Many days a week I go to the gym here in Bozeman. I try to vary my workouts but I often warm up by briskly walking a mile or so on the treadmill. In the front of the cavernous room containing most of the cardio equipment are several television screens mounted on the wall. The one on the far left is tuned to CNN and the one on the far right is tuned to Fox News. The ones in the middle are generally tuned to MSNBC to watch the stock market or various sports channels. In addition, some of the cardio machines have their own individual TV screens.
I have found it quite interesting as the 2024 election is shaping up to be able to watch both CNN and Fox News at the same time. I will grant that most media services these days have some bias. However, that said, the contrast between the programming on CNN versus the programming on Fox News is amazing and I guess depressing at the same time. CNN certainly does cover many of the political issues that are in the news every day. They also cover many other news stories. It is a ‘real’ news channel and while it may be biased to the left, they do cover a wide variety of domestic and international stories, some political, some not. They also routinely entertain guests from both sides of the political spectrum.
Fox News, on the other hand, has a constant stream of nothing but stories either tearing down Joe Biden, fawning over former President Trump or engaging in inflammatory rhetoric about issues designed to rile up Trump supporters. There is almost always a banner across the bottom of the screen that has something to do with Biden – negatively of course. It is very clearly a propaganda machine and an important part of the Trump campaign. It has nothing whatsoever to do with news or journalism in the typical sense of those words. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but it really just smacks you in the face when you watch these two channels at the same time. It’s like simultaneously watching broadcasts from NASA and the Flat Earth Society!
As I stated earlier, some of the cardio machines have their own TVs so it’s also been interesting to see which channels different people are watching. Since this is Montana and Montana is bright red politically these days, one would expect to see a lot of people watching Fox News and that is exactly the case.
Many of us are continually surprised that Trump with all his baggage and ongoing legal problems can garner the kind of support he has. One huge factor is the fact that he has a propaganda machine working for him all day, every day. Many, many people get all their ‘news’ from Fox News so its really no small wonder they believe lies spewed forth by Trump and his toadies because that is all they hear from Fox (and the other right-wing media).
I don’t know what the solution is or even if there is a solution. The only real solution I can think of is for Fox to change their name from Fox News to Fox Propaganda, which would be more in keeping with their mission. Of course, we all know that will never happen! Or perhaps they should change the name to Trump News. Then everyone would know that most of everything aired on that channel was riddled with lies.
In the meantime, every time I’m at a cardio machine with its own TV screen, I always tune it to CNN as my little act of protest amid the small army of people tuned to Fox News. Sometimes I feel like Daniel in the lion’s den but thus far I have been able to continue my workouts unscathed and without being verbally (or physically) assaulted. It’s going to be a long few months until November!
