This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Tuesday:
The immediate reaction to the news: This must be another shoe falling in the wake of the network’s massive $787 million settlement of the lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems. Pretrial discovery featured a ton of incriminating, embarrassing texts from Tucker, which swung wildly between trashing Donald Trump—“I hate him passionately”—and trying to get Fox colleagues fired for telling the truth about Trump’s stolen-election lies. The Washington Post reported that his texts included harsh criticism of Fox management. Probably in his favor, at least to Rupert Murdoch, were texts showing that he was worried about the fall in the company’s stock price after it declared Biden the legitimate election winner and (occasionally) debunked Trump lies.
The discovery process of the Dominion case revealed numerous texts from Carlson—whose entire persona at Fox News rests on the wave of the Make America Great Again movement—showing his intense dislike of Donald Trump (New York Times, 3/8/23). “What [Trump is] good at is destroying things” was among one of the key texts, but everyone’s favorite, of course, is Carlson saying of Trump, “I hate him passionately.”
No, Carlson’s on-air racism (Independent, 4/13/21; ADL, 4/22/21), transphobia (New York Post, 12/28/22), xenophobia (Washington Post, 12/15/18), admiration for authoritarians (FAIR.org, 8/3/21, 10/20/21) and flirtations with antisemitism (Daily Beast, 10/11/22, 12/23/22) were never the problem for Fox News. If the Washington Post’s report that the Dominion texts were definitive is true, it’s poetic justice: The texts exposed Carlson for who he is, a pompous, rich media elitist who gives not one single damn about MAGA voters and hates their king, only cynically using Trump’s political popularity for his own media grift. That lifting of the veil, the end of the conceit for a corporation whose entire modus operandi is disguising its ruling-class politics to sell faux populism to its viewers, is a major outcome of the Dominion settlement.
Ava and I covered it last night in "TV: The media circus" and we'd covered it before. Which is why I laugh at Brian Selter using a ton of words to say nothing at VANITY FAIR. Say nothing, because he knows nothing. It wasn't a difficult decision for Rupert Murdoch. They were paying Tucker a ton of money and he wasn't delivering. It became our story because no one wanted to do the work on FOX NATION -- a streamer in serious trouble. Tucker was supposed to boost it and he didn't. B-b-b-but he gets good ratings! He's not paid for what he did, he's paid for what he will do. And the ratings weren't that great when they got better ratings -- and better demographics -- for less money -- see THE FIVE which has a real return on the dollars FOX "NEWS" invests into the program. Tucker is a crater. They keep throwing money down there. Yes, he was number one but advertisers didn't want him. And he wasn't the future. While no one was paying attention, FOX "NEWS" was trying to branch out into streaming and convinced this would be a huge success. People who pay for streamers weren't impressed with Tucker. His content was only streamed if it was Roseanne Barr. Otherwise, they ignored him and they loathed him. Some people thought he was cruel and mean, yes. But he even lost the right wingers many of whom referred to him as a "vicious queen" and a "closet case" which makes me laugh to this day to think that he preached so much homophobia but to some on the right that was just an indicator that he himself was gay.
Those surveys -- and I'm sure the press can get them -- probably without paying for them -- I paid for them -- made clear that FOX "NEWS" had to rethink because it's not the 20th century anymore and they're being left behind.
Due to advertising, Tucker didn't generate a return on the investment. It was a business decision. If you can't grasp it, he was KNOTS LANDING. KNOTS LANDING ran for years and when it got the axe it was a still a top-rated program. But it was now to expensive to make. People were being paid too much to continue the show. Tucker Carlson was paid a huge amount of money but he couldn't deliver on it. He couldn't bring in big money in advertising and his ratings that seemed so huge didn't justify the amount of money being spent.
Has no one noticed how the audience for THE FIVE has grown? I feel like I'm pitching the show here, and I'm not. But FOX "NEWS" invests far less money in that show. It turns a better profit and they're hopeful that shows like that -- built around groups of people -- are the future for FOX "NEWS."
As for Tucker? He's "a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 21, 2023
CONTACT: press@iava.org
Washington, DC- Following is a statement from the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Allison Jaslow, on the current proposal to address the need to raise the debt limit and cut spending before the House of Representatives:
“Earlier this week, in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, America was assured that our veterans would be taken care of as Washington politicians prepared to address the upcoming need to raise our country’s debt ceiling. Then veterans saw what was in their proposal and whether the words spoken on a stage also translated to the words on the pages of the bill that was unveiled on Capitol Hill.”
“There are zero guarantees that veterans care is protected in the bill that will soon be before the House of Representatives to raise the debt limit in exchange for spending cuts. And worse, it specifically targets unspent COVID aid that news reports indicate is currently planned to be spent to support veterans’ medical care.”
“This is unacceptable. The Limit, Save Grow Act of 2023 should explicitly protect benefits and care for veterans. As this debate continues, America needs to also know that veterans and their families get support from programs like SNAP and Medicaid, so efforts to target those areas of the federal budget could also have an adverse effect on members of our community.”
“Politicians can say they support our veterans, troops, and their families until they’re blue in the face, but what matters is what happens when they take action. Thankfully, the action to introduce a bill is only one step in the process. The next step is a vote. IAVA urges any member that is thinking of supporting the Limit, Save and Grow Act of 2023 to ask for a written guarantee that veterans will be protected. We should prioritize the needs of our nation’s veterans as spending cuts are considered in this plan. No Congressmember should give their blessing to the bill otherwise.”
IAVA is the voice for the post-9/11 veteran generation. With over 425,000 veterans and allies nationwide, IAVA is the leader in non-partisan veteran advocacy and public awareness. We drive historic impacts for veterans and IAVA’s programs are second to none. Any veteran or family member in need can reach out to IAVA’s Quick Reaction Force at quickreactionforce.org or 855-91RAPID (855-917-2743) to be connected promptly with a veteran care manager who will assist. IAVA’s The Vote Hub is a free tool to register to vote and find polling information. IAVA’s membership is always growing. Join the movement at iava.org/membership.
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