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Bullshit Fox News Says

How is Shep able to stay employed at Fox News?

 
WakeandBake said:
So who do they like then? This POTUS is quite the opposite, despite his claims to the contrary
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Went to my old hometown this past weekend to see my parents and ran into a couple of younger relatives who are diehard Trumpites. They know I don't like him and honestly can't understand why. All I heard from both of them was what the folks above are saying - Trump has the economy and stock market booming (unlike Obama), record low unemployment, he's "winning" the trade wars (they thought both the EU and China would soon give in to Trump's demands), and accomplishing nearly all of his goals, so what's not to like? I pointed out why I didn't like him, but they just brushed it all off as irrelevant trivia. One of them said, "yeah, he's an ass" and just rolled his eyes, and said that's just his style and people just need to get used to it. They honestly think that liberals are just upset because they lost the election, and it's made them deranged lunatics, and that all the outrage from liberals is insincere and "manufactured" by the news media, except for Fox of course, which they love and trust and frequently show clips from on social media.

I think conservatives simply don't take liberal issues seriously, and so they just assume that liberals don't really believe what they're saying, and therefore are phonies. It never seems to occur to them that liberals believe just as strongly in their ideas and values as they do theirs. I felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall, so I finally just told them I had my reasons to oppose him, and let it go at that. It was just a reminder to me that Trump's rural base is never, ever going to change their minds about him. They really are all-in. BTW, one of the two is a cop in NC (not my hometown), and I'm always amused at his insistence on calling the Civil War "the War of Northern Aggression." He's been that way since high school. Sigh.
 
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I disagree with the second paragraph. I think conservatives don't take conservative issues seriously aside from cultural issues and abortion, so they assume liberals don't really believe what they're saying.
 
PhDeac said:
I disagree with the second paragraph. I think conservatives don't take conservative issues seriously aside from cultural issues and abortion, so they assume liberals don't really believe what they're saying.
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Probably true for many of the top level conservatives, like Hannity and Carlson and so forth. Among average Trumpites, I think it's probably a mix. Some believe, some don't. Based on personal experience, many rural conservatives seem to genuinely believe in values and ideas they don't practice in their lives (abstinence before marriage, Christian values like charity and forgiveness, etc.) They convince themselves these things should be followed and promoted, but they then always have excuses and exceptions for themselves when they inevitably don't follow or live up to their own beliefs (I've heard some say things like "well, I'm a Christian, so it's OK for me to do this.") Condemning other people for sinful things you're doing yourself in private - and then convincing yourself that somehow you're not a hypocrite and all is well - has been a staple of rural religious fundamentalism from the beginning, I suspect.

ETA: A good number are just cynical frauds, no doubt.
 
Sure. Those are the cultural values. But they don't really adhere to "fiscal conservative" values.
 
PhDeac said:
Sure. Those are the cultural values. But they don't really adhere to "fiscal conservative" values.
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On economic stuff, yeah, I've always gotten the impression they don't really care as much about those things as the cultural ones, and don't really care if GOP pols are fiscally conservative or not, as long as they throw them some red meat on the cultural and social stuff. They may grumble about taxes and welfare and the evils of big government and so forth, but what really gets them excited and fired up are the cultural and religious and social issues. That's what motivates Trump's base. It's probably why they vote against their own economic interests over and over again.
 
Highland Deac said:
On economic stuff, yeah, I've always gotten the impression they don't really care as much about those things as the cultural ones, and don't really care if GOP pols are fiscally conservative or not, as long as they throw them some red meat on the cultural and social stuff. They may grumble about taxes and welfare and the evils of big government and so forth, but what really gets them excited and fired up are the cultural and religious and social issues. That's what motivates Trump's base. It's probably why they vote against their own economic interests over and over again.
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see also: the fact that evangelicals are pro pro trump
 
Also, their masters were completely comfortable just making up shit about Obama and Clinton. Manufacturing defects and evils that didn't exist. And the rubes swallowed most of it eagerly.

So they tend to assume that's what all the anti-Trump stuff is, just made up bullshit.
 
Don Jr.'s new girlfriend forced to leave Fox News due to sexual abuse allegations, including showing dick picks to colleagues

Six sources said Guilfoyle’s behavior included showing personal photographs of male genitalia to colleagues (and identifying whose genitals they were), regularly discussing sexual matters at work and engaging in emotionally abusive behavior toward hair and makeup artists and support staff.
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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...egations-fox-news_us_5b5a6064e4b0b15aba96f4de
 
DeacHead said:
How is Shep able to stay employed at Fox News?

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I’ve wondered this for a long time and I think it’s because he gives fox one shred of ability to hide behind a veil of impartiality. What is even more perplexing is, if he really is this principled as a journalist, why does Shep stay there?
 
Probably gets paid very well, more than other networks would pay. And he’s not like Megan Kelly. NBC could fool themselves into thinking she had crossover appeal and would bring an audience.
 
birdman said:
I’ve wondered this for a long time and I think it’s because he gives fox one shred of ability to hide behind a veil of impartiality. What is even more perplexing is, if he really is this principled as a journalist, why does Shep stay there?
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^This. If someone ever seriously went after Fox for being a sham news organization that in reality is nothing more than a GOP propaganda machine (which it most certainly is), then I have no doubt that Fox executives would immediately point to Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace as "proof" that they are indeed a legit and fair-minded journalistic entity. It would be false, of course, but Smith and Wallace are no doubt kept around for just such reasons. As you said, though, the bigger question is why the two of them stay. They've both been publicly critical at times of the practices at Fox News, and critical of the words and actions of Fox's primetime lineup (especially Hannity), yet here they still are. In the end I guess it boils down to the money, which is no doubt substantial, and to the fact that as long as Fox doesn't bother them personally, they really don't give a shit what the rest of the network is doing.
 
I think all of us in large organizations technically work with a few assholes. Doesn’t mean we would quit.
 
PhDeac said:
I think all of us in large organizations technically work with a few assholes. Doesn’t mean we would quit.
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My organization is not actively destroying the fabric of American society though.
 
Fair point.
 
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