Night and Day
Carlson's exit and Fox's character assassination attempt show just how much the media landscape has changed.
You never notice what you had until it is gone.
There will be people who read this post and say, "Yeah, dumbass. It's been that way forever. Are you just now getting it? Idiot."
But it hasn't "always been that way". The media landscape is different now, and Fox's reaction to Tucker Carlson is a measure of just how much it has changed.
I think it began to change during the Bush administration but it settled into a pattern during the 2008 Democrat primaries. Up until then, Fox News was a fearless defender of conservativism, helmed by Roger Ailes, the people at Fox were conservatives, or independents, focused on dispelling the lies of the left.
But they got "McCained" during the primaries and the general when they wouldn't go after Obama for fear of being called racist. Glenn Beck's fall from grace at Fox (remember that he AND Carlson once had shows on CNN) began when he accurately noted Obama's language and actions pointed to his racism, something clearly in evidence today.
The Fox brass went apeshit over Beck's comments and Fox began to soft-focus Obama with mild and withering criticism, reserving their ire for the odious Harry Reid.
Then Roger Ailes was let go, Paul Ryan joined the Board, Suzanne Scott took over as CEO and the Murdoch kids began to run the show. I'm not sure Rupert is on board, but I do know he doesn't want his kids costing him billions of dollars - and in this environment, it isn't required that you be guilty to be found guilty.
Now Fox is the conservative outlet that has accepted limits on what it reports.
Tucker was the last Mohican, the last person unafraid to say what he thought no matter who it offended. His contract stated the Fox brass would not interfere with his show or exercise any editorial oversight, which Fox breached if they did.
Carlson's absence really highlights just how bland the landscape really is in the Fox lineup.
People assume that the term "authoritarian" refers exclusively to government - it doesn't. Societies and cultures can be authoritarian as well, and ours has metastasized into that, enforcing speech codes, shutting down opposing ideas, shouting down speakers and demanding the language change to accommodate the flavor of the month. It tells us what me must accept and allow without comment, controls what is "proper" to discuss, and banishes offenders into obscurity and ridicule.
Look at how hard Fox and the Murdoch properties are trying to completely destroy Carlson, if you doubt me.
With Tucker, Ailes, O'Reilly, Kelly, and Beck, Fox was a conservative voice.
Without those people, Fox is a conservative voice that only says what the culture allows.
It's the CNN of the right.
As of Monday this week, I no longer watch TV news beyond the morning weather forecast in my region. There are many of our fellow travelers who will now join the effort to find truth that is no longer available in the MSM, digital, broadcast, or print.
Once the Board room gets into the News room, all that's left is pablum. REAL journalists can not let the money people tell them who they can interview, what guests they can have, what things they may say. They would go to jail rather than reveal a source or give up freedom of the press. Unless you know how to find alternate news sites, you are only getting state propaganda. We've turned another corner. The left has the media, the economy, the border, the children, and the elections . Worried yet?