Hot on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Fox Is Killing the GOP

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 8, 2009 7:51 AM CDT

(Newser) – Fox News and the Republican Party are locked into a cycle that will make a fortune for the network while dooming the party to further defeats, John Cook writes at Gawker. Fox viewership is up a whopping 45% over the last year as "frightened, paranoid, enraged, nativist zealots" flock to the channel, Cook writes, and Fox is turning that fringe into the face of the GOP. "The more viewers Fox attracts, the more voters the GOP repels. And the more voters the GOP repels, the more viewers Fox attracts."

Fox's pandering to this audience with the likes of Glenn Beck reinforces the image of Republicans "as angry white people who hate Puerto Rican judges," Cook writes, turning off independent voters and further isolating the party. "The most important part of the dynamic," Cook notes, "is that Fox News has no interest in doing anything other than attracting viewers. It will continue to ride this wave of anger and resentment irrespective of what impact it has on the Republican Party until it stops making them money."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

It's no coincidence that Fox's fortunes are rising in tandem with the GOP's decline, writes John Cook. (Shutter Stock)

"Watching Glenn Beck's spell-binding sermons on Barack Obama's racism is comforting to people who believe that their way of life" is under attack, Cook writes. (AP Photo/Mike Mergen, file)

Fox programming has helped turn Tea Parties into "a daylong televised festival of rage." (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Vietnam veteran Allan Radcliffe, left, holds a US flag upside down as a sign of "distress" to protest against government spending in Washington. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The more viewers Fox attracts, the more voters the GOP repels. And the more voters the GOP repels, the more viewers Fox attracts.
- John Cook

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Getty Images

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Man in Mugshot Explains Why He Has Half a Head (HuffPost)

These Exes Were Spotted Making Out … and That's a Bad Thing (Bleacher Report)

Help! I'm Having an Incestuous Relationship With My Twin (Slate)

Which Celeb Dedicated Song to Her Famous Husband Despite Divorce Rumors? (NewsOne)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 49 comments

Hip

Sep 26, 2009 12:51 PM CDT

Here's an idea...you take the last 8 years as your hand and I'll take the next 8 as mine. Then we'll meet back here in 30 years to see who wins the pot...the Bush error or the Obama era. The rest of the planet sides with me so far...

drlarrymitchell

Sep 8, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

Shit on a plate attracts flies. There's no wizardry in turning that trick. Fox is a joke, and people of taste and intelligence know this instinctively- which is why their arguments against Fox are usually weak.. Smart people simply cannot believe that anyone- child, elderly or imbecile- regards Fox news as anything other than sideshow info-tainment.

BackAgain

Sep 8, 2009 9:12 AM CDT

change right to left, replace Palin with reid or pelosi and O'Reilly with well any mainstream media name and you are right on. Thanks!

What's Popular Now on Facebook

E-Cigarette Explodes in Man's Mouth

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds Major Cash Inside

Gawker (Source Grid »)

Politics • Entertainment • Media • Money

Rupert Murdoch • GOP • Fox News • Republican Party • Fox • Glenn Beck • independent voters • cable news

More Newser Stories

Why Murdoch Must Fire Glenn Beck

Offensive as the Fox News host is, the bottom line is the bottom line

(NEWSER) - Rupert Murdoch will eventually fire Glenn Beck from Fox News, though not directly because of "his continued assault on the president," writes Ben Cohen. True, Beck's "remarkable slew of accusations and innuendo does not reflect well on the network," but arguments about politics miss the point: "Murdoch doesn't care about Left or Right. He cares about money." More»

Fox News Takes Heat for Move Toward Center

It's part of Roger Ailes' 'course correction'

(NEWSER) - Is Fox News shifting to the center, relatively speaking? Politico thinks so, tracing it back to a "course correction" ordered by Roger Ailes last fall. He wanted Fox to move away from Tea Party "cheerleading" and to tone down the far-right rhetoric, writes Politico's Keach Hagey. "A casual Fox viewer might barely notice the changes since the network remains critical of the Obama administration and reliably conservative opinion voices, like (Sean) Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, still anchor key spots in the Fox firmament. But the changes are there." More»

Glenn Beck Laughs About Dead Tabloid Whistleblower

Foes will exploit Murdoch scandal to hurt Fox, he fears

(NEWSER) - The death of the whistleblower who landed Rupert Murdoch in trouble drew a big chuckle from Glenn Beck yesterday. "Did you hear about the guy who was the whistleblower on the News of the World thing? I love this story. He woke up dead!" Beck laughs on his program . "I'm not saying that foul play was involved, but it is suspicious that he's dead." He then quipped that Vladimir Putin was involved in Sean Hoare's death. Hoare, 47, was the first to reveal phone hacking at the tabloid where he once worked. More»

Ailes 'Feared Bombing' by Gays

Rolling Stone profile paints Fox News boss as paranoid propagandist

(NEWSER) - Roger Ailes has made huge profits by selling fear, but he has a few fears of his own, Rolling Stone finds in a detailed—and deeply unflattering—profile of the Fox News chairman. Ailes, whose resumé includes repackaging Richard Nixon for TV in 1968 and helping derail health care reform on behalf of Big Tobacco in 1993, insisted on having bombproof glass installed in his office after Rupert Murdoch hired him to create the Fox News Channel. The precautions were apparently intended to protect him from a bomb attack by activists. "They’ll be down there protesting," he told an aide. "Those gays." More»

Glenn Beck May Launch Own Channel

Fox host mulling options for going solo: sources

(NEWSER) - Glenn Beck is considering following in Oprah Winfrey's footsteps and starting his own channel, sources tell the New York Times . Beck's contract at Fox is up at the end of the year. With the network rumored to be considering dropping him , Beck is looking into taking over all or part of a cable channel, or expanding his subscription Internet video service, according to the sources, who say Beck has been mulling the move for more than a year. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website