Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox News: Two COM Media Experts React
![Photo: Tucker Carlson, a white man in a suit, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio on March 2, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)](/files/2023/04/Tucker-Carlson-AP23114562677515-feat-crop-copy.jpg)
In a surprise announcement, Fox News Monday said that it had parted company with Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight and the most-watched personality on cable news. Photo by AP Photo/Richard Drew
Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox News: Two COM Media Experts React
With Carlson out and CNN firing Don Lemon, Michelle Amazeen says, “It appears that the news industry is cleaning house”
Well that came out of nowhere. In a stunning development, Fox News announced Monday that Tucker Carlson, its most controversial and also most-watched host, had left the cable network. His show on Friday, April 21, was his last and his prime-time program will now have a rotating roster of hosts until a permanent replacement is found.
In a terse statement, the network said: “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
In his 14 years with Fox News, which began with a stint as cohost of Fox & Friends Weekend, Carlson’s star power rose to meteoric heights and his influence with staunch conservative voters was seen by many as hugely influential in the rise of former President Donald Trump. His nightly 8 pm show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, which he’s helmed since 2016, averaged 3.3 million viewers in 2022, the largest audience across all of cable news.
But controversy also surrounded his show. His departure from Fox News comes less than a week after the network settled for $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion sued Fox for making false claims on air about the 2020 election. Carlson was among the Fox personalities expected to testify in a trial. He also was criticized recently for downplaying the January 6, 2021, US Capitol insurrection, and for airing tapes of the attack in a fashion critics said manipulated the truth of the day.
For reaction to the shocking news, BU Today asked Michelle Amazeen, a College of Communication associate professor of mass communication, advertising, and public relations, and Arunima Krishna, COM assistant professor of mass communication, advertising, and public relations, whose research examines public perceptions of controversial social issues. Amazeen also serves as the director of the Communication Research Center. Her research focuses on mediated persuasion and the persuasive effects of misinformation.
Q&A
With Michelle Amazeen and Arunima Krishna
BU Today: How surprised were you when you heard the news on Monday? What was your initial reaction?
Amazeen: My first reaction was “Wow!” I didn’t see this coming. My second reaction was “Lies have consequences.” I have no doubt that Fox fired Carlson in the fallout of the Dominion defamation lawsuit Fox settled last week. Fox News admitted to telling lies about Dominion. For too many years, I have stood in front of my students and gone through case after case and study after study about disinformation with seemingly few, if any, penalties to point out. The Dominion case has changed this, first with the Fox settlement and now with the firing of their top-rated star, Carlson.
Krishna: I certainly was surprised when I read the news on Twitter and, for a second, was hopeful that the next election cycle will be less awful. Unfortunately, I suspect that in the next few days we’ll see a fight for Carlson’s crown, starting with the “interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities,” that is mentioned in the press release. There is clearly a huge market for the kind of content Tucker Carlson had on his show and I can’t imagine that Fox News would allow that void to go unfilled, especially with OANN and Newsmax vying for the same market.
BU Today: We await explanation from Carlson and/or Fox about his departure, but why might the settlement in the Dominion case have led to this parting of the ways?
Amazeen: Because Fox settled the lawsuit with Dominion, we won’t ever really know all that was uncovered during the legal discovery process. However, I suspect that there was very, very damaging information involving Carlson—beyond what we’ve already learned—that nearly came out. Carlson is too much of a risk to keep on at Fox News. It may even have been a demand of Fox’s board of directors to fire Carlson.
BU Today: Carlson had the largest audience in cable news and was a huge influence on conservative voters. Is it possible his departure could actually impact the 2024 election and what does that say about the media’s role in politics?
Krishna: I doubt this is the last we’ve heard from Tucker Carlson. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a key member of a presidential campaign, either President Trump’s or Governor DeSantis’ campaigns, or announces a run for office himself. His impact on the MAGAsphere will certainly continue unfettered by the need for journalistic integrity.
BU Today: Whatever Carlson does next, could he wield the same influence, especially with MAGA voters, without his Fox platform?
Amazeen: It is unlikely Carlson will ever have the same influence he had at Fox News. First, if it was the Fox board of directors that demanded his ouster, there is likely a non-disclosure agreement attached to any departure package he received, meaning, he can’t disparage Fox News. Second, while he wasn’t nearly as popular, former CNN host Chris Cuomo moved over to NewsNation after he was fired and now has a fraction of the audience he once had. It was also just announced that CNN has fired host Don Lemon after some of the controversial things he’s said since becoming a morning show host. It appears that the news industry is cleaning house. But Cuomo and Lemon are in a totally different category than Carlson. To be fabricating news as Carlson has been exposed doing through the Dominion case is generally a career-killing move for a journalist. Maybe he’ll go back on Dancing with the Stars.
BU Today: Any thoughts on what his legacy might be or is too soon?
Amazeen: Carlson’s legacy is going to be one of a cautionary tale. Students are going to read about him for decades to come in college textbooks as once having been a writer and/or analyst at respectable outlets such as The Weekly Standard, CNN, and MSNBC, who was fired for his actions related to the Dominion defamation case.
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