Confirmation of something I've often observed

[Orrex]

I live in western PA and work throughout this area as well as East Ohio and WV. I go into dozens of homes each week, and of course this is a Trump-heavy area, so I see many customers watching Fox.

And not just watching it. They’re parked in their chairs watching hour after hour of it, scarcely moving and hardly even interacting with each other. They’ve hooked their empty skulls up to the bullshit nozzle and are happily taking in as much as they can get.

I see it over and over again, many times each week. In stark contrast, homes that are tuned to MSNBC or CNN might have these channels on the screen, but its background noise as they engage in their activities around the house.

But Fox is a direct pipeline of propaganda as these fuckers willingly brainwash themselves.

[Ocelot II]

1. Fox makes its viewers angry, and anger is perversely pleasurable.

Anger can be understood as a reaction to what feels threatening or unfair to you. In such instances, you feel unjustifiably attacked, taken advantage of, betrayed, violated, or powerless. And your anger, essentially retaliatory in nature, agreeably serves the function of restoring to you a sense of righteousness and control, even dignity and respect. Added to this, the energizing surge of adrenaline accompanying your eruption further accentuates your sense of “wronged virtue.” So naturally, you feel morally superior to whoever or whatever provoked you in the first place.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201811/why-you-secretly-enjoy-getting-angry

Fox incites its viewers to anger leading to a sense of victimization, and being a victim means they are the innocent, wronged person; and whoever made them the victim is necessarily the bad guy - and therefore they can feel superior to the bad people who victimized them. This is what Trump does and Fox just amplifies it. So what you are seeing is a bunch of people feeding on the thrill that Fox/Trump-induced anger and victimhood gives them. It's their meth and coke and crack and it feels so good they can't tear themselves away from it.

[C_U_L8R]

2. Dopes on dopamine

It's a recipe for total control.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. It doesn't help...

that stress is contagious. I've posted about this before. Anyone can find the evidence.

❤️ pants

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. Also, an enraged person has less reasoning ability and their beliefs can be more easily manipulated.

[JoetheShow]

19. I also think that being a "victim" can be generalized. That's why no promotion. That's why your wife (or husband) left.

It's not your fault. It's the immigrants. Or the Jews. Or the lesbians. Or whatever near powerless minority is the target this week.

[Attilatheblond]

45. Have long noticed certain types of 'Christians' claim persecution over everything

Have decided they need to feel persecuted in order to feel Christlike. So much easier than actually doing the things their Christ demanded.

[JoetheShow]

48. I noticed for a long time during the abortion debate that not being allowed to impose their religious beliefs on others

was apparently a form of religious persecution. It was preventing Christians from exercising their religion. I didn't understand that logic for a long time, but now see it as part of a persecution complex they've been building for a long time. Every time something else frustrates them, they add it to the grievance pile they're building.

[Farmer-Rick]

44. As a young adult, anger was my go to emotion

It had the unique ability to push all fear and worry away. Nothing for the moment mattered except for the anger.

I can't imagine what it must be like for people to be feeding on that all their waking hours. I just had momentary flair ups of red hot anger but as I matured, I learned to control it.

These people are on it regularly, every day and night. It must be a heart pounding experience.

No wonder they are so loyal to Trump. It's their anger that pushes rational thoughts away and they can't see Trump for the con he is. They think Trump will give them their final vengeance over the imaginary foes Fox feeds them.

[RAB910]

3. FOX is a cog in the toxic right-wing propaganda machine

You have right-wing think tanks that generate the messages

you have FOX, Sinclair, Newsmax, NY Post, Wallstreet Journal, AM Hate radio, etc, that broadcast the propaganda.

All the propaganda is designed to amp up their hate, fear, and anger to the highest levels so they can be easily manipulated.


They sit there for hours because much like any elicit drug, not only is it bad for you, but it's highly addictive

[YessirAtsaFact]

42. Don't leave Russia out of propaganda creation

Half of what the Fox “opinion” commentators talk about in prime time originates in the GRU.

[Attilatheblond]

47. Thinking back to my grandfather, listening to AM talk radio ALL THE TIME in the 60s

Didn't understand how lonely he must have been in his old age with us, having outlived 2 wives and 2 of 3 offspring, and all friends, work pals.

That horride old radio with it's bad reception and dusty tubes drove me out of the house, but it was all he had for company all day, every day, while we were at school and Mom at work.

And the programming, even back then, changed his politics and world view. He became paranoid and damned mean. We locked horns many times and he even tried to open my skull when I would not back down and accept his racism and attacks on my friends. The day he called my mom a whore because she divorced an abusive and useless spouse was when I decided that damned radio had to go.

It got a bit better after that. He started reading again, and there was no FOX on the TV.

[kimbutgar]

4. In my senior move management job one place we used to move people in frequently used to have Fox on

In the common room. Seniors were getting into physical and screaming fights all the time. Someone blocked fox on the tv and after a month no one was fighting in the common area and people were calmer.

Another friend of mine saw her parents getting radicalized during The Obama Presidency who watched Fox and she blocked the channel. She substituted msnbc and cnn as their favorites tv line up’s. The Father died a few years later and the daughter confessed she was the one who blocked fox and the mother thanked her because her Dad was becoming meaner than he ever was !

[progressoid]

43. It radicalized a couple of my relatives who had been moderate Dems.

Other people, including family members kept feeding them FOX clips and they got hooked on the outrage.

One died during the pandemic a raging MAGAt. It was kind of sad to watch this transformation.

[D_Master81]

5. It started years ago

For decades in rural America conservative talk radio was blared through garages and cars for hours a day. This phenomenon led to Trump and now using him they have 1 thing to follow

[Silent Type]

6. Despise FAUX as well, but their viewership is still relatively small. 3 million or so might

watch a popular white wing show. Even if you figure 10 Million unique fools watch a day, that’s a small percentage of the 160 Million who might vote this year.

Fox is not our problem, it’s white wingers in general.

[swong19104]

7. They're like Ellen Burstyn's character in Requiem For A Dream

Just 24/7 staring at the TV screen.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. Propaganda functions as an addiction cycle.

[Kaleva]

10. About 5% of the adult population watches Fox News

[Orrex]

13. That's fine. Locally it's about 80%

If battleground PA goes red, we can console ourselves with the fact of FOX’s low viewership nationwide.

[Kaleva]

15. What are the ratings for the Fox News network in your area?

[Orrex]

30. I couldn't possibly care less.

Look into that for us and report your findings.

Thanks!

[Kaleva]

38. People who care about an issue will do the research

Those who couldn't possibly care less about an issue won't put forth the effort

[Orrex]

41. I wasn't aware that you are in authority to police people's engagement with issues

When did you ascend to this grand position? Are congratulations in order?

[Elessar Zappa]

20. I doubt it's 80% anywhere.

Most people don’t watch any news, cable or otherwise.

[Orrex]

29. That is, admittedly, a sample base on the homes I enter for my job

If anything, among that crowd, 80% is a low figure.

[Kaleva]

39. You work for the unemployed?

[Orrex]

40. Sometimes, yes. Does that trouble you?

[dchill]

21. My research says that's just wrong.

Pew Research says 43% of Americans trust Fox News, while 40% don't. But I guess you can trust it without watching it.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/08/five-facts-about-fox-news/

[Kaleva]

22. Look at the networks ratings

From your link:

"And as of last November, 39% said they had gotten political news there in the past week – tied with CNN among the outlets asked about."

Which means respondents could be watching Fox News anywhere from daily to once a week.

Here is info on how many people watched cable news in a average day:

"Fox News topped primetime, averaging 2.27 million viewers, up 12% from the same period in 2023. MSNBC was up 18% to 1.83 million, and CNN grew by 49% to 1.08 million. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 288,000, up 15%, compared to 246,000 for MSNBC, up 46%, and 240,000 for CNN, up 63%."

https://deadline.com/2024/08/cable-news-ratings-august-election-2024-1236051425/

[dchill]

24. That's good data. But I wonder how many links and shares...

...to the various "social networks" are adding to the influence of Fox and the other networks. And in the case of Fox, at least, these shares would be distilled down to the very worst of the liars on Fox. For instance, the new "FEMA gave BILLIONS in relief funds to illegal immigrants" is all the rage in my vicinity.

[Kaleva]

27. I agree with your point.

[orange jar]

34. IMO, social media is a much greater factor than Fox News/RW radio.

Social media exposes more people to right wing propaganda — including the soft "middle-of-the-road" voters who probably aren't going to actively search for a specific news or radio program, but who will come across BS on their social media feed and believe it.

We emphasize Fox News & ignore social media at our peril, IMO. That's why 2016 blindsided so many of us.

[GreenWave]

11. They've hooked their empty skulls up to the bullshit nozzle and are happily taking in as much as they can get

one of the best, most accurate sentences I have seen in a long time.

[hay rick]

12. Competing with and replacing reality is a much bigger job than reporting news. nt

[Figarosmom]

14. This has been happening for decades. I was an interior designer in the 90s and

Same thing. I'd go into the homes and they'd hardly interact until I asked them to please turn off the TV or I was leaving.

[Orrex]

31. I like that, but if I tried that I'd get fired

My company adores Trump.

[Figarosmom]

32. Yeah theres thst.

My daughter is dealing with it now as a physical therapist ( her co
Supports ,,Harris but has a no politics policy) so she bites her tongue a lot but said she has ended up turning away from the patient and cracking up laughing at whatever codpiracy they were pushing. I told her to just tell them that for quality time with t h eir therapy that this is a quiet space.

[misanthrope]

36. I get a weekly in-home infusion therapy

My nurse spends all day, every week, going home to home to infuse various medications. She said I am about the only patient she sees who never has the TV on during her visit. For most all of them, it is on all the time. She didn't specify as to the nature of the programming, just to its omnipresence. I find it distracting and obtrusive unless there is some specific programming I want to watch.

My wife, however, is like the people you describe. If she goes into a room and there's a TV that isn't turned on, she reflexively wants it on. Always on, always loud.

We once dropped in on some old friends in the PNW and afterward she said thought they were "addicted" to marijuana. Her reasoning as she listed it was that they were wake-n-bakers who indulged first thing in the morning. When they came in from somewhere else, the first thing they did was smoke pot. She said they even chose sitting around the house getting stoned over going out and indulging in other activities, and that we often got behind schedule waiting for them to indulge. Ironically, the exact same could be said for her relationship with TV.

[Figarosmom]

37. Well i almost always have

A radio or stereo on. TV ar night prime time. But while doing business there needs to be attention so silence is best

I
Will say that since 9/11 I have friends that leave their tvs on all the time. Maybe it's not addiction but trauma

[czarjak]

16. "Looking Out 4U"?

Bill-O Based BS. Alive and kicking.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

17. The Fascist Oligarch eXtremists' propaganda network is a cancer on the body politic.

[HagathaCrispy]

23. I thought Fox News was pass. They all like Newsmax. By the way over 50% of Americans don't have cable nor satellite any

Nobody under age 40 has had cable or satellite and at least 10 years and since 2022, more people in the United States have no cable nor satellite then do. I imagine most of the people you know are in their'70s and '80s. There are at least two other cable networks that unfortunately I get I have them blocked but they're more extreme and all of the idiots watch them now or did they go back? I don't pay attention I really don't. I have them blocked and if it weren't for my father who's 87 I would can cable I hate it. Amazon firesticks or firewood or fire something is good and free.

[mountain grammy]

25. My BIL marinated in it

And my SIL never missed Bill O. Barf. Thank goodness that jerk is gone.

[SWBTATTReg]

26. Pretty sad and goes just to point out how lazy they are, to believe in this nonstop junk. No wonder they don't

have any decent jobs, have anything decent to say, have anything...

They are zombies to the Nth degree. Wonder if tRUMP dies all of a sudden, what in the hell would these idiots do? Go all jump over the cliff's edge too?

[lame54]

28. Hey! I see Trump out the window...

Then switch over to MSNBC

[SupportSanity]

33. Willing suspension of disbelief......

..... on steroids.

[Coexist]

35. we've lost an entire generation to Fox News

it's such a shame

[TBF]

46. I think we have real divisions in this country

based not only on economics, but in rural vs. urban areas. I still have Facebook to keep up with family/friends in rural areas, but most people I know locally are much more active on Insta, TikTok, etc. My husband sends me tik tok videos all the time.

I would think if we have someone into stats who could get the numbers - a lot of America is now picking their shows by interest (we have you tube tv and other apps on smart tvs now), and the apps they are on vis a vis their phones change frequently too. I believe there are people sitting and watching FAUX news all day, but that's got to be a small minority with everything else that's out there.