NEWS AND OPINION:
Easy come, easy go? “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace has announced he has left Fox News — the nation’s leading cable news provider — to become a fixture at CNN+ — the network’s new streaming service. Mr. Wallace, CNN and Fox News issued fairly cordial statements and that was that.
Follow-up press coverage in the hours that followed his announcement, however, was politicized very quickly.
Some headlines centered on former President Donald Trump, or the “Make America Great Again” fans who follow him.
“Chris Wallace quits Fox News for CNN after years of Trump attacks, challenging the GOP,” said Newsweek. The Daily Beast cited six times that Mr. Wallace “feuded with his right-wing colleagues.”
Then there was this stark headline from Breitbart News: “Wallace quits Fox News. Welcome home! MAGA hater to CNN.”
There was a little drama too. “Politics, media worlds react to Wallace News,” declared The Hill.
Those particular worlds “reacted with shock to the news,” the news organization said, quoting tweets from Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mitt Romney of Utah, among other public figures who expressed surprise and support or sent congratulations.
As a news item, though, Mr. Wallace’s sudden announcement has already given way to the traditional media parlor game: Who will replace the outgoing host, who spent 18 years at Fox News?
“A source said that Bret Baier, John Roberts, Shannon Bream, Martha MacCallum, Neil Cavuto and Bill Hemmer would be among the names expected to fill in as ‘Fox News Sunday’ hosts in the interim,” reported Deadline.com, an industry insider source.
As was once said in the broadcast business: Stay tuned.
WHO’S WATCHING YOU?
Those who fret over the constant presence of webcams and security cameras might want to peek in on the 2021 Cato Surveillance Conference — a live online event which takes place Tuesday.
Academics, technologists, policymakers, and privacy advocates will be on hand to parse out the pressing topic in “privacy and digital civil liberties,” among other things.
The organizer here is the Cato Institute — a libertarian public policy think tank which advances solutions based on the principles of “individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.”
“Americans in the age of COVID-19 are relying more than ever on digital networks to work, socialize, and learn — which makes safeguarding the privacy and security of those networks even more essential,” the organization notes in a guide to the event.
“We’ll demonstrate just how vulnerable the ubiquitous ‘Internet of Things’ makes us with a live hacking demonstration,” the guide said.
Topics include the “surveillance‐industrial complex,” virtual classrooms and the potential of schools to use spyware to monitor students, issues related to the Fourth Amendment, and the links between “anonymity and freedom.”
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time; viewers are invited to submit questions on Twitter using the hashtag #CatoSpyCon. Find information on the conference at CATO.org/events.
MORE TEPID NEWS FOR DEMOCRATS
From our Uh-oh Desk comes news that only 22% of U.S. voters want President Biden to run for reelection in 2024. That includes 8% of Republicans, 8% of independents and 37% of Democrats, So says an Issues & Answers poll of 1,013 registered U.S. voters conducted Dec. 1-4.
The news however, was not very promising for other possible Democratic contenders as well.
A White House run by Vice President Kamala Harris drew 12% support, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warranted 4% support. Another dozen senators and representatives plus several governors won between 1%-3% support. That list included Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Another 6% of the respondents were looking for some other candidates while 31% were not sure about the matter.
“Among other things, the data suggest that at just under 11 months into his term as president, Biden’s political support, never strong to begin with, is collapsing,” noted an analysis by Issues & Insights editor Terry Jones.
ONE FOR MARK LEVIN
It is interesting to note that Mark Levin’s book “American Marxism” currently tops the Amazon Best Sellers of 2021 (So Far) — a popularity list which includes hardcover and Kindle eBooks, CDs and vinyl records, video games and other offerings.
Mr. Levin’s book — published July 23 — is currently the “most popular product of the year” according to sales and public interest.
“Levin explains how the core elements of Marxist ideology are now pervasive in American society and culture — from our schools, the press, and corporations, to Hollywood, the Democratic Party, and the Biden presidency — and how it is often cloaked in deceptive labels like ‘progressivism,’ ‘democratic socialism,’ ‘social activism,’ and more,” notes Threshold Editions, the conservative imprint of publishing giant Simon & Schuster.
The author writes in his opening paragraph that “the counter-revolution to the American Revolution is in full force. And it can no longer be dismissed or ignored for it is devouring our society and culture, swirling around our everyday lives, and ubiquitous in our politics, schools, media, and entertainment.”
Mr. Levin is a Fox News host, nationally syndicated talk-radio host, and host of LevinTV, an online broadcast. This is his seventh book.
POLL DU JOUR
• 45% of U.S. adults say the national news media is “overreacting” in their descriptions of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
• 74% of Republicans, 48% of independents and 20% of Democrats agree.
• 41% say the media descriptions are “about right.”
• 19% of Republicans, 38% of independents and 63% of Democrats agree.
• 14% say the media is “not taking the variant seriously enough.”
• 6% of Republicans, 14% of independents and 17% of Democrats agree.
SOURCE: A CBS News poll of 1,731 U.S. adults conducted Dec. 7-9.
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