Skip to main content

Trending

  • Ukraine
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Elon Musk

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Trending

  • Ukraine
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Elon Musk

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Trish Regan
Audrey Bowler / MMFA

Fox’s coronavirus coverage was a low point in the network’s shameful history. It should never live it down.

Written by Matt Gertz

Published 03/18/20 10:18 AM EDT

Share

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print

Comment

  • Comments

Fox News’ early coverage of novel coronavirus COVID-19, which minimized the risk the disease posed in order to provide political cover to President Donald Trump, should be a stain on the network and its propagandists that never washes out.  

Watch this video from The Washington Post.

Fox had a responsibility to provide its viewers with clear, accurate information about the ongoing public health crisis. Instead, for crucial weeks, as COVID-19 spread to become a global pandemic, the network’s propagandists downplayed the danger posed by the virus and portrayed it as a politicized hoax engineered by Democrats and the media in order to damage their beloved president. That initial coverage doubtlessly fed Trump’s own lack of concern over the threat, hampering public efforts to curtail the coronavirus. Only after Trump himself showed signs of taking the virus more seriously did many of the network’s hosts pivot and begin informing their viewers they were facing a “crisis.” 

And now, the network wants to recast its earlier coverage as sober, reality-minded skepticism.

At a time of maximum peril, Fox put the president’s political standing over the health and well-being of its viewers and the country as a whole. This should follow each and every person who participated in the despicable effort for the rest of their days. 

UPDATE (3/18/20): People who pay the most attention to Fox News are much less likely to say they are worried about coronavirus, according to a new poll. 

The Latest

  1. Laura Ingraham calls immigration the “purposeful sabotage of America”

    Video & Audio 05/18/22 10:37 PM EDT

  2. Fox News' Laura Ingraham says Joe Biden’s “diverse cabinet” is “turning America into the third world”

    Video & Audio 05/18/22 10:33 PM EDT

  3. Fox News host Mark Levin says Rep. Rashida Tlaib has a “Nazi-like hate for the Jews” and wants a “final solution” in Israel

    Video & Audio 05/18/22 8:34 PM EDT

  4. Fox host Jesse Watters blames “lockdowns, forced masking, woke ideology” for Buffalo shooting

    Video & Audio 05/18/22 7:53 PM EDT

  5. Fox host blames abortion for Buffalo shooting

    Video & Audio 05/18/22 6:54 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)

    Covid-19 / Coronavirus
  • Fox News

    Fox-News-MMFA-Tag.png
Comments
0 Comments
Share Count
0 Shares

Related

  1. On coronavirus, Fox News and right-wing media failed their audience

    Article 03/17/20 1:29 PM EDT

  2. With coronavirus, the Fox News-Trump feedback loop will get people killed

    Article 03/09/20 12:55 PM EDT

  3. The Fox-Trump feedback loop is channeling Trump’s coronavirus attacks on journalists, Democrats

    Article 02/27/20 10:51 AM EST

Media Matters for America

Footer menu

  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2022 Media Matters for America