Punditry vs. News: How Fox News Programming Shapes Americans’ Truth The Role of Gatekeeping on Fox News Network Katharine Sweigart, Advisor: Dr. Alison Dagnes Spring 2020 What is Gatekeeping? “A core activity of journalists, through the choices made in choosing, writing, editing, and positioning information presented as news to the public (Hermida 2020).” What do you cover and why? ● Journalists evaluate the newsworthiness of the information provided in order to help viewers understand the world around them (Schudson 2016) News organizations are actually taking their cues from the audience and their network’s editorial attitudes to determine what to cover → a shift from a commercial objective to an editorial objective (Cherubini, Nielsen 2016) Genesis of Research PBS Newshour Role in Gatekeeping Construction of a balanced news story is often subjective to its creator and institution...and interviews with television journalists show that the definition of “balance” widely varies (Benham 2019) This public media , non-profit public broadcast channel emphasizes the importance of universal access to information and balanced news coverage that does not exhibit an overt bias No ratings; No advertisements; Not reliant on audience ideology or demographics; PBS Newshour was created purely to inform Right-Wing Media Circle A perceived “liberal bias” in mainstream media created a movement among conservative outlets to function as a counterpoint to mainstream press Right-Wing Media Circle: “a small circle, tightly closed, self-reinforcing, furious, oppositional, and very different from their opposition (Dagnes 168)” This “media bubble” consisting of a self-reinforcing narrative has grown in strength, audience, and political power...to the point that they have spun off into a wholly separate ideological communication system (Dagnes 168) Fox News and Outrage Programming Fox News is at the center of the right-wing media circle and a primary source for outrage programming ● Delivering news is no longer the primary goal (Young 53) ● An attitude of fear, anger, and offense against the mainstream outlets (Young 52) “By placing outrage hosts at the helm, Roger Ailes (former Fox News CEO) had succeeded in creating a “news channel”that eschews actual journalism in favor of ‘personality’ and attitude (Young 57)” Methodology Methodology Observed and analyzed eight programs: FOUR (4) Fox News “news” programs 1. THREE (3) Fox News “opinion” programs Newshour contrasts to Fox News PBS Newshour In order to ensure consistency among all these programs… ➔ A Block = “first block of the show, slated for the biggest news stories of the day” ➔ Headline, talking points, time dedicated to each story, graphics/visuals The gatekeeping process on PBS Programming 2. The gatekeeping process between news and opinion programs within Fox News should have some variation, as well PBS Newshour PBS Newshour = the “gold standard” for ethical journalism and gatekeeping ● “to provide viewers with intelligent, balanced, in-depth reporting and analysis of the most important domestic and international issues of the day (PBS)” Recorded Newshour ● 6 p.m. (EST) Monday-Friday ● News coverage topics carried over into the following day because really important news doesn’t change overnight Fox News programming News The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino (weekdays 2 p.m. EST) Shepard Smith Reporting (weekdays 3 p.m. EST) Special Report with Bret Baier (weekdays 6 p.m. EST) The Story with Martha MacCallum (weekdays 7 p.m. EST) Punditry Tucker Carlson Tonight (weekdays 8 p.m. EST) Hannity (weekdays 9 p.m. EST) The Ingraham Angle (weekdays 10 p.m. EST) Findings Observation Timeline Recorded & reviewed eight programs from Sept. 2, 2019 until Dec. 5, 2019 every Monday-Thursday (excluding holidays) 8 programs/day x 4 days/week x 14 weeks of observations = 448 TOTAL hours START FINISH Not included Major Discrepancies PBS Newshour Fox News Programming Included a summary of international news and events each broadcast Only focused on American politics In October, Woodruff led with stories on Brexit No news program ever mentioned Brexit, not even once During the California wildfires, PBS Newshour covered the topic for over 20 minutes Only Bret Baier mentioned California wildfires once in the A block Newshour rarely lead with stories focusing on the politics of an event, but instead covered both sides of the argument The pundits almost exclusively based story selection off of phrases like “Deep State,” “Abuse of Power,” “Enemy,” and “Impeachment Hysteria” when referring to Democrats Consistent Narratives Between October and December, PBS Newshour’s narrative remained consistent when choosing stories ● ● ● This is the topic This is why it’s important This is the impact it could have going forward On Fox News Programming, the narrative between news and opinion shows were similar, but story selection was always anti-liberal, pro-conservative or Pro-Trump ● ● Focus on Trump’s accomplishments Lack of journalistic integrity on the left Specific Examples In order to highlight the contrast between PBS Newshour’s gatekeeping function and the editorial objective on Fox News programs. The anniversary of 9/11 & The Impeachment Trial/Inquiry These examples are vital to understanding how PBS Newshour, Fox News news programs, and Fox News opinion programs influence viewers’ information-gathering process through headlines, graphics, and time dedicated to each story 9/11 Coverage -- Daily Briefing with Dana Perino Headline Time Graphics Narrative “Trump discusses crackdown on e-cigarettes after sixth death linked to vaping” 00:00 - 00:04 mins N/A “At least five names on list to replace Bolton” 00:04 - 00:09 mins Dana Perino begins her program discussing Trump’s push of e-cig ban, and quickly shifts to Trump’s thoughts on John Bolton; not until the end of A Block does she discuss 9/11 “Poll: 32% voters feel safer from Islamic terrorists under President Trump” 00:09 - 00:11 mins *Features John Roberts (WH corr.) & former George Bush Admin. 9/11 Coverage -- Tucker Carlson Tonight Headline Time Graphics Narrative “NY Times Blames 9/11 on Planes, not Terrorists D-Block NYC Skyline i.e. end of episode NY Times tweet about 9/11 Tucker Carlson waits to discuss the anniversary of 9/11 until the end of the episode; focuses on t NY Times and CNN coverage of 9/11, stating that “CNN remembered 9/11 by trying to distract its audience” “CNN on 9/11: ‘Right-Wingers’ are the Problem” CNN anchor covering 9/11 9/11 Coverage -- PBS Newshour Headline Time Graphics Narrative “Remembering 9/11” 00:00 - 00:23 mins 9/11 Memorial in NYC Judy Woodruff presents a PBS documentary remembering first responders, victims,a and 9/11 memorials 18 years after the attack 9/11 Coverage -- Summary PBS Newshour focused their entire broadcast on 9/11 Remembrance and highlighted a nonpartisan view on the anniversary of the event Daily Briefing with Dana Perino primarily focused on President Trump’s e-cigarette ban, engaging the conservative audience Tucker Carlson Tonight utilized the outrage method and insults to keep conservative viewers appalled by the mainstream media Special Report with Bret Baier October 7, 2019 “Impeach Inquiry: Trump calls proceedings ‘a scam’ amid subpoenas” ( 2 minutes) October 18, 2019 “What debate? Impeachment Inquiry overshadows 2020 Dems” (10 minutes) October 22, 2019 “Impeachment Inquiry: Trump calls process ‘a lynching’” (5 minutes) (Special Report with Bret Baier, October 2019) The Ingraham Angle October 7, 2019 “The Improper handling of impeachment push” (7 minutes) October 18 , 2019 “The Left ignores Trump’s Triumphs” (5 minutes) October 22, 2019 “Deep State’s Coordinated Effort to Take Down Trump” (20 minutes) (The Ingraham Angle, October 2019) PBS Newshour In October 2019: Headline: “Impeachment Inquiry” Judy Woodruff and Newshour Political Correspondents spent, on average, 9 minutes each episode discussing the Impeachment Inquiry of President Trump (PBS Newshour, Season 2019) Impeachment Inquiry-- Summary Newshour covered the process of the impeachment trial while Fox News covered the politicization of the impeachment trial, rather than the process. PBS Newshour emphasized that important news does not change overnight, but there are other current event topics to be discussed Special Report with Bret Baier highlights the importance of Impeachment, but the story angles are always pro-conservative and mimic conservative pundit talking points The Ingraham Angle is consistently Pro-Trump, antagonistic, and uses phrasing and graphics that greatly influence affective polarization (Dagnes 192) Conclusions News & Punditry Lack Variation on Fox News Network “Partisan media are (1) specifically triggering emotional (and thus irrational) responses from American audiences because (2) the outrage industry is effective, successful, and profitable (Berry, Sobieraj 2014).” Selective Exposure of certain stories and perspectives alter the news agenda (A. Chakraborty, et. al. 2019) Even if the narrative between news and punditry changes, it lacks significance because Fox News’ gatekeeping function has drastically different filters than the gatekeeping practices held by mainstream press PBS Newshour Fact-Based Fox News Programming Variety of perspectives Balanced Domestic & International issues The “peephole” Analogy Fox News programming gatekeeping tactics: 1. 2. 3. Tune In Focus on the conservative ideology Keep conservatives angry (Young) Limited perspectives, self-reinforcing (Dagnes) Fox News Network Conservative Aggressive Oppositional Pro-Trump Consistent over all news and opinion programs, thus putting it at the center of the right-wing media circle By design, Fox News Network was created to shape a specific “truth” PBS Newshour is the only daily news program on an otherwise non-news public television channel (Schudson 67); its reporters label themselves as “fact-finders, informing the public of the events of the day from an objective perch (Dagnes 182)” vs. “Fox has always pushed a political message. But this angry, anxious tone is a new thing…[Since the election of Trump], Fox is happy to deliver what the audience wants (Sommer 2018) 1. 2. Deliver a pro-Trump message to their Trump loyal audience Amplified their anti-government offensive to keep up with right-wing competition Shaping a “truth” → Hannity “Hannity has become must-see conservative television and the source for Trump supporters’ daily dose of outrage” (Young 54) His use of visuals and aggressive phrases are exclusively hostile toward the left ● ● ● ● ● “Corruption & Deceit” “Hate & Hysteria” “Fantasies of the Left” “Witch Hunt exposed” “Collusion Hoax 2.0” When graphics & outrage headlines dominate his program, gatekeeping is controlled by the editorial attitude of the host rather than the newsworthiness of a story Gatekeeping has evolved Gatekeeping has evolved from purposely nonpartisan reporting to overtly partisan storytelling through story selection (Schudson 67) Mainstream Media ● ● ● ● Interesting Important Resting on ratings “Infotainment” Fox News Programming ● ● ● ● Emotional Conservative Outrage Sole providers of truth If PBS Newshour is the “gold standard” for ethical, unbiased gatekeeping practices, then the specific gatekeeping tactics on Fox News Network are flawed. References -- Academic Journals & Books Anderson, C. W., Downie, L., & Schudson, M. (2016). The news media: what everyone needs to know. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Benham, J. (2019). Best Practices for Journalistic Balance: Gatekeeping, Imbalance and the Fake News Era, Journalism Practice, DOI: 10.1080/17512786.2019.1658538 Brexit deal: What just happened? (2019, October 17). Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50084450 Cherubini, F., Nielsen, R. K. (2015). Editorial analytics: How news media are developing and using audience data and metrics. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Dagnes, A. (2019). Super mad at everything all the time: political media and our national anger. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. Grynbaum, M. M. (2019, October 11). Shepard Smith, Fox News Anchor, Abruptly Departs From Network. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/business/media/shepard-smith-fox-news.html Hermida, A. (2020). Post-Publication Gatekeeping: The Interplay of Publics, Platforms, Paraphernalia, and Practices in the Circulation of News. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699020911882 New York Film Academy. (2016, March 21). How To Stack A News Show. Retrieved April 9, 2020, from https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/how-to-stack-a-news-show/ Young, D. G. (2020). Irony and outrage: the polarized landscape of rage, fear, and laughter in the United States. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. References -- Cable News Programs Fox News Network. (2019). Hannity. New York, NY. Fox News Network. (2019). Shepard Smith Reporting. New York, NY. Fox News Network. (2019). Special Report with Bret Baier. Washington, D.C. Fox News Network. (2019). The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino. New York, NY. Fox News Network. (2019). The Ingraham Angle. Washington, D.C. Fox News Network. (2019). The Story with Martha MacCallum. New York, NY. Fox News Network. (2019). The Story with Martha MacCallum. Washington, D.C. Fox News Network. (2019). Tucker Carlson Tonight. New York, NY. Fox News Network. (2019). Tucker Carlson Tonight. Washington, D.C. PBS. (2019). PBS Newshour. Washington, D.C. Punditry vs. News: How Fox News Programming Shapes Americans’ Truth The role of Gatekeeping on Fox News Network Katharine Sweigart Wood Honors College HON 399: Honors Independent Study Dr. Alison Dagnes, Dr. Kim Klein Spring 2020 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Genesis of Research ………………………………………………………………………………2 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………5 Findings…………………………………………………………………………………………...9 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………13 References………………………………………………………………………………………..16 Introduction The art of storytelling goes back centuries, for humans have always been curious and inquiring about the world around them. It wasn’t until the past four hundred years, though, that Americans established a field centered on “regularly disseminating notice of and commentary about topical events (Schudson 14).” This field, which would later be defined as journalism, grew in the 1700s, and a set of different newspaper models allowed for a variety of published materials to be presented to the general public. For example, state-issued newspapers were disseminated to announce official government business, while periodicals consisting solely of advertisements were presented to citizens, as well. In addition, the growth of a “propaganda journal,” or a publication guided by a strong political opinion, is where one recognizes the beginning of editorial publications and the rise of partisanship within American media (Schudson 15). Because newspapers were often aggregated from England and large publication companies in the U.S., it was nearly impossible to escape the world of politics. As a result, the decisionmaking process of choosing what stories to publish was rarely controlled by media outlets. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as journalism grew rapidly, especially in urban centers of commerce and commotion, publishers noticed that there was a more effective way to increase revenue and circulation rates (Schudson 21). The mass market appeal of “penny papers,” which were cheap papers, flyers, articles or pamphlets sold on the street daily by newsboys, allowed for a shift in newspaper content that appealed to the public’s values (Schudson 21). This new gatekeeping process, defined by audience demographics and ideology rather than content aggregation, would not only become an effective model up until the digital age, but it would continue to feed the rise of political polarization in America (Schudson 21). Leading up to the digital age, as newspapers and radio continued to assist Americans in forming their “truth,” a new form of media grew in popularity and quickly dominated the information- 1 gathering process. The rise of cable news and television news programs allowed Americans, yet again, to influence news dissemination because when the audience is in control, they determine a media organization’s success (Cherubini, Nielsen 2016). Nearly fifty years ago, journalists looked after the general public, and were the ultimate decision-makers when choosing what stories to present as news to the public (Hermida 2020). Their jobs were difficult, but they remained in control. They were the gatekeepers of American news. As gatekeepers, “journalists evaluated the newsworthiness of the information provided in order to help viewers understand the world around them (Schudson 2016).” However, following deregulation in the late 1980s, broadcasters didn’t have to choose stories that covered “both sides” when it came to reporting about political ideologies or events (Young 49). This allowed for the creation of Fox News Network, an overtly conservative news channel that counteracts the “liberal” media presence and appeals to Americans’ conservative ideology (Young 13). Genesis of Research By following in the footsteps of the conservative radio movement of the 1950s and early 1960s, Fox News Network altered journalism’s gatekeeping function from explicitly fact-based to story selection that is dependent on editorial attitudes ((Cherubini, Nielsen 2016). According to Danna Young, media scholar and author of Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of rage, fear, and laughter in the United States, Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes launched Fox News as a “forum for conservative programming that tapped into the same aesthetics and outrage as the early conservative radio voices[...] (Young 16).” With a network dedicated exclusively to the conservative perspective, Fox News blurs the line between its news and punditry programs, resulting in its right-wing media viewers labeling these conservative program opinions as 2 “truth,” proving that the network’s gatekeeping function depends on forming and maintaining an opinion rather than fact-based reporting. In comparison, public broadcasting programming like PBS Newshour maintain the traditional gatekeeping function, defined as “a core activity of journalists, through the choices made in choosing, writing, editing, and positioning information presented as news to the public (Hermida 2020).” Unlike its cable news competition, PBS Newshour emphasizes the importance of universal access to information and balanced news coverage that does not exhibit an overt bias (PBS). Although, the definition of “balance” widely varies, and interviews with television journalists show that the construction of a balanced news story is often subjective to its creator and its institution (Benham 2019). Nevertheless, PBS Newshour publishes a daily program without the reliance of ratings, advertisements, or audience ideology--the non-profit public broadcast channel was created purely to inform. With PBS Newshour as the “gold standard,” one can understand the difference between its straightforward news coverage compared to Fox News conservative news coverage. More importantly, with PBS Newshour as a guideline for fact-based, unbiased gatekeeping, this analysis can illustrate how news and opinion programming on Fox News lack variation in their coverage of current events. Given that Fox News Network is home to two different forms of programming, both of which are rooted in the editorial attitudes of the media organization, delivering news is no longer the platform’s primary goal (Young 53). In fact, their dedication to outrage programming, which promotes an attitude of anger, fear, and offense against the mainstream outlets, has ultimately forced Fox News’ to adopt a new, flawed gatekeeping function that opposes the gatekeeping process most journalists depend on (Dagnes). With data and observational reports, this research illustrates how Fox News and PBS NewsHour present and 3 shape viewers’ understanding of American politics through two conflicting forms of gatekeeping. Prior to analyzing the methodology and findings of this observational research, it is important to understand Fox News Network’s role in the right-wing media circle. The reason Fox News has embraced a new form of gatekeeping is due to the political significance and strength of a self-reinforcing, right-wing circle consisting of a multitude of conservative media outlets. Due to a perceived “liberal bias” in the mainstream press, a movement among conservative outlets was created to function as a counterpoint to mainstream press. While conservative media had attempted to counteract the “liberal bias” in the past with talk radio and the creation of Fox News in the late 90s, it wasn’t until the early 2000s, and more recently in the 2010s, that the right-wing media bubble proved to be most effective. According to Alison Dagnes, professor of Political Science and author of Super Mad At Everything All the Time: Political Media and our National Anger, the right-wing media circle is a, “small circle, tightly closed, self-reinforcing, furious, oppositional, and very different from the [mainstream press] (Dagnes 168).” By establishing a presence of outrage programming through self-reinforcing, anti-liberal narratives for American conservatives to depend on to form their “truth,” the right-wing media bubble has grown in strength, presence, and political authority in today’s media environment. As a result, this media bubble has forced itself into an entirely separate ideological communications system (Dagnes 168). Moreover, with Fox News at the center of the right-wing media circle, viewers have become disoriented by the endless array of conservative platforms and are unable to recognize the difference between news and punditry. While Fox News brands a handful of its programs as “news,” it is still rooted in conservative perspective. Consequently, Fox News news hosts and 4 pundits assist in this confusion. In fact, research shows that people do not know the difference between editorial and straightforward reporting, “between a commentator or pundit commenting on something alongside a reporter who’s supposed to be providing facts (Farhi, 2017).” For example, Fox News pundit Sean Hannity has labeled himself as a “opinion journalist,” and since “opinion” and “journalist” ‘have contradictory definitions, this label is nonexistent (Dagnes 180). Therefore, while Fox News has gained authority within the right-wing media circle and political power among American media consumers, its dependence on the network’s editorial attitude has caused this media organization to lose sight of the differentiation between news and punditry when choosing which stories to present to the public, proving that Fox News gatekeeping methods are defective. Methodology In order to fully understand the defective nature of Fox News’ gatekeeping, this research required a comparative analysis between PBS Newshour and Fox News news and opinion programming. Specifically, to compare the decision-making process that goes into each channel’s content creation, eight programs were observed. This included four Fox News news programs, three Fox News opinion programs, and PBS Newshour. In order to ensure consistency among the eight programs, the majority of observations were limited to the A Block of each show. By definition, the A Block is what broadcast news journalists refer to as the, “first block of the show, slated for the biggest news stories of the day (New York Film Academy 2016).” Essentially, the A Block is where viewers depend on the news, and where the stories deemed “most important” capture the audience. As a result, proper gatekeeping practices explain why the A Block is most important when shaping viewers “truth.” Since Fox News chooses stories the 5 network deems most important in a different way than Newshour, viewers of each channel are forming a dissimilar “truth.” Specifically, within the A Block, observations would rely on headlines, talking points, graphics and visuals, and the time dedicated to each story in order to form accurate conclusions. Through the use of these specific tools, these programs would highlight how the story selection process impacts the channel’s narrative it portrays to its viewers. Finally, before beginning the observation process, two hypotheses were put forth: As stated previously, the gatekeeping process on PBS Newshour contrasts to Fox News Programming. Secondly, the gatekeeping process between news and opinion programs within Fox News should have some variation, as well. To begin with, PBS Newshour served as the “gold standard” for ethical journalism and gatekeeping practices. The media organization’s mission statement is clear in its goal to provide straightforward accounts of newsworthy events. According to PBS, “[Newshour looks to] provide viewers with intelligent, balanced, in-depth reporting and analysis of the most important domestic and international issues of the day (PBS 2020).” In order to develop the claim that Newshour’s gatekeeping function differs from Fox News, I recorded PBS Newshour every evening at 6 p.m. EST Monday through Thursdays (since softer, recurring “infotainment” topics are typically covered on the weekends) and analyzed each episode’s storytelling techniques. That said, because in-depth reporting and analysis is complex, I recognized that news coverage topics on Newshour often carried over into the following day, since really important news does not change overnight. In terms of proper gatekeeping practices, PBS Newshour and its host and managing editor, Judy Woodruff, highlighted the importance of assisting viewers in forming a 6 fact-based “truth” rather than relying on audience ideology and demographics, which is why so much time was often dedicated to one specific current event. In addition, I recorded four Fox News news programs, which aired throughout the weekday. To be specific, these programs included The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino, Shepard Smith Reporting, Special Report with Bret Baier, and The Story with Martha MacCallum. Like Newshour, these programs were hour-long shows that intended to cover the most important stories of the day. However, even though these programs were labeled as news, they often described themselves as programs providing content that appealed to its viewers. Specifically, The Story With Martha MacCallum states that each episode, Martha will “take you deeper than ever before into the stories that matter to you (Fox News 2020).” Similar to Martha’s mission statement, the network describes The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino as “an hour often dominated by breaking news, White House press briefings, and more from Washington,” most of which are dedicated to headlines relating to political issues (Fox News 2020). As a consequence, the news programs airing throughout the day often repeated talking points and chose identical stories within the A Block to preserve the conservative narrative on Fox News Network and maintain their position at the center of the right-wing media circle. In fact, despite the belief that Fox News hires “fact-finding” journalists, Fox News made it clear when the network first began that they would employ hosts who would conform to the pro-conservative standard. This is important to note, given that the network’s veteran chief news anchor, Shepard Smith, abruptly left the network in October 2019 because of his decision to critique the pro-conservative argument. Because Shepard Smith stood out on the conservative platform for his “blunt-truth” coverage of the White House, his skepticism of President Trump led to him leaving the network for good (Grynbaum, New York Times 2019). 7 According to New York Times’ reporter Michael Grynbaum, Smith’s story selection techniques were closer in tone to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper than Fox News pundits Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, leading his colleagues on Fox News to openly mock him on their own programs (Grynbaum 2019). By highlighting the network’s rejection of a fact-based journalist who was willing to go against the Pro-Trump narrative during his story selection process, Smith’s departure further develops the notion that Fox News’ news programs abide by similar gatekeeping techniques as the network’s opinion programs, and they continue to push a political message by following the same conservative standard, as well—ultimately proving why Fox News Network is so successful within the right-wing media circle. Most importantly, because of this untimely departure, I would come to finish out my observations on three Fox News news programs once Smith left the network. Additionally, I recorded three punditry programs on Fox News that aired in the evenings following prime-time programs and nightly news. Each evening, I observed and analyzed Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Ingraham Angle, respectively. Each pundit was clear in their goal to choose stories that were Pro-Trump and anti-liberal, and they adhered to Fox News’ goal of providing a clear political message to its viewers. Their gatekeeping practices included ones drastically different to PBS Newshour, specifically in terms of how they framed the stories referenced in the A Block. For example, even if PBS Newshour, the Fox News news anchors and the Fox News opinion hosts all chose stories based on a specific political issue, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham always made sure their story selection was rooted in hostility toward the left. By correlating anti-liberal, pro-conservative commentary with the “most important” stories of the day, the three Fox News pundits were primarily appealing to their Trump-loyal audience. 8 Altogether, I reviewed all seven Fox News programs and PBS Newshour to form conclusions about the gatekeeping practices on Fox News Network and to understand how story selection plays a role in how Americans shape their truth. My observational timeline ran from September 2, 2019, until December 5, 2019, every Monday through Thursdays (excluding holidays and previously scheduled vacation time) resulting in a total of 448 hours of observations. Through these observations, I was able to witness major discrepancies and consistent narratives found on the respective programs. Findings Because PBS Newshour was established purely to inform viewers of national and international events, and Fox News Network was created with a clear political goal, it is clear why major discrepancies emerged during the observational process. First, while observing the gatekeeping process, I noticed PBS Newshour included a summary of international news and events each broadcast. To be specific, Judy Woodruff began each broadcast with what Newshour deemed the “most important” story of the day, followed by a summary of significant international events occurring simultaneously. For example, on November 18, 2019, Woodruff concluded the A Block with updates about Iranian unrest, Iraqi protests, Israeli settlements and a story about Kim Jong-un. This was roughly around the same time President Trump’s impeachment hearings were starting, as well. By covering international news within the first block of the program, Woodruff highlights Newshour’s dedication to informing the public with balanced coverage of events from around the world, despite the newsworthiness of the impeachment trial. To compare, Fox News news programs only focused on events revolving around American politics. Even if a national or international natural disaster or popular culture event took place, Fox News’ hosts always circled 9 back to the conservative implications of these respective events. To be clear, Fox News may have covered a handful of international events throughout the observational timeline, but regardless of the topic, story development heavily relied on the network’s editorial attitude. Furthermore, in October 2019, Newshour was committed to providing stories related to the Brexit Deal between the U.K. and the EU. In terms of significance, the Brexit Deal was extremely complex and historical for the European nation. As stated by BBC reporters, “leaving the EU is not as simple as it sounds. There are trade deals, travel restrictions, citizens' rights and more to think about (BBC 2019).” Yet, on Fox News, when looking back at my observation chart of headlines, not once did a news or opinion program mention the Brexit deal throughout the month of October. Once again, when wildfires were burning in California, Newshour covered the topic in the A Block for approximately 20 minutes each broadcast. On Fox News, Bret Baier and Dana Perino were the only hosts to mention California wildfires in the A Block. On the same day, a one-on-one with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dominated MacCallum’s A Block, while Hannity discussed the “whistleblower saga.” By providing evidence of the lack of coverage about the California wildfires, it becomes clear that other hosts did not deem this catastrophic event as the most newsworthy event of the day. Thus, when comparing PBS Newshour story selection process to Fox News Network during times when historic events were taking place, one can understand the dissimilarities in their gatekeeping processes and how Fox News forms a different sense of “truth” for its viewers than viewers of PBS Newshour. Moreover, when each channel bases story selection on their distinct gatekeeping practices, the programs end up providing a consistent narrative in their reporting. When referencing consistent narratives within my observations, I noticed that between October and 10 December, Newshour’s stories were chosen and presented the same way: Woodruff began the news with “this is the topic,” followed by an analysis of why the topic is important, and came full circle by presenting the impact the topic could have on the viewers’ everyday lives. On Fox News news and opinion programming, the narrative of the stories they selected almost always illustrated an anti-liberal, a pro-conservative, or a Pro-Trump perspective. Ergo, when Fox News news programs are depicting the same narrative as the network’s opinion programs, there is no longer variation between straightforward and opinion-based storytelling. Two examples highlight the contrast between Newshour’s gatekeeping function and the editorial objective of Fox News: First, on the anniversary of 9/11, Fox News news host Dana Perino led her program with the headline “Trump discusses crackdown on e-cigarettes after six death linked to vaping,” followed by a headline regarding replacement of former national security advisor, John Bolton. It wasn’t until nine minutes into the A Block that Perino began discussing the anniversary of 9/11, which is arguably one of the most important stories in American history. However, when she did begin covering it, Perino referred to a poll highlighting voters’ sense of safety from Islamic terrorists under the leadership of President Trump. Later in the evening, Tucker Carlson avoided stories regarding the anniversary of 9/11 until the D Block, which is the last ten minutes of the program. Not only did Carlson prioritize other news stories before that day’s momentous anniversary, but when he did cover the story he did so by critiquing the mainstream media’s coverage. Conversely, Judy Woodruff began Newshour with the headline, “Remember 9/11,” and continued reporting this story for the first 23 minutes of the broadcast. The only reason her coverage concluded was because she was forced to take the program to a commercial break. Moreover, Newshour coverage of the anniversary of 9/11 included a presentation of the new PBS 11 documentary honoring first responders, victims, and memorial sites, essentially covering the event through a nonpartisan lens. On the other hand, The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino focused on stories about the anniversary of 9/11 that engaged the conservative audience, and Tucker Carlson Tonight used the outrage method and insults toward the mainstream press regarding their coverage of 9/11--which ultimately sets Fox News’ coverage apart from factbased storytelling techniques. Similar techniques were used throughout my observational timeline between Fox News and Newshour, especially when each channel covered the impeachment inquiry and trial of President Trump. On October 7, 2019, Bret Baier’s handling of impeachment stories highlighted Trump’s belief that the inquiry was a “scam,” and on October 18, Baier reported that the inquiry overshadowed 2020 Democrats for ten minutes. Finally, on October 22, Baier led with a story stating that President Trump referred to the impeachment process as a “lynching.” On the same dates, Laura Ingraham led The Ingraham Angle with the headlines, “The Improper Handling of Impeachment Push” for seven minutes, “The Left Ignores Trump’s Triumphs” for five minutes, and the “Deep State’s Coordinated Effort to Take Down Trump” for over 20 minutes of the program’s A Block. With Newshour as our “gold standard,” Woodruff’s analysis was paired with the headline, “Impeachment Inquiry,” for an average of nine minutes each episode throughout the month. More or less, that’s nearly 30 broadcasts with the majority of reporting centered around the most basic headline. To recap, Newshour covered the process of the impeachment trial while Fox News news and opinion hosts covered the politicization of the impeachment trial, rather than the process. Above all, Judy Woodruff emphasized the notion that important news does not change overnight. Bret Baier had a pro-conservative narrative, and Laura Ingraham was always angry, always pro- 12 Trump and her graphics influenced “affective polarization” which perpetuates polarization and hostility across partisan lines and elicits a strong emotional response. As a whole, there is a stark comparison between coverage of important, newsworthy events between PBS Newshour and Fox News Network. Fox News’ news hosts did not provide personal commentary about these events, but nevertheless, Perino and Baier’s Pro-Trump narrative shows a lack of variation between their story selection and their opinion-based counterpart, proving that Fox News Network establishes a one-sided structure for Americans’ during their pursuit for the truth. Conclusions After researching, analyzing, and observing the eight programs, I was able to determine that news and punditry programs on Fox News Network lack variation in terms of story selection because they are primarily functioning as a partisan media outlet. By presenting themselves to the public as a partisan media outlet, and by covering stories based on the hostility toward the mainstream press, Fox News has cultivated a relationship with President Trump that results in biased news coverage (Dagnes 194). According to Dagnes, “Trump refers to the network as an extension of himself, using words like ‘we’ and ‘us’ about the network’s hosts (Dagnes 194).” By creating a feedback loop allowing the President to advertise himself and his positions, as well promote the network’s legitimacy, Fox News Network has found itself at the center of the rightwing media bubble. As a result, the right-wing media circle is able to push its antagonistic mission to fuel anger and oppositional attitudes of its viewers, which illustrates why Fox News programs lack variation in their reporting. The network is so profitable in its ability to adhere to a pro-conservative narrative to the point that any deviation from this narrative would be detrimental to its success. 13 According to media scholars Jeffrey Berry and Sarah Sobieraj, “partisan media are specifically triggering emotional and thus irrational responses from American audiences because the outrage industry is effective, successful and profitable (Berry, Sobieraj 2014).” To be effective, Fox News tends to choose stories that reinforce its pre-existing views. Through this practice of “selective exposure,” certain stories and perspectives alter the news agenda. In Fox News’ case, American politics is the news, and nothing is deemed more important than what’s happening on Capitol Hill. Therefore, even if the story selection process differs between news and opinion programs, it doesn’t hold weight because the gatekeeping function on Fox News Network drastically differs from the gatekeeping practices of outlets like PBS Newshour and the mainstream press. This is because, by design, Fox News was created to shape a specific, conservative “truth” for its audience. Rather than labeling themselves as “fact-finders'' who report “objectively”, Fox News reporters have always pushed a political message (Dagnes 182). PBS Newshour, is the only daily news program on an otherwise non-news public television channel, which allows the program to inform viewers about the news of the day from an objective perch (Schudson 67). Since the elective of President Trump, Fox News’ primary goal is to deliver a pro-Trump message to a Trump-loyal audience and to ensure that they are amplifying their anti-government offensive to keep up with other right-wing media outlets (Sommer 18). Fox News Network is motivated to push a Pro-Trump narrative since the election of the 45th President in 2016, and its angry, anxious tone allows its programs to avoid both sides of the conversation. Specifically, Fox News is the primary example of adhering to what Dagnes and I coined as the “peephole” analogy: Fox News news and opinion programs utilize very specific gatekeeping tactics to the point that their viewers are only gaining a very small perspective of a 14 much more complex dialogue. Instead, PBS Newshour provides a wide-range perspective on a variety of topics, and the host is transparent in her reporting. Pictured above is a visual of PBS Newshour operating like a window, and Fox News operating like a peephole in terms of their reporting of current events According to Young, Fox wants viewers to tune in to their programming, and they want to solely focus on the conservative perspective. Finally, and arguably most important to the network’s gatekeeping tactics, Fox News wants to keep its conservative viewers angry. This results in limited perspectives and self-reinforcing narratives from both news and opinion shows, putting the network at the center of the right-wing media circle. To maintain this outrage performance, Fox News hires hosts like Sean Hannity, a man who has become a primary source of outrage for many Americans (Young 54). Through the use of visuals and aggressive phrases like “Hate and Hysteria,” “Corruption and Deceit,” and “Fantasies of the Left,” Hannity has dominated television ratings for years, which further develops the notion that gatekeeping is controlled by the hosts opinion rather than the newsworthiness of the story. In conclusion, we recognize that gatekeeping has evolved from purposely nonpartisan reporting to overtly partisan storytelling. When following proper gatekeeping practices, the mainstream press determines which stories to present as news to the public by deciding if stories are interesting, important, will maintain high ratings, and remain within the realm of “infotainment” (a combination of both information and entertainment). Fox News programming deviates from these traditional gatekeeping techniques and instead concentrates on stories that 15 will elicit an emotional response and will add to the conservative mindset. Also, Fox News programming insists on perpetuating the right-wing media agenda by instilling fear and outrage in its viewers by claiming that the network is the sole provider of “truth.” Thus, if PBS Newshour is “the gold standard” for ethical, unbiased gatekeeping practices, then the specific gatekeeping tactics on Fox News Network are flawed because they are only choosing stories that will reaffirm the conservative narrative. References Anderson, C. W., Downie, L., & Schudson, M. (2016). 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