HAS TUCKER CARLSON BECOME THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WESTERN MEDIA
March 26, 2023
After watching the recent interview of Tucker Carlson by The Economist one observer argued that:
In the midst of this collective [Western media] moral collapse, Tucker Carlson has become the “conscience” of the media—simply because he possesses just a little more common sense, honesty, and humanity than these utterly hypocritical institutions.
This is a controversial claim about a widely recognized, remarkably informed and articulate, singularly controversial commentator.
In April 2023, the BBC reported, “How Tucker Carlson road a wave of populist outrage” in an extended article which documented his conspicuous, media-career assent, beginning in the 1990s. It was published just as Fox News announced that the network and its biggest star had agreed to part ways. Carlson’s “steady rise and sudden fall” were highlighted, along with, “accusations of racism and misogyny” (see: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65381815).
An article published by The Australian Institute of International Affairs about a year later, denounced a visit by Carlson to Australia as a “paranoid, divisive, and racist propaganda tour” adding that “Carlson and his allies represent the greatest threat global fascism has posed since World War II (see: https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/tucker-carlson-takes-putins-propaganda-on-tour-down-under-why-should-australians-be-concerned/).
Many more equally critical reviews can be found online.
Could this person ever be a conscience?
As it happens, in August, 2024, Tucker Carlson conducted an extended interview with Professor Jeffrey Sachs that ran for well over two hours. Amongst other things, it stressed the looming danger of a US war against Iran, acting primarily in the interests of Israel, see:
Soon after, I published a short assessment of this discussion in the Australian online journal Pearls and Irritations. Here is a lightly edited version of that review:
Tucker Carlson and Jeffrey Sachs confirm mainstream Western media mostly a shabby cabaret
Richard Cullen - September 5, 2024
A recent, comprehensive social-media interview has provided an acute reminder of how hard it now is to imagine certain flagship, Western current affairs programs drowning their cherished war-drums in a lead weighted bag and applying themselves to investigating pivotal geopolitical challenges with intelligent thoroughness
The Tucker Carlson Show has just uploaded a remarkable, extended interview where the eponymous host speaks with Professor Jeffrey Sachs. It is entitled: “Trump’s Plan to Stop WWIII, CIA Coups, and Warning of the Next Financial Crisis.”.
The show runs for well over two hours and covers: America’s succession of failed, multi-trillion-dollar wars; the gross, wilful provocations dating back 30 years which have led to the war in Ukraine; the compounding failure of American leadership; and much more.
The program is penetrating and highly watchable. If time is tight, scan-watching works well, too.
Unsurprisingly, the widespread criticism of Carlson as “a dangerous source of misinformation” who holds “extremist views” continues to be forcefully argued.
It is also clear, however, that Carlson has developed and applied a consistent, very powerful critique of:
· America’s embrace of chosen offshore warmongering, contrary to promises President Trump campaigned on; and
· The devastating influence of Israel on White House policy-making.
This, in turn, has energized his censure of the way so many Mainstream Western Media outlets have explicitly or implicitly endorsed these destructive developments.
Carlson’s stance has also confirmed the development of a primary fault line within the American right. He has maintained his position on these issues notwithstanding withering attacks from Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee, for example.
Time to return, in conclusion, to that interview with Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor-in-chief of The Economist. Carlson clearly enjoyed the encounter. So much so that it was regularly hard to tell who was interviewing whom. Carlson was more sure-footed about where he stood and why. He regularly left the editor-in-chief looking like an equivocating apologist for the very powerful Israel-First faction now prominently embedded within so many Global West leadership structures.
How apt, though, is that conscience label? Watch the interview, when you have time, and judge for yourself (Google: carlson economist interview).