When The Truth Doesn't Matter

Everyone at some time in their lives runs from the truth. That is a fact. When one faces the choice of telling the truth, circumstances may dictate whether one will be truthful. There is a story in the scriptures where Abraham lied that Sarah wasn’t his wife, but his sister. It didn’t turn out well for him once the king learned the truth. Abraham was apologetic as he confessed, and from then we learn that he was truthful in what he said. We all pay a price, whether small or large when we fib (snuck that one in) but it pays even more in the eyes of God when we are truthful. For some, maybe many, telling the truth can cost so much when one has a responsibility to be truthful when speaking to the public on issues that matters to them. The folks over at Fox News might be thinking a little now about how they present the truth in their news reporting now that Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against the company for broadcasting false accusations about rigged voting machines in the 2020 presidential election, has gone further than most legal experts thought possible. Fox News has since the election, broadcast numerous times in support of Donald Trump’s assertion that the election was rigged, even though Trump’s legal challenges were rebuffed by every judge who heard Trump’s many challenges. That didn’t appear to be enough for head executives at Fox News to change the narrative about President Joe Biden stealing the election with help from Dominion. The network’s top stars consisting of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham continued to push the stolen election narrative while having doubts according to newly released personal documents that were discovered by Dominion. Nonetheless, month after month, executives at Fox would let their stars repeat the same assertion that Dominion was the central player in Trump’s loss and many wonder why did they allow that to happen. The answer can perhaps be summed up in one word. Ratings. When one is at the top of cable news broadcasting and has been there for a long time, one could say that that individual or organization will do what it takes to stay at the top. The higher the ratings, meaning more people are watching you than the other guy, the more profitable it is for your business.

The question now becomes, if Fox executives knew that their “big three” were putting out information that perhaps they knew wasn’t true, but at their behest, they continued to do so, wouldn’t that constitute lying? Rupert Murdoch recently said that “anyone” who knowingly lies to broadcast, should “be reprimanded or maybe got rid of”, according to a recent media report. Well, no one is gone from Fox as the lawsuit continues. Murdoch’s eldest son also said that a news organization “has an obligation”, to report the news “fulsomely, wholesomely, and without fear or favor”. Notice a word or two that many might say was left out. How about saying right after “obligation”, say “the truth” and having “principles” that reflect a genuine effort to get to the truth before reporting the news? Trump will continue to say that he really did lose the election (though in private) according to media sources. At one time, Trump was “ratings gold” at Fox, but now there seems to be some kind of falling out between the two. In emails uncovered, Tucker Carlson allegedly said that he “hated Trump passionately”, while at the same time helping push the stolen election against Dominion. There is no telling how that will play out as the lawsuit continues and Trump continues to campaign for 2024.

How much will Fox News tell the conservative base about its’ legal challenges and if the network will ever “confess” to misleading the base? Or will it even matter? Fox is allowing Carlson to play videos of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection supplied to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which shows a distorted version of what actually happened at the Capitol. Carlson is portraying selected clips that show a few scenes of non violence, while not showing the truth of what really happened on Jan. 6. What about the police officers that died? What about the female Trump sympathizer who was shot trying to break in through a door? Carlson knows that there weren’t any “tourists” there on a sightseeing tour. They were there for one reason and one reason only, and that was to keep Congress from fulfilling its constitutional duties. The truth of what actually happened. Perhaps Carlson and others at Fox somehow believe or want people to believe that if one believes in something so much that is not the truth, somehow history will change. However, the truth has a way of being revealed as we saw in the Tucker Carlson emails. His emails suggest that he hates Trump (what was that word?) passionately. Carlson’s fame will last only so long. What will he be left with? A reputation of someone who had a voice (and others) to speak the truth to millions. Instead, he allegedly ran from it. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.