Dem
51
Ties
3
GOP
46
This was not too much of a secret to those paying attention to Fox's airwaves, as shameless Trump propagandist Maria Bartiromo has not been on the air since August 9. But yesterday, the network made it official that she has been fired (along with her producer, Patrick Ignozzi).
By all accounts, what cost Bartiromo her job was a story she tried to do back in July, about how one reason the 2020 election was fraudulent was because of Chinese interference. Fox is leery of 2020-election-conspiracy pieces, given the various nine-figure lawsuits they had to settle, and so had already given guidance that such stories were verboten. When Bartiromo tried to do the China story, the network honchos canceled it.
That would have been the end of it, if not for the fact that the host believes that she does not work for Fox so much as she works for Donald Trump. So, she sent a screen capture of the "you cannot do this story" message to the White House, as a way to explain why she was not abiding by her marching orders from the administration. Several senior White House officials called Fox, and tried unsuccessfully to twist their arms, while also (necessarily) revealing Bartiromo's duplicity. She was yanked from the air that same day, and apparently the decision to fire her was made shortly thereafter. We don't know why it took so long to formally swing the ax; maybe Fox was getting its legal ducks in a row, or trying to figure out if they could fire her with cause (and thus not pay her the rest of the contract she signed 6 months ago).
And so, cable TV is rid of someone who disgraces the word "entertainer" by being not very entertaining, and who disgraces the word "journalist" by not coming within a country mile of doing what actual journalists do. Now, if someone could also arrange to remove Fox's Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Greg Gutfeld from the air, along with CNN's Scott Jennings, then we'd really be on to something. Anyhow, this is a reminder as to why you can't trust any of these right-wing media figures (and why you should keep an eagle-eye on left-wing media figures, too): There's every chance that they are taking their cues from the people they are supposed to be covering. (Z)