NEWS AND OPINION:
The battle for the conservative and Republican audience continues. Fox News, according to a substantial new media study, continues to win that battle despite the aggressive efforts of two very able competitors.
“Last year witnessed the rise of Newsmax and One America News (OAN), two alternative media outlets seen as potential competitors to Fox News. But a new Pew Research Center survey finds that the long-standing cable superpower still has a much wider reach among both Republicans and Americans overall as a source of political news,” reports the research organization in a comprehensive new study released Tuesday.
Fox News also appears to be intriguing another demographic as well.
“In addition, while about three-in-ten Democrats and those who lean Democratic get political news from Fox, virtually none of them do from Newsmax and OAN, according to the survey of 12,045 adults conducted March 8-14,” the Pew report said.
“While Fox does well among its conservative Republican core audience, it is also used by substantial portions of Democrats and ideologically moderate and liberal Republicans,” according to the survey. “And it attracts roughly equal portions of White, Black and Hispanic Americans. For their part, the much smaller Newsmax and OAN audiences are made up largely of older and White Americans and conservative Republicans,” the report said.
“Fox News still far outpaces the other two. About six-in-ten Republicans and those who lean Republican (62%) got political news in the past week from Fox News, compared with 21% who said they got news from Newsmax and 14% who did so from OAN,” it continued.
“The results also indicate that Fox News appeals more broadly across the ideological spectrum in the Republican Party. While 66% of Republican conservatives got news from Fox in the past week, so did 55% of moderate and liberal Republicans. On the other hand, the smaller audiences of Newsmax and OAN are substantially more skewed to conservatives: 27% to 10% for Newsmax and 19% to 7% for OAN.”
See some closer demographics in the Poll du Jour at column’s end. And just for a historic perspective, Fox News was launched in 1996, Newsmax in 1998 and One America News in 2013.
A TELLING REPORT
“Federal agencies have refused or ignored dozens of requests from the media for access to detention sites. Such access was granted several times by the administration of President Donald Trump, whose restrictive immigration approach [President] Biden vowed to reverse,” The Associated Press says in a new report.
“The new president faces growing criticism for the apparent secrecy at the border, including from fellow Democrats,” the news agency said — also noting that it has been seeking access to the detention sites since Feb. 4, to no avail.
CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?
“The Biden administration is still refusing to recognize the border crisis,” declares Tommy Pigott, rapid response director for the Republican National Committee.
He points out that on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed there is “not a crisis” at the border. That comment follows another from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who on Monday insisted the term “crisis” is “not applicable” to the current situation.
But wait. Mr. Pigott also points out that there are over 3,200 unaccompanied migrant children and teens now in federal border facilities, while fears of COVID-19 outbreaks are rampant and human traffickers in the region have earned as much as $14 million a day, this according to a new report from the U.S. Border Patrol.
“A historic number of illegal immigrants crossing the border, a record number of underaged migrants in Customs and Border Patrol facilities, and an explosion in gang and cartel activity all during a pandemic. [President] Biden’s denial will not make his crisis go away. It’s time for Biden to enter the real world, recognize the crisis, and reverse his terrible policies,” Mr. Pigott observes.
The strategy within the Biden administration, he says, is to “deny, mislead and obfuscate.”
SETTING A PRECISE DEADLINE
Republican lawmakers are calling on the aforementioned Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to formally brief members of the group. They cite Mr. Mayorkas “lack of transparency surrounding the border crisis” during testimony on the matter before the committee last week.
A three-page, detailed letter has gone out.
“This is a matter of national security and it is a matter of national sovereignty. We cannot afford further degradation of our border security under this Administration. We need answers as soon as possible,” advised Republicans Reps. John Katko of New York, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Clay Higgins of Louisiana, ranking member of the panel’s Border Security Subcommittee.
“Due to recent escalating developments, the lack of answers to our questions about the operating picture at the border, and clear changes in policy, we request you appear before the Committee for a Member briefing no later than Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. to provide a setting where you can answer our questions from last week and answer to the developments over this weekend.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 43% of U.S. adults say they got political news from Fox News in the past week; 66% of conservative Republicans, 62% of all Republicans, 55% of moderate Republicans and 28% of Democrats agree.
• 46% of all U.S. men and 41% of all U.S. women also agree.
• 10% of U.S. adults overall say they got political news from Newsmax in the last week; 27% of conservative Republicans, 21% of all Republicans, 10% of moderate Republicans and 1% of Democrats agree.
• 11% of all U.S. men and 8% of all U.S. women also agree.
• 7% of U.S. adults overall say they got political news from Newsmax in the last week; 19% of conservative Republicans, 14% of all Republicans, 7% of moderate Republicans and 1% of Democrats agree.
• 10% of all U.S. men and 4% of all U.S. women also agree.
Source: A Pew Research Center American trends Panel poll of 12,045 U.S. adults conducted March 8-14 and released Tuesday.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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