{"id":31092,"date":"2016-03-06T19:51:10","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T03:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=31092"},"modified":"2016-03-06T20:19:58","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T04:19:58","slug":"the-cult-of-fox-news-blind-devotion-to-cables-church-of-disinformation-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=31092","title":{"rendered":"The Cult Of Fox News: Blind Devotion To Cable’s Church Of Disinformation Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

While researching an article on the cultish components of Donald Trump’s campaign and the branding strategy behind it (stay tuned for that.) I came across an article<\/a> I wrote a little over a year ago that addressed the same subject, but with respect to Fox News. Having read it again it seemed to still be so relevant to the Fox News of today that it deserved a second look. So here it is in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Pray
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the fundamental methods employed by cults to assure unwavering loyalty is to demand that devotees believe only in the doctrine bestowed by the cult. All others are presumed to be deceivers and unworthy of trust.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, consider the results of the new Pew Research study on “Political Polarization & Media Habits.”<\/a> The year-long research surveyed American news consumers and categorized their relationships to thirty-six sources for news and information about government and politics by political ideology. The differences in the levels of trust exhibited by consistent conservatives and liberals are profound.<\/p>\n

The study reveals that conservatives have drastically constrained their access to news to a very few, hard-right outlets. They behave as if any exposure to a conflicting viewpoint would be tantamount to fraternizing with Satan. Consequently, they rely almost solely on Fox News for their information intake. That is how Fox maintains their ratings position, by herding all of the conservative cattle into one corral.<\/p>\n

Nearly half (47%) of conservatives identify Fox News as their “main source”<\/em> for news. Nothing else even comes close. Compare that to liberals who cite CNN as a main source only 15% of the time with a half dozen other sources closely competing for their attention. What’s more, conservatives obediently trust Fox News by a larger margin (88%) than any other group of viewers. And the only other sources they trust more than 50% of the time are similarly far-right partisans: Sean Hannity (62%), Rush Limbaugh (58%), and Glenn Beck (51%). Of course, none of those sources are objective news providers, or even journalists.<\/p>\n

While Conservatives have only four sources that they trust more than 50% of the time, liberals express trust for nine different sources at that rate: NPR (72%), PBS (71%), BBC (69%), New York Times (62%), CNN (56%), NBC (56%), MSNBC (52%), ABC (52%), and CBS (51%). Note that they are all (with the exception of MSNBC) generally regarded as legitimate journalistic enterprises. Except, that is, by conservatives who trust none of them. In fact, conservatives only have greater trust than distrust for twelve of the thirty-six sources in the study. So consistent with the cult maxim, conservatives actively distrust twenty-four (two-thirds) of the sources. Liberals flip that stat, having greater trust for twenty-eight of the sources and distrust for only eight.<\/p>\n

The mission of Fox News from the beginning was to divide the nation by ideology. It is why they came up with their “fair and balanced”<\/em> slogan with the implicit accusation that the other news providers were neither. They deliberately sectioned off their audience and told them that everyone else was lying to them. Subsequently, when they lied to their viewers (which they do constantly<\/a>), there is no place for them to turn for the actual truth. The Fox version of events becomes the unqualified gospel for their audience\/disciples despite being riddled with falsehoods and rancid partisanship. And additional proof of that is seen in the studies that show that Fox viewers are less informed than those who watch other media, or even those who watch nothing at all. And the more you watch Fox, the less you know<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
\nFox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.<\/a>
\nAvailable now at Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The correlations to cult status are unmistakable: Proselytize relentlessly (Fox is #1); repeat\/preach the cult’s doctrine (anti-Obama, anti-government, Benghazi); reinforce obedience with fear (tyranny, terrorism, Ebola); glorification of idols (Ronald Reagan, Ted Cruz, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin); demonization of competing views (Democrats, the rest of the media); and fabricating a comforting home for faithful followers by casting experienced propagandists and appealing, mostly blonde, presenters as reporters. It’s a closed loop society that succeeds by keeping the flock secluded, ignorant, and artificially happy. I just hope they don’t start serving Kool-Aide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While researching an article on the cultish components of Donald Trump’s campaign and the branding strategy behind it (stay tuned for that.) I came across an article I wrote a little over a year ago that addressed the same subject, but with respect to Fox News. Having read it again it seemed to still be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Cult Of Fox News: Blind Devotion To Cable's Church Of Disinformation Continues","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,684,8],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-31092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-media-bias","category-propaganda","tag-fox-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/fox-news-pray-jesus1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-85u","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8726,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8726","url_meta":{"origin":31092,"position":0},"title":"Fox Nation vs. Reality: Westboro Baptist Hate Group A Left-Wing Cult?","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/26\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In a feat of mental malfunction on an Olympian scale, the Fox Nationalists posted an item that placed the radical hate group, Westboro Baptist Church, on the political left. The item included a photo with the following caption: \"Bikers Turn Out to Protect Newtown Mourners from Left-Wing Westboro Cult.\" The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69353,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69353","url_meta":{"origin":31092,"position":1},"title":"UH-OH! Fox News Poll Spells DOOM for Trump and His MAGA Republicans in Congress","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/27\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Less than a year and a half ago, Donald Trump managed to eke out a narrow victory and return to his occupation of the White House. And it didn't take long for him to successfully sink the electoral prospects of his blindly obedient MAGA minions in what can now be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Fox News, White House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-foxnews-white-house-broken.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-foxnews-white-house-broken.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-foxnews-white-house-broken.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39691,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=39691","url_meta":{"origin":31092,"position":2},"title":"Fox News Accuses Rachel Maddow of Pro-Mueller Bias, Ignored Hannity Campaigning with Trump","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/8\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The hypocrites at Fox News are out in force following the midterm elections that returned Democrats to the majority in the House of Representatives. Which isn't really any different than the way the Fox News hypocrites were behaving before the midterms. But it's clear that they intend to continue distorting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rachel Maddow, Fox News","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-foxnews.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-foxnews.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-foxnews.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56527,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=56527","url_meta":{"origin":31092,"position":3},"title":"IT’S A CULT: Most Fox News Viewers Are Still Loyal After Dominion Lawsuit Discloses Their Lies","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/16\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Fallout from the billion dollar defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting systems continues to rain down on Fox with some notable consequences. In recent weeks Dominion has filed motions in court that have revealed the brazen dishonesty of Fox executives and hosts in their own words. Click here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox News Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-lies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-lies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-lies.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64171,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=64171","url_meta":{"origin":31092,"position":4},"title":"Fox News Embarks on a Campaign of Shameless Exaltation of Donald and Melania Trump","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/6\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"From its inception 28 years ago, Fox News has relentlessly pursued its mission to advance the interests of ultra right-wing politicians and policies. That mission has been unencumbered by the principles of ethical journalism or honesty. The network's objective of promoting arch-conservativism on behalf of the wealthy and corporations has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump baby with Fox News logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-baby-foxnews-logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-baby-foxnews-logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-baby-foxnews-logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48493,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=48493","url_meta":{"origin":31092,"position":5},"title":"Fox News Floats Reality-Defying Denial That the GOP is the ‘Party of QAnon’","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/8\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The American people's resolute rejection of Donald Trump last November marked a turning point for the nation that had been held captive by an anti-intellectual, truth-averse, doomsday cult. But that restoration of sanity still left behind a small but devoted constituency of crackpots determined to fight over the remnants of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox News, QAnon Logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-q-logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-q-logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-q-logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31092"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31096,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31092\/revisions\/31096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}