In an email to staff on Tuesday, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch told staffers — including from Fox News — that they won’t be returning to the offices until after Labor Day.
In an email obtained by Mediaite, Murdoch said, in part, “While we spent the last year working in new, and often remote, ways, you have continued to prioritize caring for each other. Similarly, the health and safety of our workforce has remained my priority. With that as the guiding principle, we are deferring our next possible phase one reopening date to no earlier than September 7, immediately after Labor Day.”
One can’t help but notice the hypocrisy. While Murdoch preaches safety, many on-air Fox personalities and guests question COVID-related restrictions and precautions.
Speaking of which, primetime host Tucker Carlson somehow incredibly got more irresponsible on the air. On Monday’s show, Carlson questioned vaccinations.
He said, “Don’t dismiss those questions from ‘anti-vaxxers.’ Don’t kick people off social media for asking them. Answer the questions. … It turns out there are things we don’t know about the effects of this vaccine — and all vaccines by the way. It’s always a trade-off.”
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In a column for The Washington Post, Aaron Blake wrote, “While broadcasting an increasing onslaught of coronavirus vaccine skepticism, Carlson repeatedly says he’s just asking questions — and that we should ask questions. That much is true. But Carlson often serves up those questions with a heaping side of innuendo and little due diligence.”
Blake added, “The problem with Carlson’s coverage isn’t that he’s raising questions; it’s that he’s raising them in a haphazard way and relying upon dubious sources. This has been a feature of Carlson’s show dating back to the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, when he suggested the death toll was being inflated.”
And this got the heart of it when Blake wrote, “Carlson has every right to raise questions, but he knows how much influence he has and how his words can be interpreted. His conservative viewers, polls show, are already among the most unlikely to get the vaccine. One question he should ask is whether he’s okay with that.”
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This piece originally appeared in The Poynter Report, our daily newsletter for everyone who cares about the media. Subscribe to The Poynter Report here.
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