In today’s highly politically polarized climate, people naturally turn to their favorite news broadcasters to get stories that support their opinions. It is a safe bet, for instance, that people who get all or most of their news from Fox News are more likely to cast their ballot for Donald Trump. It is a free country, after all, and a contentious marketplace of ideas is a sign of health, but only if the “shopper” shops around and checks out what else is on offer.

As a word of caution to those who get all of their news from Fox, one might want to think back to the election night in 2020 when Fox called Arizona for Joe Biden only to see their ratings plummet overnight. Viewers switched to other newscasts that still held out hope for a Trump comeback in the state. Fearing a further loss of market share, Fox changed its call on Arizona and fired the pollster who had made the correct call, even though his prediction was later substantiated by several recounts, one by Trump’s own handpicked crew. Fox News subsequently paid close to $800 million in damages for lying and defamation. The case was largely decided on the evidence gathered from internal memos from within the Fox staff, including the CEO, that admitted their waffling about Arizona was incorrect, but they had to do it or risk losing viewers to other right wing news shows.

Now, one might question the reliability of a news service that allows their viewers to vote with their remote controls on what the headlines will be. Don’t like these stories? No problem, it can be fixed to accommodate you so you’ll never need to challenge your beliefs. This might not be the best source of information when it comes to choosing a president.

Peter Pfeiffer

Solon