CNN Primetime host Abby Phillip wasted no time on Thursday in attacking Rupert Murdoch as he steps down as CEO of Fox News, blaming him and his “outrage porn” for the state of political discourse and the “perilous” state of democracy.
As she came on the air, Phillip solemnly declared, “Objectively American democracy is in perilous condition. The nation's politics are poisoned. Truth has become optional. Instead of desired or even required. The republic has, of course, always faced threats to it even before Rupert Murdoch, but so much of the current state of our democracy can be traced back to the beast of his creation.”
Only now did Phillip introduce herself, “Good evening everyone, I'm Abby Phillip and Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as CEO of Fox News tonight. His legacy is outrage porn. Partisan red meat. Stoking relentless culture wars.”
(For a version of CNN's "outrage porn," here is a video from NewsBusters media editor Bill D'Agostino)
Here's the past few years of definitely-not-outrage-porn on CNN. At what cost to American democracy? https://t.co/wwCVRWYr5W pic.twitter.com/L6bHmCUxMt
— Bill D'Agostino (@Banned_Bill) September 22, 2023
Phillip also mourned that, “it all started with what you could argue is a noble vision to create a center-right news network to elevate more perspectives that aren't based in Gotham or in Washington. But instead, stoking division seemed to become Murdoch's mission. So did power and so did the money. Fox became a mouthpiece for Republican administrations, a mouthpiece really for Donald Trump and eventually a vehicle for his baseless conspiracies. Before we discuss this tonight, it’s important to illustrate just a small taste of this mission, 25 years in the making.”
To make her point, Phillip then played a nearly six-minute montage of over 40 separate clips of various Fox News moments over the years. While some of the moments shown could be legitimately criticized others could not. If CNN can’t tell the difference between unproven theories about Venezuelan voting machines and critiquing gender ideology or Sean Hannity joking about Halloween being a liberal holiday, then it is also in the outrage porn industry. As for Phillip, she was the host that tried to tie Sound of Freedom to QAnon.
Here is a transcript for the September 21 show:
CNN Primetime
9/21/2023
10:00 PM ET
ABBY PHILLIP: Objectively American democracy is in perilous condition. The nation's politics are poisoned. Truth has become optional. Instead of desired or even required. The republic has, of course, always faced threats to it even before Rupert Murdoch, but so much of the current state of our democracy can be traced back to the beast of his creation. Good evening everyone, I'm Abby Phillip and Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as CEO of Fox News tonight. His legacy is outrage porn. Partisan red meat. Stoking relentless culture wars. But it all started with what you could argue is a noble vision to create a center-right news network to elevate more perspectives that aren't based in Gotham or in Washington. But instead, stoking division seemed to become Murdoch's mission. So did power and so did the money. Fox became a mouthpiece for Republican administrations, a mouthpiece really for Donald Trump and eventually a vehicle for his baseless conspiracies. Before we discuss this tonight, it’s important to illustrate just a small taste of this mission, 25 years in the making.
