Did Tucker Put The Nail In Fox?
I just want to take a second to possibly muse where Fox's place in the media landscape may be now that we're seeing a radical shift in the feeling of many of its former viewers
One of the main things that you will see on the political right when you share a Fox News article or talk about Fox is, “Ew, Fox? We don’t watch them anymore.” While understandable, I think this attitude is short-sighted in some ways despite the reasonable critiques of their management’s antics. Fox News is still important for conservative populists who feel betrayed by Tucker Carlson's firing. Here's why:
Fox News STILL is the only mainstream media outlet that gives a voice to conservative populists and their concerns about immigration, culture wars, and cancel culture. The way that they do this is probably not always the way that we want it considering they tend to also be distracted and distract us with certain non-issues and cultural issues that have little effect or actionability, but there’s still value in holding a SLIGHT foothold in the media until we can really figure out the best way to completely carve out our own widespread niche. Twitter exists and is on the upswing as it gains traction, popularity, and relevance over other social media platforms (except TikTok although that’s another can of worms.) but its still growing and incubating in its new free-speech bubble. In the meantime, the preferential treatment Fox still gets as a member of the legacy media can serve as a nice “Arms-Length Ally” contingent on a few things.
While I highly doubt that it will be the primetime news network giant that it once was, Fox News still has a very good niche that I believe it can carve out for itself whether it knows it is doing this or not. This is being a gateway to other independent content creators who share similar views and values with conservative populists and would be used moreso as a spotlight or talent feeder. The way that Fox welcomes on smaller content creators is good for the overall conservative thought space and can probably be thanked by many of those people for giving them their shot. Exposure to a larger audience, even a slightly older one is a great way to establish credibility among the wider market of prospective listeners and create this symbiotic relationship. The necessity of this relationship is what we need to keep the pipeline of talent going into the Conservative sphere. Yes, you have companies like Newsmax and OANN but their place is limited by the fact that they can’t consistently stay on cable and haven’t fully gained control over the online dissemination of material.
The other unseen area where Fox provides utility is as a financial backer or shield for smaller and newer creators. Now, these points are contingent on a lot of the big talent that has become established leaving to go independent (Which they should) but if possible, Fox would become akin to what the Blaze is, an incubator of young and upcoming talent. Although for them to accept this I do believe there would need to be some sort of fall from grace. The only question is where the bottom is.
Overall, I think that while the Golden Age of Fox may be over in the conservative and populist sphere, it may be time for a new synergistic beginning for the news company after some massive reshuffling and pains that may come its way. All in all, the question will be whether Fox rebounds back to their prior status post-Tucker, where the bottom is in their fall, and if they choose to accept this new role.
Is Flex unaware of OAN and Newsmax? They are terrific conservative, honest media, unlike Fox who’s leaning more and more middle and left.
My wife and I had been faithful viewers of FOX NEWS commentators like Tucker, Jesse, Lawrence, Maria and Mark but little else. We still like these folks but have only watched Jesse since the Tucker fiasco. I personally cannot “stomach” the thought of little Murdock and his lefty idiots. We hope these good people will “jump ship” and swim to a new format like Rumble, Twitter etc.