On Fox, coverage in the immediate aftermath of attack took on a stalled quality, while other cable news networks dedicated wall-to-wall coverage to the act of terrorism. Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., the most watched “news” network in the country aired reruns and pretaped programming, limiting coverage of the shooting to a handful of short news bulletins. When live coverage resumed at 10 p.m., it was clear that Fox’s on-air talent had received their marching orders that the network’s coverage would do its best to omit references to the conspiracy theory.

Gotta say, they protect their own -- Carlson, Ingraham and, of course, the murderer.

 

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