Sorry I feel like you guys are the reason it spread, continued, mutated and became resistant to vaccines. You have spread misinformation that killed idiots. So to me it's darwinism. Thinning the herd of the dumbest. It's mother nature making things right. And if this aint I told you so I don't know what is?
Phil Valentine, a prominent Tennessee rightwing talk radio host, had released a song called
Vaxman, an anti-Covid vaccination ditty based on the Beatles track Taxman.
Marc Bernier, a host in Daytona Beach, Florida, had
declared himself “Mr Anti-Vax”. Dick Farrel, also from Florida,
urged his listeners not to get vaccinated, and Jimmy DeYoung
asked on air whether the vaccine could be a “form of government control of the people”.
All four men died in August of coronavirus. A fifth conservative radio host, Bob Enyart,
died on 13 September, weeks after he told his listeners to boycott vaccines that were “immorally developed”.
The death of the men, just weeks apart, illustrated both the depth of anti-vaccine feeling among some conservatives, but also hinted at the problems rightwing talk radio, along with other conservative media, is causing as vaccination rates in the US
have slowed.
behind the scenes thousands of small radio stations make up a patchwork of conservative media across the US that is enjoyed by millions.
In terms of the spread of misinformation, talk radio’s impact is unappreciated
Fox [News] is going to reach a couple of million people a day. Talk radio is reaching 40 million, 60 million people depending on the day, maybe even more.
“The guys who are dying, you could treat them as [having] small radio shows, but they have really high concentration in their communities.”
These radio hosts can be even more outspoken than their equivalents on Fox News. Personalities on the rightwing TV network tend to be careful about how they address vaccine opposition, urging viewers to “speak to a doctor” and make their own decisions before getting vaccinated, rather than telling people outright to avoid the shots.
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There is less direct anti-vax messaging on Fox News, but a recent
report by Media Matters still found that 60% of the network’s vaccination coverage “included claims undermining or downplaying vaccinations”.
Those claims and the network’s output leave Fox News open to suggestions of hypocrisy: this week it was
revealed that the vast majority of employees at Fox Corporation, which includes Fox News, are vaccinated, and those who are not have to undertake daily Covid tests to continue to work.
www.cdc.gov
