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Fox News could make big changes as ratings plummet after calling the election for Biden
January 15, 2021
Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch has taken a more hands-on role in network operations as rivals cut into their dominance over conservative media, according to a new report.
Ratings are down after President Donald Trump urged follows to switch over to rival Newsmax, and CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace could be out of a job after Fox News lost the ratings battle to CNN and MSNBC, reported The Daily Beast.
<p>"I mean, Rupert got involved with the shuffling of the lineup, so that's never a good sign for someone in charge," one current Fox staffer told The Daily Beast. "What is the point of having a manager running your business if you have to run the business yourself?"</p><p>Ratings <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-lands-third-cable-232700701.html" target="_blank">have drooped</a> since the November election, despite one dramatic event after another, and Scott was already mistrusted by staffers who say she hasn't been held accountable for helping to enable late founder Roger Ailes' sexual misconduct.</p><p>Scott has told more than one Fox executive that she doesn't care if she's fired because she's "got enough money now to never work again," according to one source who has spoken to her, although a Fox News spokesperson strongly denied that claim.</p><p>Insiders told The Daily Beast that David Rhodes, a former Fox News president and the libertarian brother of former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes, could be tapped to replace Scott, who the Murdochs always considered a "temporary solution."</p><p>Wallace, the current network president, has been under fire since the Fox News decision desk correctly projected Joe Biden as the winner in Arizona -- which angered Trump and helped drive some viewers over to Newsmax.</p><p>The rival network has beaten Fox News in some head-to-head matchups since November, and CNN and MSNBC finished in the top two spots in daytime ratings for the first time since 2000.</p><p>"They are reaping the whirlwind of having gotten their audience hooked on the heroin of outrage because as soon as someone comes along and is more outrageous those addicts will move over there," said Jon Klein, former president of CNN/US and current chairman of TAPP Media. "They don't care where they get their fix from, so whoever ends up running Fox News is going to have to wrestle with that conundrum."</p>
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Trump rioters say a Capitol cop congratulated them for breaking in: 'It's your house now!'
January 15, 2021
A man accused of taking part in last week's deadly Trump-incited riot at the United States Capitol claims that a Capitol police officer openly welcomed him into the building.
BuzzFeed News justice reporter Zoe Tillman on Friday flagged a recently filed criminal complaint against two alleged Trump rioters who both say a Capitol Police officers shook their hands and congratulated them after they broke into the building.
<p>
The two alleged rioters, identified by prosecutors as Robert L. Bauer and Edward E. Hemenway II, shared nearly identical stories about their encounter with an unidentified law enforcement official during the Capitol riots.
</p><p>"Both men remembered encountering a police officer after they entered," prosecutors allege. "According to Bauer, the police officer grabbed his hand, shook it, and said, 'It's your house
now.' Bauer believed that the policeman was acting out of fear. Hemenway similarly
recalled the officer shaking Hemenway hand and Hemenway said, 'Sorry,' to which the
officer replied, 'It's your house now, man,' and gave Hemenway a half-hug."</p><p>Although there have been rumors that the pro-Trump rioters received help from rogue Capitol police officers during their attempted insurrection, so far no charges have been filed against any officers. Two officers have been suspended and at least 10 are under investigation for their conduct during the siege, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/politics/capitol-police-officers-suspended-tim-ryan/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>.</p>
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Police are 3 times more likely to use violence against leftist protesters than far-right: analysis
January 15, 2021
Black Lives Matter, Indigenous, anti-war, and other progressive activists reacted with a complete lack of surprise to data reported by The Guardian on Thursday that shows U.S. police are three times more likely to use violence against left-wing and social justice protesters than against those on the political right.
The report, based on statistics from from the U.S. Crisis Monitor—a database created this spring by researchers at Princeton and the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED)—found that the overwhelming majority of the thousands of total protests across the nation over the past year have been peaceful.
<p>
While most demonstrations in general were not attacked by police, officers used tear gas, rubber bullets, beatings with batons, and other violence against protesters at 511 left-wing events as opposed to just 33 right-wing ones since April 2020, according to ACLED data.
</p><p>
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</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1349678079090720770" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1349678079090720770&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2649952206%23&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 698px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet">
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<em>The Guardian</em> analyzed ACLED statistics and determined that 4.7% of protests organized by leftist groups were subjected to police use of force, while only 1.4% of demonstrations by right-wing groups saw police violence.
</p><p>
Ironically—or intentionally, according to some critics—people protesting police violence were much more likely to be subjected to that very violence, and the use of force disparity only widened in relation to peaceful demonstrations. The analysis revealed that police were 3.5 times more likely to attack people at left-wing protests where no violence, vandalism, or looting occurred than at similarly peaceful right-wing actions.
</p><p>
Left-wing protests analyzed include mostly Black Lives Matter, but also actions by Abolish ICE, Democratic Socialists of America, and the NAACP. Right-wing demonstrations include Blue Lives Matter, the QAnon and "Stop the Steal" conspiracy theories, and protests against Covid-19-related public health restrictions over the past year.
</p><p>
Unsurprisingly, left-wing activists were not surprised by the report, with reactions on social media ranging from feigned shock to "water is wet"-type comments. Human rights attorney Qasim Rashid <a href="https://twitter.com/QasimRashid/status/1349730137223409664" target="_blank">called</a> the report "a surprise to no one paying attention."
</p><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1349839196115136513" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1349839196115136513&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2649952206%23&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 664px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div><p>Not only have police attacked peaceful <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/04/dakota-access-pipeline-company-attacks-protesters-dogs-and-mace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Indigenous</a>, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/23/new-amnesty-map-documents-shocking-extent-us-police-violence-against-black-lives" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">racial justice</a>, <a href="https://abc7news.com/scott-olsen-occupy-protest-oslen-oakland/6243326/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">economic justice</a>, and other protesters in recent years, in some cases state and local law enforcement officers have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/09/california-police-white-supremacists-counter-protest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">actively worked</a> with neo-Nazi factions and other far-right groups to target antiracism demonstrators. The FBI has also repeatedly <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/hidden-plain-sight-racism-white-supremacy-and-far-right-militancy-law" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> a significant white supremacist presence among U.S. law enforcement agencies. <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/black-lives-matter-press-freedom/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Journalists</a> and<a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/120581/oakland-agrees-to-settle-with-military-veteran-hurt-in-occupy-incident" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> innocent bystanders</a> have also been brutally attacked by police at or near leftwing demonstrations. </p><p>Most recently, commentators have noted the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/07/white-privilege-steroids-ire-after-pro-trump-mob-gets-red-carpet-compared-black" target="_blank">stark difference</a> between the largely hands-off police treatment of the right-wing insurrectionist mob that perpetrated the deadly January 6, 2021 invasion of the U.S. Capitol—which killed one police officer—and the brutal law enforcement <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/02/dc-bishop-outraged-trump-clearing-protests-tear-gas-and-using-bible-prop-church" target="_blank">attacks</a> on peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C. last summer that followed the killings of Black people including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and others.</p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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