Newsmax, the TV network positioned to the right of Fox, made the Brazilian riot its top story. They called it a "grim echo."
Supporters of Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded and defaced the country's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday, in a grim echo of the U.S. Capitol invasion two years ago by fans of former President Donald Trump.
National Review, for nearly 70 years a voice of old-school conservative opinion, ended their story with this paragraph:
The widespread rioting, driven by a refusal to accept the results of an election, mirrored the events of January 6, 2021, when thousands of supporters of former president Trump overran the U.S. Capitol.
Americans observed a blustery authoritarian rule-breaking Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, face a challenge from the institutionalist politician on his left. Trump publicly supported Bolsonaro. Before the election Bolsonaro said that if he lost then the election must have been rigged against him and he would not accept the results. He came in second in the original election and then lost the run-off election to Lula da Silva, who was sworn in on January 1, 2023. This weekend a crowd of Bolsonaro supporters broke into government offices demanding the election be overturned.
Americans are divided on what happened on January 6, 2021. Some Republicans see Trump as a victim and Biden as a senile communist destroying America. Therefore, if the election had been overturned then Americans would get better government--a worthy goal justifying the irregular transition of power. Republicans see politicians they admire minimize the January 6 insurrection. This week Trump praised Ashli Babbitt, who was killed while breaking through a barricaded door leading to the House chamber. It isn't just Trump. The new House majority, now unanimous in support of McCarthy, will stop investigation of the riot and turn its attention to condemning the investigators and investigating them.
The events in Brazil look clearer and simpler to Americans. The riots fulfill the stereotype we have of Latin American government disfunction, a strong man dictator in a "banana republic" overthrowing an election by deceit and force. We see in Brazil an illegitimate effort to overthrow the government. We witness the condemnation of the world. We are relieved to see the riot put down. It is so clear--in Brazil.
Brazil is a distant mirror, but we can see an ugly vision of ourselves. There is proof of this pudding in the way that Fox News treats Brazil's riots. Fox News carefully monitors audience flow and they know their viewers tune out when they see news or opinion that disturbs their narrative. The analog between Brazil and the January 6 incident is obvious. Fox News viewers would see it and be troubled. Last night, while every media outlet had the Brazil riots as a top story, Fox News covered it as its 64th story. This morning, while every other news source continues to look at the coup attempt, the Fox website had 164 stories posted as of 5:00 a.m. Pacific time. There was no mention whatever of Brazil.
That silence makes a point. When we see January 6 played out in Latin America, Americans see it as clearly wrong. Fox viewers know it, too, which is why Fox doesn't show it.
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8 comments:
Thanks for pointing out the glaring news blackout at Faux News, aka "news" for dummies, kooks and the uninformed.
Peter said:
Fox News carefully monitors audience flow and they know their viewers tune out when they see news or opinion that disturbs their narrative. The analog between Brazil and the January 6 incident is obvious. Fox News viewers would see it and be troubled. Last night, while every media outlet had the Brazil riots as a top story, Fox News covered it as its 64th story.
It is not just Fox News. The ongoing violence in Brooklyn by black thugs against people who are visibly Jewish elicits the same sound of crickets in the liberal mainstream media, for exactly the same reason: it would make their subscribers uncomfortable.
Peter says: “When we see January 6 played out in Latin America, Americans see it as clearly wrong. Fox viewers know it, too, which is why Fox doesn't show it.”
I’m afraid he’s giving Fox viewers far too much credit. Fox has promoted the ‘stolen election,’ among many other crackpot conspiracy theories, because that’s what their viewers want to hear. The politicians and media that spread such blatant bullshit are obviously indifferent to the violence it foments. The best that can be said about the credulous audience lapping it up is they’re too clueless to tell fact from fiction and/or too crazy to care.
Which came first: Fox News or crazy Republicans? On my remembered timeline, Fox News was the creation of Ruppert Murdoch that clewed its way to a leading share of the cable market with tabloid-style journalism. Roger Ailes saw it as a counterweight to CNN's Democratic-leaning cable network. The mission at Fox is to maintain top ratings and influence over Republicans and conservative-leaning independents. I don’t believe they see the connection between their newscasts and coverage as causing national unrest. However, the Alex Jones lawsuit and Dominion’s libel suit against Fox may alter their programming if it costs them billions of dollars. Ailes is gone, but the viewership of Fox expects fiery rhetoric.
Americans are extremely concerned about the direction of the nation under President Joe Biden in 2023, according to a Sunday CBS News/YouGov poll.
Seventy-one percent of Americans stated they feel either “scared” or “angry” about the direction of the country in 2023. Forty-nine percent said they feel “scared,” while 22 percent said they are “angry.” Only 11 percent said they were “excited” about it in 2023.
Just seven percent believe things are going very well under Biden’s leadership. Thirty percent said it’s going very badly.
Among the topics Americans specifically feel most pessimistic are about the cost of goods (70 percent), United States politics (70 percent), prospects for peace and stability in the world (63 percent), and the stock market (59 percent).
Fifty-six percent of respondents said Biden’s economy is getting worse. Only 21 percent said it’s getting better.
According to Bloomberg, inflation cost American households on average an extra $5,200, or $433 per month, in 2022. Moody’s projected that number would be $5,520 per year.
Respondents also stated lawmakers’ top priorities should be lowering inflation (76 percent), reducing crime (63 percent), and working towards American energy independence (54 percent).
The poll sampled 2,144 Americans from January 4-6 with a 2.9 point margin of error.
Thanks to Peter’s blog, we have here some classic examples of false equivalence: whatabout Black thugs, whatabout the stock market, whatabout inflation – as if they were in any way comparable to an attempt at overthrowing the government.
I have no doubt that many people are scared or angry. Other than Trumplicans upset about the election results, many more are justifiably concerned about the GOP’s descent into madness.
Peter made a comment about how Fox has a blindspot. I pointed out that other media outlets have similar blindspots.
Dismissing my comment as “whatabout“ displays yet another blindspot.
The US and Brazil are different countries...different histories, different cultures, however there is one thing these stories have in common.
Both are the behaviors of members of a cult of personality.
Blind loyalty to the extent of risking personal safety and freedom.
Irrational belief in misinformation and outright falsehoods.
FOX never intended to be any more of a news operation than their tabloid kin. The intent from the start was to cater to a particular audience who are susceptible to a particular mix of sensational gossip, prejudiced opinion and fact challenged irrelevancies.
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