![]() ![]() Other top offenders were hosts Tucker Carlson (11), Rachel Campos-Duffy (11), Pete Hegseth (11), Ainsley Earhardt (11), and Will Cain (10). Kilmeade made 22 claims downplaying or undermining vaccines or immunization, and Ingraham made 18 such claims. Fox pundits described vaccine efforts as coercive or government overreach 103 times and described vaccines as unnecessary or dangerous 75 times.įox hosts Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends and Laura Ingraham of The Ingraham Angle were the network’s worst offenders. Out of those, 151 claims came from pundits on the network, which represented 70% of the total. In total, Fox personalities and guests made 216 claims undermining or downplaying vaccines or immunization drives. The Ingraham Angle in particular did so in 15 segments over the two-week period, with both the host and her guests undermining vaccination rates. Notably, Fox’s weekday evening opinion shows - Fox News Primetime, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Ingraham Angle - promoted claims undermining and downplaying immunization in all of their coronavirus vaccine segments. Co-host Brian Kilmeade summed up the program’s resistance to vaccination efforts when he described the Biden administration’s campaign to get more Americans vaccinated as “mind boggling.” Including its early morning and weekend counterparts, Fox & Friends aired 44 vaccine segments, 52% of which included claims undermining or downplaying vaccines or immunization efforts. The show with the most vaccine misinformation was the network’s flagship morning program, Fox & Friends. Its “news”-side programming aired 49 segments about vaccines, with 39% of those including claims undermining or downplaying vaccines or immunization efforts. The network’s opinion programming aired 80 coronavirus vaccine segments, 69% of which included claims undermining or downplaying vaccines or immunization efforts. In 58 segments, or 45%, Fox described immunization efforts as coercive or government overreach, or framed them with a false dichotomy of “personal choice” against “medical freedom.” Personalities and guests on the network argued against vaccination or highlighted extremely rare medical complications in 48 segments, or 37% of the total. Out of those, 57% of segments included claims that undermined or downplayed vaccines or immunization efforts. Over the two-week study period, Media Matters identified 129 coronavirus vaccine segments on Fox. Fox hosts Brian Kilmeade and Laura Ingraham made the most such claims with 22 and 18 statements, respectively. Pundits in vaccine segments made 151 claims undermining or downplaying vaccines, representing 70% of the total attacks on vaccination efforts.Fox personalities and guests made a total of 216 claims undermining or downplaying vaccines in segments about coronavirus immunization.All of Fox’s weekday evening opinion shows with vaccine segments - Fox News Primetime, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Ingraham Angle - included claims undermining or downplaying coronavirus vaccines in those segments.Fox & Friends, including its early morning and weekend iterations, aired the most vaccine segments during this period, with more than half (52%) featuring claims undermining or downplaying immunization.Thirty-seven percent of segments included claims suggesting that vaccines are unnecessary or dangerous.Forty-five percent of segments included claims suggesting that the vaccination drive is coercive or that it represents government overreach.Of those, 57% included claims that either undermined or downplayed immunization efforts. Over a two-week period, from June 28 through July 11, Fox News aired 129 segments about coronavirus vaccines.The paper quoted Cox as describing the “recent push by Fox News, Newsmax, and other right-wing media against the vaccine” as “reckless.” Spencer Cox (R-UT) blamed right-wing media anti-vaccination “propaganda” for the state's low immunization rates. Further, The Salt Lake City Tribune reported that Gov. Fox News’ dismissal of vaccine efforts is particularly dangerous as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have surged in unvaccinated red states, with polling showing conservative and Republican voters - who count Fox as their most trusted news source - are less likely to get vaccinated. From June 28 through July 11, 57% of segments about coronavirus vaccines on the network included claims that undermined vaccination efforts.Īmid a push from the Biden administration and medical officials to increase vaccination rates, Fox News has repeatedly fearmongered about and downplayed the need for continued vaccination campaigns. Fox News has relentlessly undermined the effort to get Americans vaccinated against the COVID-19 disease.
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