We often get upset at Fox News’ viewers for the alternate state of reality they generally live in. We shouldn’t. It is our civic duty to first understand how it is possible for them to see the world so differently than those who accept information from various sources.
Fox News directly lies to its viewers
This video is a classic example of how Fox News encourages one to allow themselves to be willfully ignorant. This is not restricted to conservative Right Wing people but to us all. To be clear, many Americans do very little reading of consequence and get most of their information from the mainstream broadcast media or the Right Wing broadcast media like Fox News.
If many get their information from broadcast media it is evident that the reliability or truthfulness of said media will determine their beliefs and to some extent their thought process. The mainstream and Right Wing media are both very poor at providing thoughtful information one can use deliberately to come to sensible conclusions.
There is however a difference. While the mainstream media is shallow and sometimes allow others to spread misinformation by fiat through their channels, Fox News simply lies in order keep their viewers ignorant.
In the video, Geraldo Rivera makes the case that inasmuch as the leaders from around the world are concerned with climate change, the immediate concern for many European leaders is security. Steve Doocy calmly, artfully, and assertively states the lie that temperatures on the planet have either stabilized or have gone down. He then states climate change is not one of the biggest concerns for Americans.
Geraldo challenged the lie by pointing out that 2015 has been the hottest year and that 9 out of the last 10 years have been the hottest. Doocy attempts to argue and Geraldo then said he simply would not argue the pojnt.
Those acclimated by Fox News were likely to accept Doocy’s numbers. Sadly near the end of the segment Brian Kilmeade came in and stated again that polls indicate Americans are unconcerned with climate change. He then said even England is pulling out of activities to mitigate climate change. What was the coup de grace? Kilmeade then says he hopes the President does not comeback from the climate summit and attempt to force an Executive Order on climate change down Americans’ throat.
The segment inevitably did what it needed to do. It made the Fox News viewer comfortable that climate change is not really occurring. temperatures have stabilized, and even our ally England, another country like ours, does not see climate change as a problem. When the President signs any executive order, the Fox News viewers will be predisposed to oppose based on artful lies.