The man behind the controversial Fox News decision to project President Biden as the winner of Arizona before many other news outlets says it was the right call.
Chris Stirewalt, the now-fired politics editor who faced criticism from former President Donald Trump’s campaign and their allies for the early projection that proved to be accurate, talked about the “murderous rage” from Fox News viewers in a Los Angeles Times op-ed published on Thursday.
“The rebellion on the populist right against the results of the 2020 election was partly a cynical, knowing effort by political operators and their hype men in the media to steal an election or at least get rich trying,” he wrote. “But it was also the tragic consequence of the informational malnourishment so badly afflicting the nation.”
Fox News was the first major outlet to call Arizona for Biden, and they did so on election night with “roughly 80-some percent of the vote,” according to Arnon Mishkin, the head of the network’s decision desk. The Associated Press was the second outlet to make the call, doing so hours later, but many other newsrooms held out for days with the presidential race being so close. Critics lashed out at Fox News in particular, and the Trump campaign even demanded the network retract it.
Ultimately, Fox News and the Associated Press were vindicated, with Trump losing Arizona and its 11 electoral votes to Biden by about 10,000 votes.
Stirewall, who was fired last week along with nearly 20 other digital operations staff, also expressed concern about the state of journalism and how Americans receive their news.
“Having been cosseted by self-validating coverage for so long, many Americans now consider any news that might suggest that they are in error or that their side has been defeated as an attack on them personally. The lie that Trump won the 2020 election wasn’t nearly as much aimed at the opposing party as it was at the news outlets that stated the obvious, incontrovertible fact,” Stirewalt said.
“While there is still a lucrative market for a balanced offering of news and opinion at high-end outlets, much of the mainstream is increasingly bent toward flattery and fluff,” he added. “Most stories are morally complicated and don’t have white hats and black hats. Defeats have many causes and victories are never complete. Reporting these stories requires skill and dispassion. But hearing them requires something of consumers, too: Enough humility to be open to learning something new.”
Earlier this month, the network announced a shakeup of its on-air daytime lineup. One of the major changes was that Martha MacCallum, lost her 7 p.m. slot in exchange for the 3:00 p.m. hour. Her old slot was transformed into an opinion show. Fox News announced a stable of guests hosts in the short term while it searches for someone to take on the role full-time.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story erroneously said 73% of the vote had been counted when Fox News called Arizona for Biden. It was “roughly 80-some percent of the vote,” according to the head of their decision desk.
