Vaccine Misinformation: Social Media Not the Only Problem, It’s Also Right Wing Television
Saying that profit is at the heart of the motive in spreading falsehoods, former Fox News correspondent calls it "gaslighting"
Ever since the Biden administration began its full-court press against the spread of misinformation and outright disinformation related to vaccination against the novel coronavirus, the first big target has been Facebook and other social media providers which facilitate the spread of that misinformation.
However, a new culprit has come into focus, as well: Fox News and the universe of right-wing media on cable television.
The Biden administration and others have vowed to take on the spread of falsehoods and fictitious claims abounding about the nature, safety and necessity of the various vaccines available to Americans to prevent infection by the deadly coronavirus.
For instance, Republican Rep Madison Cawthorn, of North Carolina, has been spreading a false and completely fictional claim that Biden’s plan to send people door-to-door to offer vaccines is a plot to confiscate the Bibles and guns belonging to Americans.
Stemming the tide of vaccine-related misinformation is crucial because current COVID infections are largely among unvaccinated Americans.
“Virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated Americans. These tragedies are avoidable. The data couldn't be clearer. If you are fully vaccinated, you have a high degree of protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death,” said President Biden. “If you are unvaccinated, you are not protected. So please, please get vaccinated. Get vaccinated now.”
Those who are hesitant to get vaccinated are reporting that misinformation is the reason why, according to Dr Aileen Marty, an expert in infectious and disaster medicine.
“Always there is a problem with misinformation, leading people to get confused and afraid and focusing on things that are based on fear and not based on reality. And that's always a big -- a terrible thing. And the way we know it's true is because we are seeing a huge rise in hospitalizations in the unvaccinated,” she said. “When you talk to these unvaccinated people and you ask them what is their source of information as to why they're unvaccinated, their sources of information for why they're unvaccinated tend to be sources that are not really reliable and that are not telling the truth.”
The White House and its allies first took on Facebook, specifically, as not doing enough to police the vaccine misinformation spreading through its network of users.
Now they're turning their attention to Fox News and its competitors in right-wing media available by cable TV.
“I think misinformation is everywhere. I think, Chris, social media companies have to do more, but they’re not the only problem,” Dr Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious-diseases physician and founding director of Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research, said during an on-air interview with MSNBC host Chris Jansing. “One thing that I wish I had seen more from the misinformation, disinformation initiative. What I liked about that was released from the surgeon general is that it's really pointing to the fact it is everywhere.
“It is social media amplification in cases, and sometimes it is influencers that are on cable television, right wing cable television. But it's also anytime anyone of us retweet something that without checking the source we are adding to that misinformation that’s out there,” she added. “And I think it truly is a whole of society approach.
“But one thing that I do wish they paid more attention to is that there is a small group who are amplifying this message, you know, and it has become politicized. And so we have to sort of pay attention to that, and take that head on to see how we can take the rhetoric down when we are all in this together as a country,” Bhadelia said.
“Ghoulish”
ABC legal analyst Sunny Hostin told her co-hosts Monday on ABC’s The View that it was “ghoulish” that Fox News was playing a “key role in disseminating anti-vaccine propaganda.”
Hostin said this effort is to hurt the Biden administration’s vaccination drive to help Republicans in the midterms.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg said, “The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] had just called this the pandemic of the unvaccinated. So who do you blame for this, Sunny?”
Hostin replied, “Well, I don’t know if the question is who do I blame. I think you just have to look at the facts. The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday labeled health misinformation an urgent public health threat. When you look at the stats, Fox News has played a key role in disseminating anti-vaccine propaganda.”
Whether it's social media or right-wing TV, what's motivating companies to become conduits for misinformation is profit.
"And ratings ultimately become revenue, and that's the name of the game. Whoever gets the most clicks on social media makes the most money, gets the most fame, gets the most attention, and that type of activity is not journalism. It's not news. It's gaslighting. It's propaganda,” said Carl Cameron, a former Fox News correspondent. “I mean, just last week, new infections went up 70 percent, and according to the … [National Institutes of Health], it is absolutely 99.5 percent of those infections are people who haven't gotten vaccinated. I mean, come on. Anybody who disputes that sort of stuff is putting people's lives at risk and potentially killing them.”
In a surprising development, however, as Fox News faced scrutiny for its role in spreading vaccine misinformation, the network's biggest primetime star came out on his Monday evening program to nearly endorse COVID vaccination.
“Just like we’ve been saying, please take COVID seriously. I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don’t need any more death. Research like crazy. Talk to your doctor, your doctors, medical professionals you trust, based on your unique medical history, your current medical condition, and you and your doctor make a very important decision for your own safety. Take it seriously,” said commentator Sean Hannity. “You also have a right to medical privacy, doctor-patient confidentiality is also important. And it absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccination. There are rare exceptions.”
Did you find this post of value?
Please share it…