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An Open Letter to Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox

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An Open Letter to Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox An OpenLetter toCorporation Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and FoxCorporation CEO Lach/an Murdoch Americans consistentlyrate the Fox News Channel as one of the most trustedTV channels. The average age ofFox News viewers is 65. It is well establishedthat this p-0pulationincurs the greatest risk fromthe COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, Fox News viewers are at specialrisk fromthe coronavirus. But viewers ofFox News, including the president of the United States,have been regularly subjected tomisinformation relayed by the network-false statements downplaying the prevalence ofCOVID-19and its harms; misleading recommendationsof activitiesthat people should undertake to protectthemselves and others, including casual recommendationsof untested drugs; false assessmentsof thevalue of measures urgedupon the public by theirelected p-0liticalleadership and public health authorities. The misinformationthat reachesthe Fox News audience is a danger to public health.Indeed, it is not anoverstatement to say that your misreporting endangers your own viewers-and not only them, for in a pandemic, individual behavior affects significantnumbers of other people as well. Yet by commissionas well asomissio · eel, uncontestedmisinformation as well as failure to rep-0rtthe true dimensions of the crisis-Fox News has beenderelict in its duty to provide clear and accurate informationabout COVID-19.As the virus spreadacross the world, Fox News hostsand guests · · ized the dangers, accusing Democratsand themedia of inflating the dangers (in SeanHannity's words) to "bludgeon Trump with this new hoax." Such commentary encouraged President Trump to trivialize the threatand helpedobstruct national, state, and local effortsto limit thecoronavirus. The network's delinquency was effective.According to a YouGov/Economistpoll conducted March 15-17, Americans who pay the most attention toFox News are much less likely than others to say theyare worried ab-Outthe coronavirus.A Pew Research poll foundthat 79% ofFox News viewers surveyed believed the media had exaggerated the risks of the virus.63% ofFox viewers said they believedthe virus posed a minor threatto the health theof country.As recently as Sunday, March 22,Fox News host Steve Hilton deploredaccurate views of the pandemic, which he attributedto "our ruling class and their TV mouthpieces- whipping up fearover this virus." Fox News reportershave done some solid rep-0rting. And the network hasrecently given some screen timemedical to andpublic health professionals.But Fox News does not clearly distinguish between theauthority thatshould accrue to trained experts,on the one hand, and the authority viewers grantto pundits and politiciansfor reasons ofideological loyalty. There is a tendency to accept(or reject)them all iodise · · tely, forafter all, they are talkingheads whoappear on Fox News, a trustedsource of news. When the statements of knowledgeableexperts are surroundedby false claims made by pundits and politicians, including President Trun11>--<:laimsthat are not rebuttedby knowledgeable peoplein realtim�the overall effectis tomislead a vulnerable public ab-Outrisks and harms.Misinformation furthers the reachand the dangers ofthe pandemic. For example, the day afterTucker Carlson touteda flimsy French study on the use of two drugs to treatCOVID-19, President Trump touted "very, very encouraging earlyresults" from those drugs,and promoted a thirdas a p-0ssible"game changer." The basic purp-0se of news organizations is to discover and tell the truth.This is especiallynecessary, and obvious, amid a public healthcrisis. Television bearsa particular responsibilitybecause even more millions thanusual look there forreliable information. Inexcusably, Fox News has violated elementary canons ofjournalism. In so doing, it has contributed to the spread of a grave pandemic.Urgently, therefore, in the name ofboth goodjo ·m and public health,we call upon you to help protect the lives of all Americans-including your elderly viewers-by ensuringthat the informationyou deliver is basedon scientificfacts. Signed, Todd Gitlin, Professor,Chair, Ph.D. Programin Communications, Columbia Journalism School MarkFeldstein, Eaton Chair of Broadcast Journalism,University ofMaryland FrancesFitzGerald, PulitzerPrize- winning author Adam Hochschild, Graduate Schoolof Journalism, UC Berkeley Edward Wasserman, Dean, Graduate School of Journalism,UC Berkeley .
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