Fox News just spent $787.5 million to stave off having to pay more for broadcasting lies about the 2020 election. Now two progressive organizations are going after Fox News through their advertisers.
“Fox News is bad for business, plain and simple. Aligning your brand with Fox as the network continues to fend off lawsuits and potential shareholder activations is a gamble, and no one should roll the dice and underwrite Fox’s lethal lies,” said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, which is partnering with MoveOn in a series of actions aimed at Fox News urging major advertisers to cut bait with the entertainment-news channel.
The day of action comes as Fox Corp. holds its annual Upfront pitch to advertisers in New York City, where it hopes to encourage major advertisers and brands to purchase blocks of ads for the rest of the year.
This year’s Upfront comes against the backdrop of the settlement in the Dominion lawsuit, which exposed that the network’s executives and stars were deliberately skewing coverage to benefit former President Donald Trump’s lies and punishing employees who diverted from that line.
A pair of mobile billboards with messages including “Your money fuels Fox’s hate,” “Don’t buy the lies Fox News is selling,” and “Fox News is toxic to your brand” are circling the Fox News headquarters in Midtown Manhattan and the Manhattan Center, the location of Fox News’ Upfront event.
MoveOn activists are holding protests at the headquarters of two of Fox News’ major advertisers, GM, which is based in Detroit, and Subway, which is based in Miami, with mobile billboards circling the AT&T headquarters in Dallas.
“Tucker Carlson’s departure, and the recent settlement of the Dominion lawsuit changes nothing about the endless stream of dangerous lies that saturates Fox News’ airwaves,” said MoveOn Executive Director Rahna Epting. “Fox News lies are fueled by the financial support of corporate advertisers like General Motors, AT&T and Subway – every dollar that these corporations and others give to Fox News funds its extreme rhetoric, bigotry, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. Prospective advertisers should be on notice: We won’t back down from protesting these corporations until they stop funding Fox’s lies.”
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Chris Graham
