Don’t “both sides” this as a dispute about political minutiae. Fox has successfully argued, in court and under oath, that no reasonable person should take them seriously. They’ve stated on their own recognizance that they are not, in fact, a news organization. Based on that alone, their use in matters of fact is extremely suspect.
And that’s before you even get to the fact (not opinion or belief) that some of their most reasonable pundits actively advocate for the suspension of rule of law in the case of the former president. They don’t have “beliefs I don’t like,” they have formal positions that are fundamentally opposed to what it means to be a news organization in the United States.
The fact that two news organizations cater to people on opposite sides of the political divide does not necessarily mean that the truth is “somewhere in the middle.” If someone refers to the sky as “azure” and their opponent says that it’s actually “powder blue,” that’s one thing; reality may well be within that discussion set. But if someone says that the sky is azure, and their opponent says that it’s orange, the truth is not that the sky is actually magenta.
And the fact that an opinion or point of view is expressed does not mean that it needs to be entertained for the sake of valid debate. Just because a mentally ill person is shouting about his belief that all redheads are demons who should be forcibly imprisoned doesn’t mean you need to include him in your decision about what to have for lunch.
The way that people of ill will and bad faith get their arguments heard is by presenting them as reasonably equivalent to the other arguments being made. You are under no obligation to entertain their nonsense.
Actually it is. The social contract with news organizations is that, as long as they report facts and analysis in as neutral and factual a manner as they are able, they can continue to report those facts and analysis. The social contract with pundits is that, as long as they adhere to at least the broadest set of shared values common to the majority of Americans and disagree in good faith when they do not adhere to those shared values, they can continue to share their editorial opinions.
Fox has violated both of those contracts by their own admission, so we are no longer bound by those contracts to welcome their content as news or analysis in public spaces, or to allow their content as news or analysis in spaces we control.
tl;dr: they have decided to stop presenting news, which means that we must no longer treat their content as news.
Don’t “both sides” this as a dispute about political minutiae. Fox has successfully argued, in court and under oath, that no reasonable person should take them seriously. They’ve stated on their own recognizance that they are not, in fact, a news organization. Based on that alone, their use in matters of fact is extremely suspect.
And that’s before you even get to the fact (not opinion or belief) that some of their most reasonable pundits actively advocate for the suspension of rule of law in the case of the former president. They don’t have “beliefs I don’t like,” they have formal positions that are fundamentally opposed to what it means to be a news organization in the United States.
The fact that two news organizations cater to people on opposite sides of the political divide does not necessarily mean that the truth is “somewhere in the middle.” If someone refers to the sky as “azure” and their opponent says that it’s actually “powder blue,” that’s one thing; reality may well be within that discussion set. But if someone says that the sky is azure, and their opponent says that it’s orange, the truth is not that the sky is actually magenta.
And the fact that an opinion or point of view is expressed does not mean that it needs to be entertained for the sake of valid debate. Just because a mentally ill person is shouting about his belief that all redheads are demons who should be forcibly imprisoned doesn’t mean you need to include him in your decision about what to have for lunch.
The way that people of ill will and bad faith get their arguments heard is by presenting them as reasonably equivalent to the other arguments being made. You are under no obligation to entertain their nonsense.
Exactly you are under no obligation to entertain their nonsence this is no reason to ban and silence them
Actually it is. The social contract with news organizations is that, as long as they report facts and analysis in as neutral and factual a manner as they are able, they can continue to report those facts and analysis. The social contract with pundits is that, as long as they adhere to at least the broadest set of shared values common to the majority of Americans and disagree in good faith when they do not adhere to those shared values, they can continue to share their editorial opinions.
Fox has violated both of those contracts by their own admission, so we are no longer bound by those contracts to welcome their content as news or analysis in public spaces, or to allow their content as news or analysis in spaces we control.
tl;dr: they have decided to stop presenting news, which means that we must no longer treat their content as news.