Former Fox News reporter Carl Cameron on Monday called out Tucker Carlson’s doubtful diatribes against COVID-19 vaccines, saying his ex-colleague at the conservative network was “gaslighting” viewers for ratings and revenue.
“It’s about ratings and ratings ultimately become revenue, and that’s the name of the game,” Cameron told CNN’s “New Day” about personalities on Fox and other hyperpartisan media outlets that have questioned the shots. Vaccine resistance has now become a GOP rallying cry, even though the shots have been shown safe and effective.
“Whoever gets the most clicks on social media, makes the most money, gets the most fame, gets the most attention and that type of activity is not journalism,” Cameron continued. “It’s not news. It’s gaslighting. It’s propaganda.”
Cameron, Fox’s chief political correspondent until 2017, noted how new COVID-19 cases in the United States have soared in just the last week — with 99.5% of deaths among those who have not been vaccinated.
People who dispute that scientific evidence are putting lives at risk, said Cameron.
“It makes no sense whatsoever,” he said. “This is literally the metaphor of the lemmings running to their own slaughter. People who are listening to that sort of stuff instead of the science that goes way way back.”
“It is the opinion hosts who aren’t journalists per se, they’re talking heads, and their job, their reward is bringing eyeballs on television, and all they really gotta do is keep people watching until it’s commercial time, and then it’s ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching for the networks,” he said. “And it works really well in prime time, but it’s not news.”
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