What has changed this week and what has not changed

Initiated

• Fox News has put a lot of emphasis on vaccine awareness and promoted their effectiveness on Monday.
• While several hosts had previously touted the blows, Monday marked an important start.
• The Shards remain among prime-time programming and the White House has been in contact with the network.

Illustrated by Sean Hannity’s Monday night monologue imploring his viewers to get their COVID-19 vaccine, a dramatic shift has come on Fox News this week when it comes to life-saving shots.

On the same day, Insider and other media reported on Fox Corporation’s strict back-to-work policy involving an internal type of vaccination passport – first reported by Ryan Grim of The Intercept – Fox News hosts reported stepped up their vaccine posts and banners featuring the federal government’s vaccine domain page. went through Monday’s lineup.

—Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 19, 2021

Fox News’ vaccine coverage has often reflected its global pandemic framing of public health measures like culture wars, a format pioneered by its late founder and CEO Roger Ailes.

Fox News declined to comment on the internal deliberations of this story, and the network’s main hosts have long bragged about the autonomy they are given from leadership when it comes to their shows.

However, what perhaps appeared to be a surprising development on Monday was actually the result of a trajectory of several months, with notable delays in the prime-time programming.

Many Fox News hosts have been vaccinated, but Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have remained vocally anti-vax

In recent months, Fox’s pandemic segments generally did not exhibit open hostility to the vaccines, but some guests and key prime-time hosts would baselessly castigate the Biden administration for potentially forcing the shots on Americans. .

More than a year after the start of the pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 Americans and continues to result in preventable deaths among the unvaccinated, the catch remains high in the way Fox News covers the coronavirus and vaccines.

Concerns that the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus could continue to spread among the unvaccinated and force more lockdowns sent financial markets plunging on Monday.

Conservative men are still among Americans most likely to refuse clichés, and Fox viewers are more likely than the general population to say the same, according to polls from Pew Research and the Public Religion Research Institute.

The network maintained that there is a clear divide between its news and opinion programming, with most daytime programming falling under the first category, while the morning show “Fox & Friends,” “The Five ”and prime-time broadcasts are popular and regularly attract the largest audience.

Yet when it comes to the overall framing of COVID-19 measures, there have been similarities ranging from early mask warrants to vaccine passports.

The administration’s door-to-door outreach program was the latest subject of deceptive segments, with daytime and prime-time facilitators often focusing on the backlash of the program and a slippery slope toward authoritarianism rather than what it was: a nationwide awareness campaign led by groups of “community bodies”.

Government overreach has been a consistent theme when it comes to the Biden administration’s pandemic response and vaccine deployment, but many anchors and hosts have attested to the vaccine’s benefits from personal experience.

Beyond the newscasters who spoke about getting the vaccine, opinion leaders Ainsley Earhardt, Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld all took to the air to share that they have received the vaccines.

Hannity first said he “started to have doubts” about the vaccine in January, then said on his radio show that “it’s none of your business” before finally revealing on his radio show that he planned to get it.

In an exclusive interview with Insider earlier in July, Watters defined his approval of the vaccine in terms of personal choice.

“Well, I was vaxxed. I got the J&J because I’m afraid of needles,” the ‘The Five’ co-host and ‘Watters World’ host told Insider. “And I said to people, if you want to get the shot, go get the shot, go get the shot and it’s going to help kill this virus. And it did. Thank goodness. And it’s awesome. “

Other Fox personalities who have officially reported being vaccinated include Maria Bartiromo, Lawrence Jones, Trace Gallagher, Griff Jenkins, Mike Emmanuel, Bill Hemmer, George “Tyrus” Murdoch, Laura Ingle, Janice Dean, Charles Gasparino, John Roberts and Guy Benson.

Yet while Hannity has made a passionate appeal to his viewers to get shot – or, at the very least, to do their own “research” and consult their doctors – Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have nothing to do with it. did so at the end of Monday’s vaccine. blitz.

Both espoused their own vaccine skepticism and warned of harmful ulterior motives in the Biden administration’s efforts, and both featured guests peddling conspiracy theories and false information. on vaccinations, especially with frequent appearances of Alex Berenson.

Berenson, a former New York Times reporter and fiction writer, has been peddling disinformation about the virus from the start, and many of his claims have been completely debunked.

Despite the many fact-checks on Berenson and the fact that he is neither a doctor nor an epidemiologist – and despite the wall-to-wall coverage promoting the vaccine on Monday – he was back on the Ingraham show tonight – the.

As for Carlson, neither he nor the Network will say if he has been vaccinated or if he plans to ever do so.

Carlson has had plenty of opportunities to say he refuses to take the jab, but he hasn’t done so yet either.

Instead of taking his colleagues’ initiative on Monday, Carlson doubled down and told his viewers to ignore “medical advice on television.”

While the rest of the network slowly eased off to frame the vaccine around conflict and culture wars, Carlson and Ingraham continued to move forward by describing vaccinations as something with respect to not just being skeptical, but also tired and scared.

The influence of the White House and the Murdochs

During her press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was in contact with Fox and other outlets about vaccine coverage, specifically addressing to the conservative network.

“We also understand the importance of reaching the Fox audience about COVID-19 vaccines and their benefits, and as we are with you here today, we are in regular contact and of course strive to have officials on a range of networks to talk about COVID-19, “the press secretary said.

There have also reportedly been discussions between White House officials and network officials over vaccine coverage, including a private briefing earlier this year between Fox producers and senior Biden officials on the matter, according to Politico. .

A Fox News Media spokesperson denied that there had been any high-level discussions with the White House, referring to a tweet from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins earlier Tuesday.

—Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 20, 2021

“CNN’s reporting is inaccurate,” the spokesperson told Insider in an email. “There was no high level conversation between FOX News Media and the White House regarding our coverage. We had a routine briefing with the White House in early May on vaccination rates and our DC office staff is regularly in contact with them on a variety of issues, as is the case with all other networks. “

Fox Corp. did not immediately respond to Insider’s request to comment on the involvement of President Rupert Murdoch and his son, the CEO of Fox Corp. Lachlan Murdoch, and if they support what Carlson and Igraham said about vaccines.

In a May interview with Insider’s Claire Atkinson, Lachlan defended Carlson and his cover, calling the top-rated host’s willingness to say what many Americans think is “brave.”

Rupert Murdoch was even vaccinated before Queen Elizabeth II and President Biden in December 2020, but he did not weigh in on the main hosts of his American network who rejected its effectiveness.

The Murdochs have more power than anyone on the planet to steer Fox News immunization coverage amid the global coronavirus crisis – with Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott – but Carlson and Ingraham continue to take advantage of their apparent autonomy.

Speaking to Piers Morgan in April, Carlson went out of his way to thank the Murdochs for allowing him to say whatever he wanted.

“The only reason we’re having this conversation is because the Murdoch family, who controls Fox, are facing the crowd, and they haven’t bowed,” Carlson said. “I mean that’s literally the only reason I still have my job, and we’re having this conversation.”