1% News 99% Fear
Jon-Paul Bail
Silkscreen, 2012
Oakland, CA
42988
Jon-Paul Bail’s “1% News 99% Fear” targets Fox News’ practice of promoting fear, distrust, and hatred by publishing lies, lies, and more lies.
The announcement by Fox on Monday morning that Tucker Carlson was fired, shocked many, Carlson included. Since the channel launched in 1996, it has branded itself as “fair and balanced,” despite courting views, politicians, and donors tied exclusively to far-right extremists. Even Fox’s own journalists knew their stories were lies.
Following the 2020 election, many Fox News viewers began migrating to (somehow) even more right-wing media like Newsmax and Infowars to hear what they wanted to hear. In response, Fox pushed their anchors to hype up extreme viewpoints and outright lies. Fact-checking was considered “bad for business.”
Over the course of the Dominion Voting vs. Fox News lawsuit, the publication of private
messages between Fox’s top news anchors proved that even the stars espousing 2020 election denialism didn’t believe a word they were saying; rather, the network censored any correspondents who chose to question Trump’s claims. Tucker Carlson’s published text messages even included the admission that, "I hate [Trump] passionately."
Was this why he was fired? Or was it because he was honoring the Fox News legacy of sexually harassing the women he worked with? Fox founder Roger Ailes (credited with helping get Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush elected) was fired in 2016 after over 20 women accused him of harassment. More women came forward against long-time pundit Bill O’Reilly, resulting in his eventual firing. Carlson’s firing has revealed an enduring workplace of sexism, anti-Semitism, and intolerance. Fox News' status as the most toxic show in the history of cable has been documented by Abby Grossman, a former producer, who is suing him and Fox.
Will Fox continue to cultivate an increasingly reactionary and unhinged audience? Probably. Will we continue to fight back against lies, hate, and fearmongering? Absolutely!
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