What It Is Like to Work for the Right-Wing Propaganda Machine

What is it like to work for the right-wing propaganda machine? On Dec. 13, 2021, Fox’s one remaining journalist announced that he resigned after 18 years with the Rupert Murdoch network.

“I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion,” Wallace told the New York Times in an interview published Sunday. “But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable.”

This was Chris Wallace explaining his reasons for finally leaving the right-wing propaganda machine, calling itself Fox News. Like his father, the late Mike Wallace, the truth is the only thing that matters. I never understood why any legitimate journalist would remain at Fox. Its viewers prefer “personalities” like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Jeanine Pirro, and Tucker Carlson. The truth is unimportant, but what they say is. These fake reporters tell the people what they want to hear.

Wallace will now have his own show on CNN, where facts matter.

One can only imagine how difficult it was to be surrounded by men and women who are paid large amounts of money to lie, and the more outrageous the lie, the better. Fox was founded on the premise that “sensationalism increases viewership, and a larger audience results in greater advertising revenue.”

We need only look at how effective this philosophy has been. During the 2016 campaign, every television and print media offered the Donald Trump campaign five times more coverage than all other candidates combined. There is no doubt the media helped Trump and Putin win the Electoral College in 2016.

When asked why he stayed at the fake news network for so long, Wallace explained that he felt comfortable doing his job until the 2020 election. But the “final straw” was how other Fox personalities reported the insurrection on January 6 which forced him to make the decision. Trump’s “big lie” was unforgivable, but pretending that the violent actions on January 6 were simply a “normal protest” was over the top, and it was time to go.

As I always promise, “the truth lives here,” and when Wallace left Fox, he took with him the last little bit of integrity and truth once and for all. Now they must depend on people like Tucker Carlson whose broadcasts are replayed on Russian news broadcasts. With all media in the control of Vladimir Putin, using Carlson’s own, uncensored words is meant to convince the Russian people that the people of the United States support Putin’s war in Ukraine. If you read them, you would surely agree.

Wallace praised the men who hired him at Fox. They promised to never interfere with who he might choose to interview, or what questions he might ask. They kept that promise.

However, he first became concerned when the network moved even farther to the right during Trump’s tenure in the White House. He constantly heard lies and continuous effusive praise for a man who was undeserving.

CNN recruited Wallace, and his new show, called “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” will allow him to interview a broader range of individuals, It will air daily.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

The Guardian: Chris Wallace announces he is leaving Fox News to join CNN streaming service
Yahoo!: Chris Wallace Says Working at Fox News Was ‘Unsustainable’ After 2020 Election; by Thom Geier

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