Commentary

Fox News Airs 'Dictator' On-Screen Content In Error: Ad Messaging Doesn't Follow

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 15, 2023

Fox News Channel didn't really mean to refer to President Biden as a "wannabe dictator" in an onscreen message.

“The chyron was taken down immediately and was addressed,” the network said in a statement to The Hill on Wednesday afternoon.

Well, that's good news.

Chyron technology and devices display all sorts of messaging headlines, with information appearing on viewers' screens and especially on TV news channels.

This happened in the wake of former President Trump's 37-count Federal indictment on Tuesday. A video image of Biden and Trump side by side on Fox News Channel appeared with this message: “Wannabe Dictator Speaks at the White House After Having His Political Rival Arrested" under the "Fox News Alert" notice.

If another news channel had a message about some "wannabe lying" former top U.S. elected official wanting to run for office again, we could point to that as a mistake as well. It seems a bit opinionated, yes?

The Fox statement did not go into detail about how this message appeared, saying only that it has been "addressed." We can guess there was some sort of error here -- and that a "correction"-label was not then necessary.

TV news content can become highly contentious for sure these days -- if not alarmist.

If a popular prime-time anchor/host with strong opinions worries about Mexican border issues, targeting viewers with statements like "they are coming for you," one might hope these comments would be taken in context -- with some clarification.

Maybe they are coming for your Uber business. Maybe they want more sales for their paleo-vegan hamburgers, or fast-moving election cars. And yes, maybe they are coming for your vote.

We need better -- and clearer -- sourcing of news content. If there were any "deep state" politicos who knew for a fact about any secret intentions on the part of the President to be a dictatorial leader, they would need to spill --- or spill enough.

If not confirmed then, of course, that content would need to be taken down quickly.

If some advertising messaging were to follow immediately afterwards, that is not the kind of engagement a marketer would be looking for. Right?

fox news, misinformation, news, politics, television

4 comments about "Fox News Airs 'Dictator' On-Screen Content In Error: Ad Messaging Doesn't Follow".

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Michael Giuseffi from American Media Inc, June 15, 2023 at 4:23 p.m.
"Fair and balanced" what a joke! History will show that FOX News was the begining of the end of our democracy.
Reply

Ben B from Retired replied, June 15, 2023 at 9 p.m.

History will not show that Fox News was the beginning of the end of our democracy. History will show that cable news CNN, MSNBC & Fox News was the reason why the country is divided and where a lot just became in tribal camps.

Ben B from Retired, June 15, 2023 at 9:06 p.m.

Someone was scolded or may have lost their job would anyone bat an eye if CNN or MSNBC said, wannabe dictator about Trump when he was president I doubt it in my opinion. It shouldn't have made it to air someone should've checked it doesn't sound like it wasn't up for that long guessing it was a few seconds then it was off just enough time to screen cap and make the rounds all over the internet.

Paul Bledsoe from Bledsoe Advertising/Productions, June 16, 2023 at 8:58 a.m.

Even though the caption could be true, it was not in good taste. The wonderful thing in news and views today, if you want to make up your own mind, you can tune to different news sources, that's the good thing. I truly believe in more in-depth news, but just like a lot of us personal views boggle the mind occasionally!