Fear and Rage on Fox
In the film The Brainwashing of My Dad, there was a lot to be said about Fox News, because it played a big role in his brainwashing, according to Jen Senko.
Fox News is built on fear and rage. Much of it generated by Fox to amplify engagement and make more money. As Dr. Cynthia Boaz pointed out in the film, “the idea is to terrify and terrorize the audience during every waking moment…when people are afraid, they don’t think rationally. And when they can’t think rationally, they’ll believe anything.”
I don’t claim to be a reliable watcher of Fox News. I try my best to watch it to get the ‘other side of the story.’ I must admit that in the case of Fox I just can’t watch much of it. I have asked friends for suggestions about more sane conservative view point but have not got many suggestions.
Eric Boehlert said, “Fox News is built on this formula of just getting people to get really angry. It’s phony outrage…They really are acting about how outraged they are.” For example when Sean Hannity shouts at his readers, “Obama attacks America.” Or another example, when Judge Jeanine Pirro Judy says to her listeners, “I told you that you need to be afraid, because they are coming for you,” and points her finger at you watching on the screen. Or when David Michael Lynch says, “ISIS is coming in to America. I would bet my life on the fact. They are already here. I’ve caught these people before and I’ve seen Qur’ans, prayer rugs, you name it.” And we should always remember this basic principle: Phony outrage=Lies.
As a result of all of this one young man from Cedar Rapids Iowa spoke in the film about how his father, a Fox News regular viewer was convinced that Obama would deliberately trigger a civil war. As a result, he went to the local store to fill up on ammo before the government took it all.
That is a common reaction in the United States to many problems. I remember when I lived in Arizona for 3 months for about 10 years and they had problems on the news. Almost any kind of problems. The first thing people id was to head to store to buy ammunition.