The fundamental issue that pervades the discussions among Fox executives is this: How much lying is too much? Former President Donald Trump’s lies about his “stolen” 2020 election pushed Fox executives to decide how far over reality’s border they would venture in an effort to retain their Trump-addled audience. That’s the cycle that Fox executives worried would compel Fox viewers to flee to even less scrupulous networks such as One America and Newsmax — a flight that Trump encouraged after Fox made a disastrously truthful announcement that Joe Biden had won the most votes in Arizona. (According to Dominion, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch subsequently discussed whether Fox should rescind the factual Arizona call in order to placate angry viewers.) As the mass psychosis of QAnon and election denial spread through conservative America, Fox risked becoming the stately Episcopal cathedral in the town center, its spire tall, its pews three-quarters empty.

Source: Fox News March 11, 2023 15:31 UTC