Two prominent conservative journalists have quit their jobs at Fox News in response to recent reporting by Tucker Carlson.
Longtime reporters Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, best known as the minds behind the conservative website The Dispatch, turned in their walking papers this week over Carlson’s reporting. In a statement, the pair accuse Carlson and Fox News of consciously using Carlson’s “Patriot Purge” report to spread lies and misinformation about the January 6 Capitol Insurrection.
“It’s basically saying that the Biden regime is coming after half the country, and this is the War on Terror 2.0,” Goldberg told NPR. “It traffics in all manner of innuendo and conspiracy theories that I think legitimately could lead to violence. That, for me and for Steve, was the last straw.”
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“I thought it was irresponsible to put that out into the public airwaves,” Hayes echoed. “The trailer [for “Patriot Purge”] basically gave people the impression that the U.S. government was coming after all patriots — half of the country, in the word of one of the protagonists in the piece. And that the federal government was going to be using the tools and tactics that it used to go after Al-Qaida. And that’s not happening. That’s not true.”
“It’s a narrative that’s contradicted by certainly the vast collection of legal documents charging those who participated in January 6,” Hayes continued, “the broad reporting by a wide variety of news outlets on what happened on January 6 then and in the time since — and contradicted in part by Fox News’ own news site and the reporting that people on the news side have done.”
“Being a Fox contributor is kind of a brass ring in conservative and right-wing circles, and I was well-compensated,” Goldberg further lamented. “I’m not looking to be a martyr or ask for pity or any of that kind of stuff. But it’s a significant financial hit, for sure. And it’s also cutting yourself off from a very large audience. We don’t regret the decision, but we found it regrettable that we had to make the decision.”
Goldberg and Hayes had been with Fox News since 2009. The departure of Goldberg and Hayes is just the latest criticism lobbied against Tucker Carlson for spreading misinformation on his television show. Earlier this year, video of Carlson in a fishing store went viral when a viewer confronted him over spreading lies about COVID-19 vaccines. Carlson also attracted wide criticism for telling viewers to call police if they saw parents make their children wear face masks during the pandemic.
Furthermore, Goldberg and Hayes are not the first journalists to leave Fox News over its spread of false information. Former Fox anchor Shep Smith very publicly left the network in 2019 citing the spread of misinformation by fellow anchors, including Tucker Carlson.
Caddy4J
There’s going to be a lot of vacancies at every news outlet if employees quit because a TV new anchor allegedly told a lie. They’ll be hired by other networks I’m sure, are they also going to quit when anchors at that station start telling lies??? I can probably say there is no news organization that tells the American people the truth on the Daily!! I really liked Stephen Hayes, but didn’t know Goldberg, just not a news junkie any longer due to the school grade name calling, he said-she said whining coming from the “Adults” at major cable stations. Just sickening.
Den
Sorry, but you are simply telling your own lies. Carson has no journalistic integrity at all and FOX verifiably has less than any other major news outlet, with the exception of the other right wing propaganda slingers: OAN, Newsmax, The Daily Caller, Stormfront, Infowars and so on.
Actual news outlets correct mistakes, and call out lies. FOX hardly ever does so except under threat of legal action. FOX also makes a point of obscuring the difference between news/information and opinion, something actual news outlets make intentionally very clear.
Bosch
Riling people up with conspiracies and falsehoods and misinformation about a ubiquitous and dangerous health issue is more than just “telling a lie”.
And shame on you for minimizing the way Carlson is consciously gaslighting the American public.
Openminded
Caddy, you make valid points. I miss the day when the news was simply providing known and verified facts, no opinions allowed, and it was left up to the viewer to digest and determine the usefulness of the information. Walter Cronkite droned on for quite some time about Kennedy’s shooting until, mid broadcast, he received and sadly reported the VERIFIED FACT that Kennedy had been shot dead. Currently, that would have been reported that Kennedy and everyone in the car had been killed with a correction coming the following day, if at all. Virtually all reporting is irresponsible today, no matter which political party the source is affiliated with. The viewing audience is a bit responsible for this as everyone demands immediate answers and attention and instead of telling the children to wait, the outlets provide a best guess answer that all too often is inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading.
RoughRugger
If you seriously believe this is “because a TV new anchor allegedly told a lie,” you need to wake the eff up and pull your head out of your anal cavity. Tuckems didn’t simply “tell a lie,” he traffics in virtually nothing BUT lies and gross misrepresentation of facts on a daily basis…and does it with the full & complete blessing of the C-suite at Faux. More to the point, while Tuckkker is arguably the worst offender when it comes to “integrity issues” at Fox, he’s hardly alone. Ingraham, Pirro, Hannity, and their ilk are all as likely to lie as to relay actual facts…and have been for years, if not decades.
As for other outlets, if you exit the cesspit that is right-wing media, I honestly can’t think of any mainstream media outlet that “lies” at all, much less does so “on the Daily.” Any/all of them certainly make mistakes-of-fact from time to time, but when those mistakes come to light, they all routinely issue prominent corrections & apologies…a thing all but unheard of in Rupert’s domain.
Cam
@Caddy4J and @Openminded
LOL!!!!! Not only is the right wing troll account desperately trying to “Both sides” the fact that two right wing Journalists quit FOX because Tucker Carlson became in their words, dangerous, pushing anti-American lies, etc… But that the troll also is doing what it always does. It switches screenames then comes back as another account and says “Gee whiz Caddy, you sure have a good point there!” before posting another version of the same thing.
LOL!!!
Your troll game is still sad and weak.
BoomerMyles
F*cker Carlson is really trying his hardest to foment a civil war in this country.
He really needs to visit an open carry state.
Banshit
Another article to reaffirm my belief that good ol Murrica is a festering shithole, and I’m from the UK so it must be bad.
mastik8
Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes are very well respected. Their leaving is a ding on Carlson’s already less than stellar reputation and delegitimizes him further. That Carlson responded with, “Our viewers will be grateful.”, tells you how little today’s republicans have to do with Republicanism as it is historically understood. Many republicans are uneasy with the tilt towards Trump and I would say that presents an opportunity for the Dems but sadly, they seem incapable of anything but their own destruction. It’s also worth noting that Fox is an entertainment not news channel as defined by the lawyers defending Carlson. Sadder still is that MSNBC’s lawyers have admitted the same about Maddow.
Cam
You have two very very conservative far right people saying Carlson and FOX News are purposely pushing out dangerous anti-American lies.
So even the right wing is starting to get scared with how crazy FOX has gotten.
g78455
Obviously Goldberg & Hayes saw an opportunity to get much more media attention than was possible from anything they ever did or could write. I’m sure CNN will welcome your ideas & warped idealism. Don’t let the door hit you in the a _ _ on your way out.
Cam
LOL! I LOVE it when the same old right wing troll account switches screenames, but exposes itself so early.
Ok, we got it, @g78455 is your new screename.
I notice the bigots ALWAYS use the fallback of “They were just looking for attention” anytime somebody calls out bigotry, lies, etc..
Yeah, and Carlson ISN’T looking for attention? You know, by going on TV every night?
Your troll game is sad and weak.
g78455
Strange how so many liberals constantly watch & then criticize Fox content. Just emphasizes that CNN & similar networks that constantly feed viewers total lies & BS have zero credibility even with the most liberal of liberals. Shepperd Smith did leave Fox because he disagreed with fellow anchors. Boo Hoo! He is now working as a dog catcher in Dogpatch USA. Oh No, I have told a lie. Must be all the negative influence from TC. Haha!
Cam
The troll account desperately scrambles to deflect from the fact that two longtime right wing conservative employees have now left FOX News saying it is lying and spreading treasonous misinformation.
Sweetie, your trolling is sad and weak.
gaym50ish
Attorney Joseph Welch’s line during a confrontation with Joe McCarthy would be an appropriate response to Tucker Carlson: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”