The saga of Tucker Carlson does not look good for corporate America. Fox News, in particular, has had a reputation that could have been more exemplary, but neither have other media giants.
How Tucker was terminated is certainly unethical but not illegal. He is still on the Fox payroll to the tune of about $30 million a year, but they are keeping him off the air. At the same time, an assault is being launched to thoroughly trash Tucker's reputation. Fox's attitude is if Tucker is not going to be on air for us, he won't be on air for anyone.
It's like a doctor suddenly being sacked from a group practice. When his patients ring up and request an appointment, they are told he is no longer there. Still, you can see Doctor X. When asked where their doctor went, the receptionist might say, "He moved to Kurdistan". Patients have a way of finding things out. Viewers have a way of voting with their feet, and they are doing so. They will follow Tucker wherever he reappears.
The stupidity of Fox's move is staggering. He was notified with 10 minutes notice of his termination. They didn't have the decency to give him a final show to say goodbye. Even more stunning is that Carlson's show was the top in ratings by far in his time slot.
Fox News Ratings At 8PM Drop 50% After Tucker Carlson's Firing
Tucker did release a two-minute video without mentioning Fox but pointed out what ails the whole media landscape.
Notice his final words, "See you soon". At this point, the video has had more than 73 million views.
Carlson was a unique cultural icon. He went beyond the Republican-Democrat talking points, addressing and challenging existential issues. He dared to question the accepted dogma of the establishment. No topic was off-limits. It was just a disingenuous tagline,
Fox News' "fair and balanced" meme.
For daring to question America stoking the flames of the war in Ukraine, Carlson was accused of being a stooge of Putin. For bringing on multiple experts on all things Covid, he challenged the government-big pharma complex. Still, he was accused of being a disinformation spreader. As many of us knew, he was right about the dangers of the jabs, masking and lockdowns.
There is an old saying people are only loyal to their own highest values. Fox, in particular, had absolutely no loyalty to Tucker regarding the ideological bent of the Murdoch family, owners of Fox. It's obvious a good portion of the Fox viewership no longer shares the Murdoch family values.
Everything should be decentralized, especially the media. Tucker will nolonger be constrained to the Information Embargo. Fox viewers will show the Murdock family why they had success.
All US media outlets are pretty much on life support at this point. It would be interesting to see who pays the bills. It's the same people who control the government, the banks, and the rest of Corporate America.
Excellent!