74 journalism professors writes open letter condemning Fox News for spreading coronavirus misinformation
From THEHILL.COM
Dozens of journalism professors and working journalists signed an open letter to Fox News heads Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch on Thursday, bashing the network's coverage of the coronavirus pandemic as a "danger to public health."
"Viewers of Fox News, including the president of the United States, have been regularly subjected to misinformation relayed by the network—false statements downplaying the prevalence of COVID-19 and its harms; misleading recommendations of activities that people should undertake to protect themselves and others, including casual recommendations of untested drugs; false assessments of the value of measures urged upon the public by their elected political leadership and public health authorities," the letter reads.
In the letter, the group cites multiple surveys, including a recent Pew Research poll in which 79 percent of Fox News viewers reported that they believed that the media had overstated the potency of the virus. It also cited that the average age for Fox News viewers is 65. Senior citizens are one of the two most at-risk demographics to experience fatal complications from the virus, the other being people with underlying health conditions.
74 journalism / comms professors + journalists have written an open letter to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch about the network's coronavirus coverage.
"Viewers of Fox News, including the president of the United States, have been regularly subjected to misinformation..." pic.twitter.com/Vpk04Tc9es— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 2, 2020
The letter points out that some of Fox News's reporters have done solid reporting on the outbreak, but also singled out multiple pundits on the network who have done the opposite, mentioning hosts Sean HannitySean Patrick HannityOvernight Defense: Aircraft carrier captain pleads for help with outbreak | Pentagon shipment of ventilators delayed | Pompeo urges countries to be more 'transparent' with virus data Well-wishes pour in across media for Chris Cuomo after coronavirus diagnosis Pompeo: Countries must 'step up,' provide 'transparent' coronavirus information to save lives MORE, Steve Hilton and Tucker CarlsonTuck... (Read more)
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