Fox News has decided on Bill Hemmer to anchor Shepard Smith’s vacated time slot.
Huge congrats to @BillHemmer on the well-deserved gig. Best in the business and I’m proud to work with him. https://t.co/4lDoA0hjJN
— Brian Flood (@briansflood) December 9, 2019
And if Oliver Darcy’s trying to crap all over it:
As Mediaite notes, @BillHemmer lacks the "contrarian truth-telling and appeals to journalistic integrity" that defined the 3pm hour when it was hosted by Shep Smith. https://t.co/D2E7G9jDUj
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 9, 2019
You can be sure that his fellow CNN hall monitor and Fox News obsessive Brian Stelter is on it, too:
As Aidan notes, "you can expect Hemmer to have a less oppositional stance towards Trump world" then Shep had… https://t.co/azugVuxSWH
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 9, 2019
Here's our full story about Bill Hemmer taking over Shep Smith's Fox time slot —
describing how his style is significantly different than Smith's… https://t.co/R3YXUQfkAX— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 9, 2019
“Our” being Stelter and Darcy’s. Because of course they had to team up for this.
Sources at Fox describe a balancing act: Anchors who want to challenge guests and call out Trump's lies feel constrained by their own viewers. They believe the audience will turn on them, and cite Shep's experience to prove the point. Details here https://t.co/R3YXUQfkAX
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 9, 2019
Recommended
Yeah, the details basically boil down to “Bill Hemmer isn’t nearly as objective and professional as we at CNN are”:
Hemmer isn’t known for aggressively fact-checking political falsehoods or challenging President Trump’s misinformation the way that Smith did.
Smith’s style was to cut through confusion by presenting detailed facts and figures, particularly in response to Trump’s deceit. This made him a heroic figure to some journalists. But this also alienated Smith from much of the Fox base.
Hemmer is significantly less confrontational. As co-anchor of the late morning program “America’s Newsroom,” Hemmer has allowed guests to advance misleading talking points without much of a challenge.
There are some examples of Hemmer providing pushback to White House aides and other guests. But his general approach is to ask questions and accept the response he receives — even if it’s a deceptive or inaccurate response.
Stelter and Darcy don’t really offer any examples to show that Hemmer accepts deceptive or inaccurate responses. Maybe because that would invite people to bring up examples of CNN anchors accepting deceptive or inaccurate responses. Or examples of CNN hiring contributors known for deception and inaccuracy.
In any case, Stelter and Darcy’s obsession with Fox News appears to have become full-fledged mania.
Does this guy cover anything other than Fox News? https://t.co/CpZFsZpyS1
— Mickey White (@BiasedGirl) December 9, 2019
Its sad how much you are obsessed over fox news
— Scout (@Scoutdomain) December 9, 2019
Why do you think CNN viewers care about who is on at Fox News?
— Jolly Phil (@philllosoraptor) December 9, 2019
Because more people watch Fox News than watch CNN?
Why are you doing stories on rival networks?
Maybe because they obliterate you in the ratings?— Lt Col Patrick Meagher (@Squarzelfitz) December 9, 2019
We get that CNN is jealous, but they’ve really got to find a subtler way of dealing with it.
CNN: The First Name in What Just Happened on Fox News https://t.co/f4y1zPM2IN
— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) December 9, 2019
Join the conversation as a VIP Member