Mediaboss Marketing

Greg Gutfeld on the set of his late-night Fox News show. (Photo: Fox News)

The new late-night vehicle for longtime Fox News Channel contributor Greg Gutfeld, excitedly named Gutfeld!, is the ratings surprise of the year. Since debuting this spring it has routinely finished second in the ratings to Stephen Colberts Late Show and, despite being on cable instead of network, it often comes in second to Colbert among all shows inthe 25-to-54 demo hour. This is entirely appropriate, because Gutfeld! islargely an answer to the partisanship of Colberts show.

Before you reach for your keyboard: I didnt say it was like Colberts show. If youre a big fan of Colberts show, youll probably hate Gutfeld! But its arrival was inevitable. In the current politicized atmosphere of American entertainment, having a right-wing answer to Colbert was too tempting for Fox News to pass up.And Gutfeld was the obvious choice to host, since he had experience running Foxs overnight yukfest Red Eye from 2007 to 2015. On that show Gutfeld would review offbeat news stories and the foibles of Democrats with a panel that included comedians, entertainment writers, and other not-obviously-right-wing-shills. Imagine Chelsea Handler as a Republican and youd be close.

But the new Gutfeld! is less like Red Eye and more like The Five, Fox News answer to The View. There are fewer wacky news items and more harangues.The panelists all seem like they were vetted by Hannitys people. Disillusioned ex-Red Eye panelists say they hate the new show. Gossip stories portray Gutfeld as a Lonesome Rhodes type, a onetime folksy dude who let success go to his head and now specializes in alienating those around him. (If you thought Meghan McCain leaving The View was dramatic, that was a model of decorum compared with Juan Williams leaving The Five reportedly because he couldnt take any more of Gutfeld.)

All of this may be true, but I also have to admitthat I kind of like Gutfeld! The host has an appealingly weird personality. I met Robert Bork once, he offered during a recent roundtable. Best smoker I ever saw. And yes, the flashes of anger are undeniable, but every comic will tell you thats part of the package. We should start calling Jen Psaki Miss Information, Gutfeld said, archly raising his eyebrowsin the direction of radio host Lauren Chen. How do I come up with this stuff, Lauren?

And once you get beyond the tactlessopening bit unfunny cold opens are a specialty of the Colbert show as well the banter is relatively amusing. And the panelists do score some not unfair points about the usual suspects, which these days includewoke Hollywood, woke Biden, woke protestors, woke cities and woke CNN anchors. Also, I miss seeingRepublicans in late night. Theyve been almost completely shut out. Jimmy Kimmel has COVID denier Adam Carolla on his show occasionally, but that feels more like the times David Letterman would have comic George Miller on his show, not because hes funny but because you dont give up on your old friends.

Its part of a wider politicization of late-night TV that Ive bemoaned before. But this is not the national crisis that Trumpists make it out to be. Most of the people who have been canceled are still making bank. Theyre even burnishing their brands with appearances on shows like Canceled in the USA. The real problem is that entertainment is now subject to the same echo-chamber effect as news. Colbert has his anti-Trump parody videos, so it was only a matter of time before Gutfeld! came along and started doing pro-Trump parodies.

What I really miss is the sound of interesting clashes between conservatives and liberals. And there once was a show that featured that and did it well. It was called Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and it was literally canceled by ABC. Maher had carefully cultivated a following for his show featuring the likes of Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter sparring with lefty celebrity types. It graduated from Comedy Central to ABC, which paired it up with Nightline. All was going well until six days after 9/11. With the Twin Towers still smoking and Americans still reeling, one of Mahers guests, the conservative provocateur and future Trump pardonee Dinesh DSouza, pushed back against President Bushs characterization of the 9/11 attackers as cowards. Au contraire, said DSouza, they were warriors because they were willing to be slammed into concrete for their cause. Maher completely agreed, adding that Americans had been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. In the outrage that followed, sponsors and affiliates began dropping Politically Incorrect and ABC parted ways with Maher.

About a year later heemerged on HBO as host of his currentshowReal Time. I interviewed him early on (oddly at the same offices and studio hed been using for Politically Incorrect). Maher promised he would continue to have pro-Bush as well as anti-Bush viewpoints represented on his new show. He even wanted to try to balance the number of Democrats and Republicans in his studio audience. But that didnt last long. The Great Sort was underway, and soon it became clear the only people who wanted to be in his audience were Democrats. Maher, no dummy, went with the flow.

And now, all these many years later, we have Gutfeld! with a pro-Fox News studio audience, pro-Fox News panelists, pro-Fox News punchlines, and presiding over it all, the former overnight sensation turned company man, a fellow who used to fulminate at his fellow panelists for excessive Trumpsplaining who now cant Trumpsplain enough. (Why the hysteria over January 6 as opposed to the ongoing violence in Portland, Atlanta, San Francisco, L.A., New York, Seattle? he ranted the other night. Oh, I dont know, maybe because one of those types of violence is ongoing and the other is unprecedented?) It's in lockstep withthe Fox News base, just as Colbert's showiswith his liberal base. I guess we can be thankful some Fox smart-aleck didnt name itPolitically Incorrect with Greg Gutfeld!

Gutfeld! airs weeknights on Fox News at 11:00 PM ET/8:00 PM PT

Aaron Barnharthas written about television since 1994, including 15 years as TV critic for theKansas City Star.

Link:
Gutfeld! Is The Right's Inevitable Answer to Stephen Colbert - PRIMETIMER

Recorded calls, hacked private messages, video and microphone access: these are just some of the uses of the Pegasus spyware technology allegedly used against independent Hungarian journalists, media owners and businesspeople hostile to Viktor Orbans government.

For some, evidence uncovered by a multinational investigation led by the French non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories casts Mr Orbans Fidesz government long accused of suppressing press freedom through economic manoeuvres in a newly sinister light. For others, it confirms long-held suspicions about tactics used to suppress anti-government forces in the country.

Yet for all involved in the scandal, an even bigger question is quickly emerging: is Fideszs grip on the Hungarian media tight enough for it to be able to brush these allegations and their dire implications for freedom of speech in the country under the carpet?

While politicians and remaining independent media outlets start to refer to the Pegasus Project as a Hungarian Watergate scandal, the developments have been almost entirely absent from state-affiliated media.

As the story made international headlines on Monday morning, Hungarian state TV failed to mention allegations of state surveillance prompting comparisons with communist-era methods of authoritarian rule.

And Hungarys leading right-wing newspapers apparently felt that opposition to the countrys Gay Pride parade was more newsworthy than developments which seem to place the EU nation in the company of repressive regimes around the world.

This silence from government-affiliated media was compounded by a lack of reaction from government figures implicated by the scandal.

Hungarian law requires the nations Justice Minister to sign off on surveillance requests made for national security reasons. In 2020, justice minister Judit Varga approved 1,285 surveillance requests of various kinds.

Ms Vargas central role in surveillance puts her at the centre of the scandal but in a Facebook post on Monday, she ignored the allegations, airily describing Hungary as being at the forefront of the future of Europe while heading to an EU conference in Brussels.

Earlier, in a recent interview with Le Monde, Varga responded with outrage when asked whether she would approve a surveillance request targeting a journalist or political opponent.

She described the question as a provocation. The next day, her office requested the removal of the question, and her response, from the interview.

Yet more questions are now inevitably being asked about the extent of surveillance allegedly used by Mr Orbans government. Peter Ungar, a Hungarian Green Party politician and member of the countrys National Security Committee, has called an extraordinary meeting of the Committee to question politicians implicated in the scandal.

Using spyware software against people based on their political affiliations is an outrage, Mr Ungar told The Independent.

If even half of the allegations made in the investigation are true, the governments actions go against every Hungarian principle and law. This is proof that there are very, very few things this government will not do to hold on to power, he added.

Given Fideszs tight grip on large swathes of the national media, though, holding the government to account may be a tall order. And predictably, Mr Orbans party seems unlikely to cooperate with those looking to uncover the true extent of the surveillance.

Can this story be swept under the carpet? Im not so sure. Its getting crowded down there.

Pter Ungr, politician in Hungarys Green Party

The first government politician to respond directly to the allegations, Katalin Novak, contemptuously refused to engage with press coverage, either in this area or anything else.

Her response seemed to encapsulate the attitude of Mr Orbans government to the press in general: one that is dismissive of criticism and contemptuous of freedom.

In a recent Facebook video, Mr Orban made light of a report by Reporters Without Borders which placed him on a list of Press Freedom Predators he was filmed walking up to a traditional news stand, before asking the owner for a range of newspapers and magazines critical of the government.

Yet while mocking concerns about press freedom, Fidesz continues to avariciously acquire Hungarian media, effectively taking control of the countrys leading online news server Index.hu last year.

A blunt refusal to engage with the revelations is likely to be facilitated by a media which, for the most part, will not ask difficult questions. Ironically, Fidesz will use its control over the Hungarian press to try to sweep a national scandal about press freedom under the carpet.

The politicians will simply deny that they had anything to do with this whole affair which is ludicrous, of course, because the data was stored by the government, said Mr Ungar.

Yet as anger grows among Hungarys independent media, it remains to be seen whether the story will generate enough public anger to damage Fideszs ahead of elections to be held next year.

Opposition figures such as Mr Ungar certainly hope so. Can this story be swept under the carpet? Im not so sure. Its getting crowded down there.

Original post:
Pegasus: Reaction to surveillance scandal highlights Hungarian governments tight media control - The Independent

On air, the Fox News attitude about COVID-19 vaccines is one of pure loathing. Popular prime time hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham routinely suggest that the vaccines don't work, which is flatly false. In almost 60% of their segments about the vaccine, a recent analysis found, the network has pushed an anti-vaccination message, falsely implying the shots are dangerous or unnecessary.

Fox News has framed the vaccine in highly emotional culture war terms, with the shot presented to viewers like other made-up panics, such as "cancel culture" or "critical race theory." They are all a direct threat to the precious but poorly defined "freedom" that liberals supposedly want to snatch away. Viewers are made to feel that, by rejecting the vaccine, they are proving their conservative bona fides, sticking it to the liberals, and being the best MAGAs helping to make America great again.

But when the cameras are off at Fox News, suddenly everything changes. The vaccine is no longer regarded as a dangerous threat to Mom and apple pie, but a common-sense health intervention backed up by medical science. As CNN reported on Monday, Fox News while decrying "vaccine passports" on-air has been using a vaccine passport among their own staff since early June. Vaccinated employees who get what is called the FOX Clear Pass "are allowed to bypass the otherwise required daily health screening" and basically return to normal life inside the Fox offices.

This reporting caused rounds of completely justified outrage among liberals online, with "hypocrites" being the preferred term thrown around. But really, what the folks at Fox News are up to is much worse than garden variety hypocrisy. The whole thing is a dark reminder that the well-heeled pundits and corporate executives at Fox News have almost bottomless contempt for their own viewers, who they see as a bunch of gullible rubes to be exploited and discarded as needed for profit and political gain. Indeed, they hold their viewers in such low regard that they will happily talk their viewers into contracting a highly contagious, extremely dangerous, and easily prevented disease for no other purpose than creating headaches for a Democratic president and, quite likely, the cheap thrill of having so much power over other people.

The worst part is that the numbers are only giving the Fox News elites more justification for the derision they have for their viewers. Polling shows over 86% of Democrats have gotten at least one vaccine, while only 45% of Republicans have. To make it worse, only 6% of Democrats reject the vaccine outright, whereas 47% of Republicans say they are unlikely to get vaccinated.

We all have heard over and over about the grave dangers of "liberal condescension," which is commonly blamed for Republican misbehavior as if Republicans weren't full adults responsible for their own decisions. In a recent piece for National Review Online, Michael Brendan Dougherty laid the blame for vaccine rejection at the feet of those promoting vaccines, writing that "attempts to answer skepticism or understand it end up poisoned by condescension" and that outreach to anti-vaxxers "feels like lowering themselves to answer people they believe to be less intelligent."

Dougherty, in a feat of truly spectacular bad faith, failed to acknowledge the two-ton elephant in the room, even as its manure is filling up the joint and getting people killed: That the main reason Republicans aren't getting vaccinated is that both Republican politicians and right-wing media are basically telling them not to. Oh, sure, they rarely come right out and say, "Don't get the shot." But Fox News is very good at getting that message across all the same, with segments that frame the shots as ineffective, dangerous, and a threat to "freedom".

"These segments amount to permission slips for unvaccinated viewers, telling them that they have good reasons not to get their shots and that the people trying to convince them otherwise are just trying to control them," Matt Gertz at Media Matters writes, citing recent segments on Fox News in which talking heads lied and told viewers the shots don't work very well and COVID-19 isn't that dangerous anyway.

Liberal condescension may be a factor, but the ugly truth is that it's utterly dwarfed by the condescension indeed, outright contempt that conservative elites have for consumers of right-wing media. On Monday, morning host Brian Kilmeade came right out and said that if unvaccinated people are dying of COVID-19, then that's "their choice." Laura Ingraham gleefully distorts statistics to argue that there are doubts about "the efficacy of the vaccine itself among adults." There are not over 99% of people hospitalized or dying are unvaccinated but Ingraham, full of contempt for her audience's intelligence, assumes they can't or won't engage the actual statistical evidence.

And Tucker Carlson, the biggest anti-vaccine voice on Fox News, clearly thinks this is all a fun game he's playing with people's lives.

To be certain, the viewers of Fox News are not blameless ciphers, innocently doing what they're told out of an abundance of trust for their beloved TV personalities. Like all good con artists, the pundits at Fox News know to target the worst instincts in their marks venality, egotism, and sadism. The anti-vaccine propaganda on Fox News works so well because it lures their viewers into believing they're in on the con. Viewers are led to believe that, by refusing to get the shot, they're getting one over on those namby-pamby Democrats. They're so caught up in the liberal-triggering that they fail to notice that the people being fed to the virus are themselves.

That's why this dynamic is so toxic.

It's hard to feel sorry for the rubes that make up the Fox News audience, because their mean-spirited nature is what makes them such easy marks. No doubt that's also how the Fox News elites sleep at night, by convincing themselves that the people they're bamboozling have it coming. Hard to argue against the contempt they have for their audience, when their audience is driven by such contemptible impulses.

Liberals often talk down to conservatives like they're stupid, no doubt. But liberal condescension towards conservatives cannot hold a candle to the contempt that conservatives have for each other, especially when we're talking about the contempt that Republican elites have for their everyday voters. They see each other as soulless assholes driven by pettiness and greed and they often have a point. But the problem here is that it's causing a rat's nest of bad people talking other bad people into making bad choices, all feeding on each other's ugliest instincts. And now it's spiraled so out of control it's turned into a death cult.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

See the article here:
Right-wing media's toxic relationship with its audience is spiraling out of control - AlterNet

Dublin, July 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Air Filtration Media Market Outlook 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global air filtration media market is anticipated to grow in upcoming years by registering a CAGR of around 7% over the forecast period, i.e., 2020-2028. The market is estimated to cross USD 6,900 Million in 2028.

The growth in urbanization along with economic development which has furthered the demand for industrial air filters due to decreased air quality and increase in air pollution is among major indicators driving the market growth. The focus to control pollution is anticipated to drive the demand for air filters.

Moreover, the rise in stringent standards and regulations for health and safety related to limiting harmful emissions from various end-users such as commercial, residential, and industrial is also contributing to the market growth. However, high cost pertaining to air filters and ozone emissions through these filters are some of the limiting factors that might negatively affect the market growth.

In terms of market segmentation, the global air filtration media market is segmented by filter type, media type, reusability, grade, application, providers, end-user and by region. The market is segmented by filter type into activated carbon, non-woven fabrics, electrostatic filter, fiberglass, and others. Among these segments, the activated carbon segment is estimated to account for highest share throughout the forecast period, and in 2021, this segment is estimated to attain around 45% of the market share.

Geographically, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa, out of which, the market in Asia Pacific is estimated to hold highest stance throughout the forecast period and garner around USD 2,9oo Million in 2028.

On the other hand, the market in North America is witnessing growth on the back of increasing vehicle production in the last one decade which has further resulted in air pollution. The N.A. market is estimated to cross market value of around USD 1,120 Million in 2021.

Some of the leading market players in the global air filtration media market are Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., Cabot Corporation, Donaldson Company, 3M Company, Calgon Carbon Corporation, Lydall, Inc., and others.

Key Topics Covered:

Global Air Filtration Media Market

1. Market Definition1.1 Market Definition1.2 Market Segmentation

2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary- Global Air Filtration Media Market

4. Analysis of Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Trends

5. Impact of COVID-19 on the Air Filtration Media Market

6. Global Air Filtration Media Market Outlook6.1 Global Air Filtration Media Market Segmentation Analysis 2019-20286.1.1 By Filter Type, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.2 By Media Type, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.3 By Reusability, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.4 By Grade, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.5 By Application, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.6 By Providers, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.7 By End-User, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.8 By Region, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.8.1.1 North America, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.8.1.2 Europe, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.8.1.3 Asia Pacific, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.8.1.4 Latin America, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)6.1.8.1.5 Middle East & Africa, 2019-2028F (in USD Million)

7. North America Air Filtration Media Market Outlook

8. Europe Air Filtration Media Market Outlook

9. Asia Pacific Air Filtration Media Market Outlook

10. Latin America Air Filtration Media Market Outlook

11. Middle East & Africa Air Filtration Media Market Outlook

12. Competitive Structure12.1 Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc.12.2 Cabot Corporation12.3 Donaldson Company, Inc.12.4 3M Company12.5 Calgon Carbon Corporation12.6 Freudenberg Filtration Technologies SE & Co. KG12.7 Ahlstrom-Munksjo12.8 Lydall, Inc.12.9 Camfil AB12.10 Toyobo Co., Ltd.12.11 Aim Nonwovens and Interiors Private Limited12.12 IREMA12.13 Johns Manville12.14 Glatfelter Corporation12.15 Sandler AG12.16 Toray Industries12.17 Superior Felt and Filtration, LLC12.18 Elta Group Ltd12.19 Hollingsworth & Vose12.20 Permatron Corporation12.21 Porvair Filtration Group12.22 Air filters, Inc.12.23 Clean & Science Co., Ltd12.24 Innovatec

Story continues

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i4wxff

See the article here:
Global Air Filtration Media Market Outlook Report 2021-2028: Focus on Pollution Control is Anticipated to Drive Demand - Yahoo Finance

Vehicles are stranded in floodwater near Zhengzhou Railway Station on July 20, 2021 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China.

Zhu Zhe | Visual China Group | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China Taiwanelectronics manufacturerFoxconn said Wednesday that its factory in Zhengzhou known as the world's largest iPhone assembly plant has not been impacted by major flooding in the city.

Zhengzhou in China's central Henan province has been hit with torrential rain. Authorities said it rained more in an hour on Tuesday than it normally would in an average month.

The result has been intense flooding in the city of more than 10 million people. Over 100,000 people have been relocated to safety and 12 people have died, according to state media reports.

Zhengzhou, an important industrial hub, is home to a major factory run by Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known a Foxconn. It is the biggest assembly plant for Apple's iPhones in the world. Foxconn said its operations had not been affected by the flooding.

Foxconn told CNBC that it had "activated an emergency response plan for flood control measures in that location."

"We can confirm that there has been no direct impact on our facility in that location to date and we are closely monitoring the situation and will provide any updates as appropriate," a company spokesperson added.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

However, its CEO Tim Cook posted on China's Twitter-like service Weibo.

"Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the flooding across Henan province, and the first responders helping people to safety," Cook said, adding that Apple will be donating to support the relief effort.

Several other technology companies including Tencent, Alibaba and TikTok-owner ByteDance also pledged donations. China's tech giants are currently under intense scrutiny from the country's regulators.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called the flooding "extremely severe," according to his comments published by the official Xinhua news agency.

Unverified videos circulating on Chinese social media such as Weibo, showed people trapped on a train in Zhengzhou's subway system submerged in water up to their chests.

Other images show cars floating in flooded streets.

Policemen evacuate traffic in floodwater near Zhengzhou Railway Station on July 20, 2021 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China.

Zhu Zhe | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Zhengzhou's subway network has suspended its operations while hundreds of flights have been cancelled. The army has been called in to help with the rescue efforts.

Various state media reported stories of rescue efforts including 150 kindergarten teachers and students being successfully saved and people being taken off buses stuck in flooded roads.

State-backed newspaper Xinhua, citing the chief forecaster for Henan province's meteorological station, said the heavy rainfall is expected to last until Wednesday evening.

Read more here:
Foxconn says critical iPhone factory hasn't been hit by massive floods in China - CNBC