“It did become a partisan issue where it was; you’re either on the side of the left, and you’re staying inside afraid of a virus, or you are on the side of the right, and you’re jumping on an aeroplane.”
— Caleb Ecarma

Location: Zoom
Date: Saturday 11th April
Company: Vanity Fair
Role: Reporter

There is a significant political leaning with many major news outlets in the US. Fox News represents the right and is, therefore, pro-Trump and the republican party. CNN and MSNBC represent the left and is for the most part anti-Trump and pro-Democrats.

The political bias in US mainstream media affects the lens in which news is reported; thus, the political spectrum rarely leads to media outlets agreeing with one another.

Towards the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump was downplaying the risk of the virus, and Fox News echoed his sentiment. Coronavirus was regularly compared to the flu and claims were made that the democrats were using the virus to score political points.

While both President Trump and Fox News have made a U-turn with their position on the virus, some believe that the news organisation could face legal recourse over the misinformation that was spread in the early days of the outbreak.

In this interview, I talk to Caleb Ecarma, a reporter for Vanity who recently wrote about Fox News preparing to be sued over Coronavirus misinformation. We discuss this, media coverage of coronavirus and the upcoming presidential election.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/fox-news-coronavirus-misinformation-lawsuits-caleb-ecarma

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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