美国国家公共电台 NPR--Election skeptics may follow Tucker Carlson out of Fox News

Election skeptics may follow Tucker Carlson out of Fox News

Transcript¹

During his tenure² at Fox News, Tucker Carlson was known for pushing far right fringe views onto a mainstream³ conservative audience, in his top-rated prime-time show, Tucker Carlson Tonight. Fox deciding to part ways with one of the biggest stars in cable news history leaves the network in a "particularly precarious⁴ place" with the Fox audience.

That's according to political historian Nicole Hemmer, a director of the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the Study of the Presidency⁵ at Vanderbilt University. She tells Morning Edition that Carlson's exit may magnify a "level of distrust" between Fox News and audience members who are skeptical⁶ of the network's call of the 2020 presidential election.

The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Carlson's rhetoric⁷ has been one of the most important drivers of audience to Fox News. He has been the most popular show on Fox and back to the most watched show in cable news history since 2020. And that makes him pretty powerful. And it makes his messaging pretty important to the direction that Fox News has been going over the past six or seven years. So his rhetoric maybe got him in trouble. But it's actually been one of the most defining features, not just of his show, but of Fox News during the Trump⁸ era.

On the Fox News relationship with its audience

Fox News is in a particularly precarious place with its audience since the 2020 election, when they called the election for Joe Biden. There was a real rush of the audience away to other sources like Newsmax. Tucker Carlson was really instrumental in bringing that audience back. But there's a level of distrust between parts of the Fox audience and Fox News. And this is just another piece of evidence for that part of the audience that perhaps Fox News isn't entirely⁹ on their side.

On the media landscape and Fox's need to "shore up" Carlson viewership

You would anticipate they might put someone in that timeslot who tries to keep Carlson's audience attached to Fox News. But if it was his rhetoric that got him in trouble, that really does wedge Fox when they're trying to figure out, "how do we reach out to this Trump base, especially in advance of the 2024 election."

On support for journalism¹⁰ and journalists at Fox News

I think they've lost quite a lot of credibility with other news organizations. You know, back in 2009 when the Obama administration sort of went to war with Fox, it was other journalists who defended the network. I don't think that there's that same kind of relationship between Fox News and other outlets¹¹ these days. So there may be people at Fox who present themselves as journalists. I'm not sure that other outlets have their back anymore.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

11 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》