Careful What You Wish For
The Guardian’s news headline reads, “Fox News Employees Expressed Concerns Network Was Intentionally Aiding Trump, Legal Filings Reveal.”
After reading the article, I learned there are some employees at Fox News who have a solid moral conscience. Working for Fox is apparently no cakewalk. For some employees, it’s even soul-crushing. This revelation became obvious through a “Fox News 2020 Great Place to Work Trust Index Survey.”
Trust Index? What did they expect? The responses they were wishing for did not pan out.
Fox News likely worked with a third party to survey 1,040 employees between August and September, 2020.
Instead of respondents reflecting Fox’s self-perceived image as a great place to work, they got bold honesty such as this:
“I sometimes go home fighting back tears. This network made me question my morals. Have I sold my soul to the devil?”
“The content is hateful and has made the world a more divided and angry place.”
“This company aligns itself with the current administration and has lost its integrity. I wish there was purpose for what we do other than pushing the brand, ideology and political will of [the president].”
“I wish that management would crack down on conspiracy theories and hateful rhetoric spewed by such hosts.”
“Fox News is a propaganda machine for the Republican party NOT a news organization and should be acknowledged as such.”
“Many days I feel like I am part of the problem and FNC is contributing to hatred in this country.”
It’s a fascinating story about what’s really on the hearts and minds of many Fox News Employees—and how this information came to light. Read the full story in The Guardian and, hopefully, it will guide your thinking when seeking genuine news instead of party line rhetoric.
Homeless Valley
It's hard to keep up with the news today. Feels like I'm standing in a tornado being hit by one flying object then another and another--and no one's minding the store with the government being shut down. If it were a business, they'd all be fired by now. Fox news did their part and voters did theirs, leaving us all with one party in charge of everything, including the mess we're in.
Evangel
Very true.
Slipstream
Sadly, employees have little or no say when it comes to the ethics of their bosses. Corporations are about keeping shareholders happy, so in television, it's all about ratings. Fox has zeroed in on a particular audience and spoon-feeds them what they want to hear and what fires them up. Result: high ratings and happy shareholders. Corporations owned and operated by billionaires are in charge. The people don't have a chance.
Evangel
Well said!
Well Street
Some, if not all, of these individuals quoted were likely journalism students, excited for the opportunity to work for the country's most-watched cable news network.
How disheartening it would be to learn that your company's unwritten policies not only violate your personal core values but also actively foment anger and division within the nation.
I wonder how employee survey comments would compare at CNN and MSNBC.
Evangel
That's why Rupert and Lachlan Murdock fought to maintain control of the company. They wanted to continue to grow the MAGA base to tilt the election toward Trump. Sowing division was working so that an eventual dictatorship would we justified. The other siblings made the case that the company would find itself in more hot water and face ongoing lawsuits for falsehoods and defamation, which would not be good for the company. Ultimately the status quo at Fox News will remain firmly in place after the family settled their conflict. It won't be good for the nation but, generally speaking, business is all about profit not patriotism or sustaining democracy.