From Televised Debates to Fox News by Henry Mantel

   The first televised presidential debate happened on September 26, 1960. Seventy million Americans tuned in to watch John F. Kennedy face off against Vice President Richard Nixon. By most accounts, JFK won, not necessarily because he made better arguments, but because he looked good. JFK was cool and collected while Nixon, who kept shifting his weight, looked tense and nervous. After three more debates, JFK won the election.
   Even after losing, Nixon continued to underestimate the power of television. Then, in 1967, he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, where he met the show's executive producer, Roger Ailes. Nixon insisted that TV was a gimmick; Ailes firmly believed in television's power to inform and shape a narrative. Nixon was so impressed he hired Ailes immediately. With Ailes' help, Nixon polished his image and won the presidential election in 1968.
   During Nixon's presidency, Ailes wrote a memo titled "A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News." The memo outlined a plan to bring pro-administration stories to the airwaves, noting that TV had become more popular than newspapers and radio. Also, as Ailes put it: "People are lazy. With television you just sit—watch—listen. The thinking is done for you." This plan was put on hold when Nixon was caught obstructing justice and forced to resign.
   Ten years later, Roger Ailes worked on the reelection campaign of Ronald Reagan. The Reagan Administration had its own impact on the media. In 1985, the FCC announced that the Fairness Doctrine violated the right to free speech. The doctrine, introduced in 1949, required broadcasters to provide adequate coverage of public issues and ensure that coverage fairly represented opposing views. Two years later, the FCC revoked the doctrine and President Reagan vetoed a bill that would have made the Fairness Doctrine law.
   After Reagan, Roger Ailes worked on George H.W. Bush's campaign with Lee Atwater in 1988. Ailes laid out his "orchestra pit theory of politics" in an interview with Judy Woodruff. "There are three things that the media are interested in: pictures, mistakes and attacks. That's the one sure way of getting coverage. You try to avoid as many mistakes as you can. You try to give them as many pictures as you can. And if you need coverage, you attack, and you will get coverage." By the time Ailes left the White House, cable news was becoming big business.
   Enter Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch, an Australian native, had purchased several American media outlets, including 20th Century Fox, before founding the Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986. In 1995, the FCC granted Murdoch a waiver of the commission's foreign-ownership restrictions, finding that Murdoch's continued ownership of Fox Broadcasting was "in the public interest." Murdoch founded Fox News the following year, hiring Roger Ailes as its CEO.
   From the beginning, Ailes set Fox News apart from its competition by treating the news as a double for entertainment. The graphics were flashier, the segment titles more interesting, and the pacing quicker. The pundits, like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, were given more leeway to emote. Fox News' ratings exploded, reaching more viewers than CNN and MSNBC by 2002.
   Despite pitching itself as "Fair and Balanced," Fox News drew criticism for bias almost immediately. In 2001, the media watchdog FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) studied 19 weeks of Special Report with Brit Hume. 89% of the guests with a party affiliation were Republicans (during the same time period, 57% of Wolf Blitzer's partisan guests were Republicans.)
   The bias never stopped. Fox News supported the Iraq War and attacked anti-war protesters.  Fox News participated in the swiftboating of John Kerry in 2004. Fox News attacked President Obama for liking dijon mustard, wearing a tan suit, and using a teleprompter. Fox News promoted Donald Trump's "birther" conspiracy theory. Fox News misleads its viewers on issues like climate change, gun control, and refugees. Fox News frequently repeats white supremacist talking points. In 2012, a study found that those who only watched Fox News were less informed about domestic issues than those who watched no news at all.
   Roger Ailes died on May 18, 2017, a year after being accused of sexual harassment and removed from his position at Fox News. But Fox News' influence lives on. As of this month, Fox News has gone 194 months in a row as the most-watched cable news network. Four of the top five cable news programs were on Fox News. 60% of Republicans believe that Fox News is an objective news source. President Trump is a regular viewer of Fox & Friends while Fox News constantly downplays unflattering stories about the Trump White House.
   When Fox News is the most watched news channel on television, it is no surprise that partisanship in the United States is at its highest in decades.

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