TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Fox News began broadcasting in 1996. The story claims that billionaire newspaper magnate, Rupert Murdoch and former Republican strategist, Roger Ailes, decided to create a television news network devoted to the conservative side of politics. Some of this may be true, but I believe the inspiration began in the 1980’s. Rupert Murdoch is all about the money, and the original idea came from the most popular television broadcasts of that decade. TRASH TV In the 1980’s, daytime talk shows dominated the ratings on weekdays. The phenomenon likely began with Phil Donahue. He was the first to put a microphone in an audience member’s face. He was followed by Sally Jessy Raphael, Rikki Lake, Montel Williams, Geraldo Rivera, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, Oprah Winfrey, and others. No longer were the men and women on stage celebrities, they were guests who fit into the “topic of the day.” Those topics ranged from overeating disorders, to more salacious situations...

The beginning of the end happened on October 7, 1996. This is the day “fake news” began. The creation of billionaire Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes began broadcasting on this sad day in American history. They called it “FOX News,” although its real business was not informing the public about the facts. The events happening around the world were of no interest to these two con men. Their philosophy was based on money: “sensationalism increases viewership, and increasing the number of viewers increases advertising revenue.” The truth and facts were far down their list of priorities, or not at all. FOX quickly morphed into the right-wing propaganda machine it is today. It continues to support white supremacy, and the division of 340 million American people. In just months, FOX became the number one television “news” network. This translated into lower ratings for all legitimate news services: ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and all the others. Billionaires are involved in all television and print new...