Harry Shannon
Fox Corporation will change the training its employees receive when they start work. The primary focus will be on how to avoid being caught in a lie or a criminal offence. The move follows two recent scandals involving Fox.
The first is now well known. Rupert Murdoch, the founder and chair of the board of Fox, has acknowledged that Fox hosts misled viewers about the result of the 2020 Presidential election. Texts and other material now public show that hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity were well aware that the election was fair and the winner was Joe Biden. One text joked that the election was ‘fair but not balanced’ because Biden won.
The second scandal involves Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels. He has recently been convicted in the FIFA bribery case. The prosecution charged that millions of dollars were paid in bribes to gain the broadcast rights to the World Cup and other matches.
Fox employees will be taught how to communicate with each other without using written notes, social media or email. This is believed to mean that sensitive topics can only be discussed face-to-face, something that employees are unfamiliar with.
Fox will also consult experts to see if there are ways to use technology that will not leave any footprints. This is seen as particularly important when engaged in criminal behavior, such as bribery. Another suggestion, attributed to Laura Ingraham, is to use quote marks and relabel the channel Fox ‘News’ so there is plausible deniability when caught in lies.
A Fox spokesperson did not respond when asked if the organization might simply change its ways of doing business or adopt ethical journalistic practices.
Note: I drafted this a week or so ago. It is of course intended as satire. But little did I know how close it might be to truth. A couple of days ago, a Guardian story was headlined: “Fox News producer accuses network lawyers of ‘coercive’ coaching in Dominion case.” I guess I can make this stuff up!