by Jacob Rueda
Fox News' Jesse Watters speaking with Jersey Shore's DJ Pauly D about Inflation in April 2022.
(Image: Fox News)
The media rating site Mediabiasfactcheck.com currently rates Fox News as a "Questionable Source" due to "extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news."
Fox News is also rated as almost extreme right in the bias and credibility meter. That is due to the network catering to hardcore, right-wing views and talking points, such as denial of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election win of Democratic President Joe Biden, and a derision of what some on the social and political right consider "woke," or liberal, ideology.
Fox News has had a number of slogans since its inception in 1996: "Fair and Balanced," "Standing Up for What's Right," "We Report, You Decide," "Most Watched, Most Trusted," and others.
Given that, the decision by Fox News to interview Jersey Shore alum DJ Pauly D, whose real name is Paul Michael DelVecchio Jr, on the topic of inflation in April 2022 is perplexing, given that DelVecchio has no experience in analyzing, affecting through policy, or working in any way with the economy.
This is not the only time Fox News used a media personality as a source for something they have no experience in. A number of times, Duane Lee Chapman, also known as "Dog The Bounty Hunter," has appeared on the channel to give his thoughts on whatever issue of the day the network wants his take on.
During the mass shooting in Maine where Robert Card disappeared after killing 18 people in October 2023, Chapman told Fox's Jesse Watters that a solution to finding Card would be to "go out and get me 300 Marines.” Watters questioned the legality of that despite his enthusiasm for the suggestion.
Chapman replied, "I don't know. I sure would try it."
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 "removed the military from regular civil law enforcement" with certain exceptions. The most notable exception is in the case of an insurrection or attack on any federal institution anywhere in the country.
Searching for a gunman does not fall into those exceptions. In the end, Card was found dead of an apparent suicide.
PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS AND A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND TRUST
Most reputable news outlets would choose actual experts rather than reality-show personalities to address an issue, especially ones as sensitive as the economy or gun violence.
Experts provide insight from years of experience dealing with an issue. By speaking with reality-show personalities, Fox News offers commentary rather than detailed, expert analysis. Fox News' social and political leanings makes it so that any commentators present views that compliment their own.
The spread of such information is not unique to Fox News. The website Iffy.news compiled a list of sources that are equally or considerably less credible than Fox News. But despite its lack of credibility, they maintain a solid base of viewers.
Part of that is due to ignorance. A portion of Americans do not know how the news works. Meaning, they don't know how information is gathered, processed, and delivered to the public.
In other words, they don't know that ideas are pitched, accepted or rejected, and that a news editor ultimately makes the decision what will be covered and what will air, provided they are at TV or radio station. If it's a newspaper or magazine, it will be in print or online.
It assumes that the news just says things as they make it up along the way while feeding whatever bias individuals perceive them to have.
The public is also unfamiliar with the organizational structure of newsrooms. They are not aware of the positions in a newsroom, other than a reporter or anchor, that make a newscast. All they see is journalists and people trying to spin "the truth."
Being that trust in media is lower than ever before and media literacy is also low in adults, the potential for people to receive untrustworthy or misleading information is high. Fox and other outlets take advantage of their viewers' lack of knowledge to promote their take on anything from science to current events, even though they know better.
ACCURACY AND THE FIRST AMMENDMENT
In an article February 2018 article for Variety on the journalistic value of the show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Brian Steinberg writes how in today's day and age, anyone with a camera and a social media account can "claim to break news and deliver previously untold facts."
This is especially the case given the rise of "First Amendment auditors" and self-proclaimed "journalists" who enter into buildings and film without consent, citing rights supposedly provided by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and "reporting" on something they know nothing about.
What these folks fail to realize, among many things, is that the First Amendment is not just about "free speech." Likewise, case law has shown that so-called "free speech" is not absolute. Meaning, one cannot just say or write whatever they want and expect no consequence or retaliation from it.
The public, fringe websites, so-called "First Amendment auditors," and apparently Fox News, fail to grasp the importance of vetting information for accuracy. When information isn't vetted, it can lead to all sorts of problems, including misunderstandings, social chaos, and the potential for lawsuits.
In April 2023, Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the network's airing of false information regarding claims of fraud during the 2020 Presidential Election, where Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.
With regard to DelVecchio Jr., his appearance on Fox News caused a stir in the online community, with Twitter users making fun of him at the time for being consulted as an expert on something as complex as the economy.
Chapman also intervened in the search for Brian Laundrie, the man who admitted killing Gabby Petito in 2021. Like Card, Laundrie was found dead of an apparent suicide.
BIAS
Individuals who believe the false claim that Trump won the election more than likely identify with a partisan views promoted by Fox News, Newsmax, and other news outlets. That in turn affects decision-making. A 2022 study from Ohio State University found that individuals who chose actions based on their partisan bias tended to believe "that choosing their own party had led to better results even when they had lost."
Previous studies at OSU also found that "partisans frequently hold radically different interpretations of factual events." Meaning, it's not that they don't have the proper information, it's that the information is interpreted to align with their world view, which can have drastic, if not deadly results especially when it's coupled with false and inaccurate information.
One such example is the January 6th insurrection of the U.S. Capitol. After then-president Trump repeated lies about elections to his supporters, it created a belief that elections could not be trusted, especially if the outcome was not favorable to one party or group.
Along with some members of the public not knowing how news and information works, there is a general misunderstanding of how government works. Couple that with Trump's rhetoric and the seeds are planted for an insurrection like the one on January 6th 2021.
UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
It has been established that commentators like DelVecchio Jr. and Chapman offer nothing in terms of useful, factual, credible, and applicable information. Speaking from no experience can lead to being misinformed.
The economy and gun violence are among many things that people offer opinions on without having experience working to affect those issues. That is why experts in the field are the best ones to address such issues. If they are not working for a company in that field, an expert can be found at university or research center.
But like in media, trust in institutions, particularly universities and research centers, is down. However, some of that lack of trust is not without reason.
In an article for The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eleanor Hummel writes about forced sterilizations on the Black population of the state. She also mentions the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, where during the period between the 1930s to the 1970s, Black men were used as guinea pigs without their knowledge for a supposed study backed by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention at the time and the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University.
These acts are among those that hurt the credibility of universities and medical institutions in the long run. However, in times of crisis, it is their knowledge, expertise, and innovation that ultimately provides solutions which have been benefitted society.
Part of that is because institutions and agencies like the CDC have evolved and do not operate as they once did. There is a different attitude and mentality today than there was during the time of the Tuskeegee Siphilis Study.
Likewise, today's economy allow for greater participation from groups that were once marginalized. Although there is still work to be done, it has come a long way from what it used to be during the middle part of the 20th century.
Ultimately, Fox News credibility as a viable news and information source is beyond questionable, especially if it is in legal trouble for what it reports, and if it seeks the insight of ultra-tanned DJs and leather-skinned bounty hunters on important and timely issues.