Fox News, Fox Business, and its latest streaming platform—Fox Nation—have dominated the right-wing media landscape for years, even with the emergence of far-right alternative media outlets like One America News and Newsmax.
But with all cable news outlets experiencing diminished viewership, Fox is looking for alternatives. That's why billionaire Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch will unveil Fox Weather later this year. The streaming channel will compete with The Weather Channel, by far the dominant weather station on television. The Weather Channel itself unveiled a streaming service as well: Weather Channel Plus.
But Fox's long-established channels are infamous for the disinformation peddled by many of its daytime personalities and the unhinged conspiracy theories amplified by their primetime hosts.
Even before former President Donald Trump was settled in his role as the GOP's kingmaker, Fox News was a frequent source of disinformation. The network repeatedly platformed lies about the American Care Act and its nonexistent "death panels," about Benghazi, and about former President Barack Obama.
In the era of Donald Trump—who made over 30 thousand "false or misleading claims" during his time in the White House—the disinformation has only gotten worse. In the past year alone Fox repeatedly amplified Trump's lies about the 2020 election and frequently promoted dangerous lies about the pandemic that's killed over 600 thousand Americans.
With such an avalanche of disinformation from a single entity, people could only imagine what the Fox Weather channel might report.
And imagine, they did.
WEATHER CHANNEL: it\u2019s cloudy\n\nFOX WEATHER: why is AOC hiding the sun from white people?https://twitter.com/blakehounshell/status/1412388640752377858\u00a0\u2026— Ben Rosen (@Ben Rosen) 1625585112
fox weather:\n\n"I'm reporting live from a sunny beachfront, don't believe the left wing snowstorm media" https://twitter.com/yoda/status/1412417614916337675\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/QtldMadZHs— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis) 1625581746
Fox\u2019s new weather channel:pic.twitter.com/keCcOF1nSE— Dianna Cowern (@Dianna Cowern) 1625625828
Is the Fox weather channel gonna tell its angry, elderly white viewers that critical race theory is the real cause of negative weather events? Because that would be on brand. #CRTismakingithot— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1625619303
Another channel where they can yell about snow flakeshttps://twitter.com/blakehounshell/status/1412388640752377858\u00a0\u2026— Full Frontal (@Full Frontal) 1625583683
Fox Weather will be eligible for comedy Emmyspic.twitter.com/UiewBSYjgI— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@Mrs. Betty Bowers) 1625599533
Fox's long-established history of climate crisis denial made the prospective channel all the more untrustworthy.
After years of Fox climate denial, there is no reason to trust Fox Weather https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/after-years-climate-denial-there-no-reason-trust-fox-weather\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/V2WAFJrmOB— Media Matters (@Media Matters) 1625585197
This will be the premier outlet for climate change denial btw.\n"Fox Weather!"https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1412373316262838272\u00a0\u2026— eli friedmann (@eli friedmann) 1625586983
One way to propagandize climate change is to deny it 24/7/365 on a Fox weather channel.https://twitter.com/politvidchannel/status/1412450036990943235\u00a0\u2026— Michele Mattea (@Michele Mattea) 1625589780
Seems like people will stick with the weather channel.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter