Headlines declaring that Chris Wallace is leaving FOX News only reflect the insular echo chamber of the media.
Much like Hollywood loves making movies about itself, and the New York literary world loves literary books about itself, the media is convinced of its own vital importance.
Even though virtually no one agrees.
The “big story” about Wallace moving on follows the equally big story about Brian Williams moving on from MSNBC having repaired enough of his tattered reputation that people somehow are refraining from laughing at his efforts to sound like Walter Cronkite. Some of the editorial figures, like Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow, genuinely have audience loyalty. The newsreaders and interviewers almost never do.
The only real story here is that cable news is facing demographic extinction-level events and so is the mainstream media. It’s why so much of the birdcage liner talent has moved over to newsletters and gotten their own Substack pages.
The media is convinced that what it does is important, but it’s never been less important. Ever since the media became a subset of a leftist political operation, slavishly echoing its narratives, and reprinting its talking points with the fidelity of a Pravda hack, it’s no longer a fourth estate, but just the comms department for the Democrats. Its top talent may earn millions, but the larger public cares very little about which talking head is on the air.
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