Colby Hall Spars with Dan Abrams Over Fox News ‘Disgraceful’ Snub of Jan 6 Hearing: ‘They Call Themselves A News Network!’
Mediate founder Dan Abrams and Mediaite founding editor Colby Hall battled over Fox News’ decision not to air the primetime Jan. 6 committee hearings that begin Thursday night.
Hall was Abrams’ guest on Thursday night’s edition of NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live to discuss Hall’s recent column condemning the decision as a betrayal of Fox’s viewers and an abdication of their responsibility.
In his trademark style, Abrams conducted a dogged and lawyerly grilling, but Hall had a simple and effective argument for why Fox should — nay, must — carry the hearings live: Because “they call themselves a news network.”
DAN ABRAMS: But why does Fox have to air it live just like everybody else? Why are they, why does it make it disgraceful and almost un-American for them not to take it?
COLBY HALL: Because it’s not Fox. It’s Fox News. And they call themselves a news network. Look, if it were ESPN or, you know, Home Shopping Network or, you know, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network. Sure. No. Fox News presents itself as a news network. And this is real live straight news event that they are opting to not share with their audience. They’re going to cover it when they decide that something that they find is newsworthy. They’re going to they’re going to cut to it. But that gives them the editorial upper hand instead of just letting its viewers watch unedited, unadulterated, raw coverage. Sure, it may be stilted. Sure, it may be politically driven by Democrats, but it’s still responsible for a news network to cover it live.
DAN ABRAMS: But why? I mean, what is it about being a news network? Right? And you’re highlighting this word news, right? What is it about being a, quote, news network that makes it required that you must, you must, of course, take this as a live event? Because if you don’t, then you’re not a news network. I mean, seriously, what is it about this? Why, with so many options out there, can’t Fox News make a decision that they’re going to put on some of their other programming? You want to watch this live? You can. I mean, you’re almost saying it’s like, you know, a national obligation on their part, right? It’s almost their civic duty.
COLBY HALL: Well, I mean, I believe that to be true because I honestly, I think that there is a journalistic responsibility that they’re owed, if they’re going to call themselves a news network. And they believe me, they have a lot of great reporters, they do a lot of good news during the day. Primetime is entertainment packaged as news. It’s not real news. And, you know, an accepted responsibility for any news network is to provide that coverage. Why they should do it? They don’t have to. But what they’re doing is they’re counterprogramming knowing that they’re going to get great ratings and drive ad revenue and they’re putting their bid, their bottom line, their business benefit over what I believe to be the greater good. Because Fox News viewers, of all people, need to learn about what happened on January 6. People attacked the Capitol. And that’s that’s a story that’s largely been ignored on Fox News primetime. Here’s a golden opportunity for those viewers who’ve been kind of had their head under the ground to see firsthand exactly what happened.
Watch above via NewsNation.
