How Fox News reports the upcoming U.S. election will be crucial in how the result is accepted, CNN’s Brian Stelter said in an FCC webinar.

Brian Stelter is interviewed by Eric Wishart on September 8, 2020.

Election night coverage on America’s most watched cable network could be a ‘tug of war’ between its opinion side – anchors like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson – and its ‘well-respected decision desk’ that analyses the data and calls races, said Stelter, who hosts CNN’s Reliable Sources.

“Fox has a huge responsibility in the hours after election night, assuming there’s not a winner right away,” he said. “Will this be a house divided, where the news side is saying that votes are still being counted, and Trump’s side is saying ‘Trump won, Trump won, shut it down, stop the counting, Trump won’?

“Will we be in this situation where there are two contradictory, confusing messages coming from the two sides of the house?”

He added that America ‘by and large accepts the result as television networks announce it’ and said if Sean Hannity and ‘those guys at Fox on the opinion side decided to contest the result or go along with whatever Trump is tweeting, it’s going to do enormous damage’.

Stelter reiterated that the Murdoch family, headed by media mogul Rupert, and the head of Fox News have a ‘huge responsibility’ around the channel’s reporting of the election, ‘and I hope they live up to it’.

Stelter’s latest book, Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of the Truth, goes behind the scenes to examines the relationship between the president and the news channel, talking to current and former Fox insiders about President Trump’s ‘obsession’ with the network.

He pointed out that Trump was being fed misinformation by Fox News that he would then publicly reference as fact. This, Stelter said, led him to use ‘hoax’ in the book title rather than Trump’s previously favoured ‘fake news’, particularly after the president and Fox News both played down the outbreak of COVID-19 by using the term.

“I think the book is doing well because this is the part of the Trump story that still is not fully understood, which is his addiction to Fox News. I would argue that it’s a uniquely American problem to have a president so obsessed with a television channel,” he said.

The tug of war between the news side and opinion side meant that instead of reporting the news, Fox talks about the news. Other networks, he said, were ’tethered to the truth’ by vigorous vetting and standards processes prior to a segment airing.

Asked if CNN’s criticism of Trump by anchors such as Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon made it just as partisan as Fox, he said: “If Joe Biden comes into office and says that it’s sunny at his inauguration when it’s raining – and that really happened, Trump lied about the weather on day one – we will fact check him to the ends of the earth. I actually think the coverage would be harsher.”

Being ‘centre of the pro-Trump universe’, Fox News and its anchors wielded huge influence in America, Stelter said. Sean Hannity, a former mentor to Stelter who came to prominence at the channel following the resignation of disgraced Fox News mastermind, Roger Ailes, had become ‘an adviser to the president, a confidante, a friend to the president’.

The extreme relationship between president and news network was emphasised by Stelter when he revealed that Trump had kept Chinese President Xi Jinping waiting so he could speak to Hannity.

“He really did keep the Chinese president waiting… It does speak to the power dynamic here. Trump is prioritising Hannity… he has to wait his turn to call into Hannity’s show. He’ll still do a 20-minute rant first and then have the president come on the show. It speaks to the power imbalance here and I think when we look back at the Trump years… we will say this addiction to television, this reliance on Fox, hurt the Trump presidency,” Stelter said.

Writing in his book about Ailes, who resigned in 2016 as Fox chairman and CEO amid allegations of sexual misconduct, Stelter said he was still missed at the network because he ‘was tough on Trump sometimes, he knew how to reign Trump in when necessary’.

“One popular view on Fox is that if Ailes were in charge there’d be a strong leader, at least someone would be firmly in charge and would have tried to control Trump in a way that no one at Fox does today,” Stelter said.

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With countries around the world in and out of lockdown due to COVID-19, this summer has provided an opportunity for many to catch up on some good books.

So if you’re looking for recommendations, look no further than the FCC’s long list of distinguished Zoom guests. From Noam Chomsky to Lingling Wei – themselves celebrated authors – we’ve collated a list of recommended summer reads as endorsed by our guest speakers.

Noam Chomsky

The world’s most influential public intellectual and linguist joined a Zoom webinar on August 7. He recommended two of his own books that examine the media: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, and Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies 

Mary E. Gallagher

Mary E. Gallagher, professor at The University of Michigan and director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, joined a panel discussion on August 12 on the new China-U.S. Cold War. Her recommended reads exploring American history were Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild, and The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker (Chicago Studies in American Politics) by Katherine J. Cramer.

Bonnie Glaser

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), appeared on a panel discussion on August 12 on the new China-U.S. Cold War. She recommended reads exploring American history. Her recommendations, which focused on China, were China’s Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia by Daniel Markey; Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World by Michael Schuman; and The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

Stan Grant

Award-winning journalist and filmmaker, Stan Grant, appeared via Zoom on August 18, and recommended the following books: The Light That Failed: Why the West Is Losing the Fight for Democracy  by Stephen Holmes and Ivan Krastev, Without God: Michel Houellebecq and Materialist Horror by Louis Betty, and The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century by Vladimir Tismaneanu.

Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion, democracy campaigner and author of Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins, was our special guest on August 27 when he discussed China and U.S. politics. He was reading three books: Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold and Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry and Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts.

Kishore Mahbubani

Kishore Mahbubani, Asia scholar and author of Has China Won?: The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy, recommended A Different Sky by Meira Chand, a book that tells the story of his home country, Singapore, when he joined us on August 10.

Suzanne Nossel

Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, appeared by Zoom on August 5 and recommended a book by our guest from a month earlier, John Bolton – The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir . She also endorsed Intimations: Six Essays by Zadie Smith.

Admiral Bill Owens

Admiral Bill Owens, formerly the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed he was reading America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy when he appeared at a September 2 webinar.

Brian Stelter

Appearing via Zoom on September 8, CNN’s Reliable Sources anchor said he’d be reading Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage, and No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer.

Joseph Stiglitz

The winner of 2001’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics appeared via Zoom on September 15 and recommended his most recent book, People Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent; and Paul Begala’s You’re Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump.

Lingling Wei

Lingling Wei, Wall Street Journal reporter and author of Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War, admitted during an August 12 panel discussion that lockdown had introduced her to the children’s classic, The Lorax (Classic Seuss) by Dr Seuss. She was also reading Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang.

The issue of Taiwan’s political status is the bigger threat to an already tense relationship between China and the United States, even more so than sovereignty of the South China Sea, according to a former top U.S. military official.

Admiral Bill Owens talks to FCC President Jodi Schneider on September 2.

Admiral Bill Owens, formerly the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an FCC webinar on Sept. 2 that Taiwan independence was more serious to China than issues in the South China Sea and the trade war with the U.S.

The claim comes the day after Beijing warned the United States to stop building its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, branding the U.S.-Taiwan Relations Act as “illegal” and “invalid”. Taiwan is embroiled in a decades-long dispute with China over whether it will be repatriated with the mainland. The country is currently led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which favours independence from China.

“Of course we should all be worried about what might happen in the South China Sea. A skirmish of some kind can turn into something that is much more serious,” said Owens, adding: “But in terms of the sheer seriousness of the way the government in Beijing takes the issue of Taiwan versus the issue of the South China Sea, I think they view Taiwan as much more important than the South China Sea.

“It’s all about Taiwan. It’s about what happens in Taiwan,” said Owens, who retired in 1996 after 35 years in the Navy. “The Chinese have said in many many ways… if there is a declaration of independence in Taiwan, we will take military action to preclude that from happening. Those are pretty serious words.”

If military action were to occur between the U.S. and China over Taiwan “our world will never be the same”, Owens said, adding that he hoped to see “appropriate diplomacy between the U.S. and China behind the scenes”, whether that be with the Trump administration or a Biden government.

In his new book, China-US 2039: The Endgame? Building Trust Over Future Decades, Owens, who embarked on a career in business after retiring from the military and founded Red Bison Technology Group in 2015, puts forward several policy recommendations that could steer the two countries away from conflict.

He argued that thinking long term – “the Chinese do this very well” – is the key to cementing closer diplomatic relations and suggested that over the next 20 years, America and China could achieve improved ties.

Owens, whose 35-year service in the U.S. Navy included participation in Vietnam and Desert Storm, spoke about Hong Kong’s recently enacted national security law and said it was his view that China wanted the city to remain a thriving international financial hub.

“I think Hong Kong has always needed a form of a national security law like some of the things that are in the national security law that was forced on Hong Kong by the Chinese. It’s too bad it had to happen that way and I think from the West standpoint I would pray that a year from now we will not see as many issues of China interfering in Hong Kong as much of the Western press would have us believe,” he said.

Owens said he thinks the Chinese government understands “the great importance of Hong Kong in the international trade and monetary systems”.

“I couldn’t imagine that they would want to do anything that looks like a Tiananmen Square or an involvement that seems too much,” he said.

Responding to a question about whether President Donald Trump could be removed from the White House by force if he were to lose in November and contest the results of the presidential election, Owens pointed to non-military tools to potentially remove the president.

“I’m sure the Joint Chiefs all feel … that it is there to serve the nation – it’s not a Trump military or a Biden military, it’s a U.S. military and it will be very difficult to get them to do anything that is viewed as political. So I pray that what you suggest doesn’t happen,” he said.

When asked who was winning the 5G race – America or China – Owens, a former CEO of telecoms firm, Nortel, said he thought “it’s a tie” but made an impassioned case for the implementation of Wi-Fi worldwide.

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Leaving Hong Kong would be a “wise choice” for the city’s prominent pro-democracy activists rather than face prison or worse, says former chess world champion turned democracy campaigner Garry Kasparov.

Garry Kasparov talks to FCC first-vice president, Eric Wishart.

Speaking at an FCC webinar on August 27, Kasparov – himself exiled from his home country of Russia – said he hoped that a new wave of democracy movements around the world would make it safe for activists to return and rebuild Hong Kong.

Kasparov, who at the age of 22 became the world’s youngest ever chess champion, is a vocal human rights activist and was one of the first prominent Soviets to call for democratic reform. He was an early supporter of Boris Yeltsin’s push to break up the Soviet Union.

A fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kasparov left his home in Moscow to live in New York following a crackdown on dissidents in Russia.

He was speaking in a week that saw two Democratic Party lawmakers – Lam Cheuk-ting and Ted Hui – arrested in connection with last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations.

Kasparov, chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, said he hoped to see a “new wave of democracy movements” that would bring dictatorships to an end. This, he said, could herald a new era for Hong Kong.

When asked whether pro-democracy activists should seek exile, Kasparov said when he “recognised it would be jail or worse”, he left Russia.

He added: “The prominent people who believe they can play a role in rebuilding Hong Kong, I would say probably it’s a wise choice (to leave). China’s regime is not at the stage where they care about creating martyrs. You stay there, you fight, you’ll be in jail – you mentioned mainland China – maybe you will die.

“So I think it’s important that the core of this group is preserved because there will be a moment – maybe sooner than we think because as we can see in Belarus, these regimes are not stable and Putin now is experiencing great problems. Hopefully now … you see this the trend is going back to the eighties like a pendulum of history when we have a new wave of democracy movements around the world and when we’ll see these dictatorships are losing the momentum that unfortunately they gained on the geopolitical stage. Then I wish there will be enough people in Hong Kong to come back.”

Describing himself as “an incorrigible optimist by nature”, Kasparov said he believed “that China will also be free”.

Kasparov spoke about his desire to see President Donald Trump lose the November election. He discussed Trump’s close relationship with Putin – “please don’t call him president – he is what he is: a dictator” – comparing it to a KGB handler and his asset. He said he suspected that Trump’s connections to Russia “started much earlier than 2008/2009 when Russian money saved his crumbling empire from collapse”.

However, he was adamant that he would not visit Hong Kong in the future.

“I think that Hong Kong might not be on my travel list… I doubt very much in the foreseeable future I’ll be able to set my foot on Chinese soil or the soil controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

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The prospect of an indigenous Australian becoming prime minister or “anywhere near” is a long way off, according to award-winning journalist and author, Stan Grant.

Discussing the recent announcement of US Senator Kamala Harris as presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s running mate, the broadcaster said that while there were similarities between America’s struggle with racism and that of his own country, the chances of an Aborigine taking high office were remote.

“It has taken over 100 years for an indigenous person to make a federal government minister. There are now a few more indigenous represented at state and federal level, but we’re a long way from getting to the point where an indigenous politician would get anywhere near becoming prime minister in Australia,” he said, adding: “It’s something I can’t even envisage at the moment.”

Talking to CNN anchor, Kristie Lu Stout, he said the appointment of Harris, the daughter of African-American and Asian immigrants, was an “extraordinary achievement” and “a reflection, I think, of America’s journey”.

Grant, who recently became the first indigenous host in the 59-year history of the ABC Four Corners documentary program, shared his experiences of racism growing up and discussed what the Black Lives Matters movement means to indigenous Australians.

He said Americans and Australians share a history of institutionalised and structural racism that limits opportunities in life and places first nation people on the margins of society. The killing of George Floyd during his arrest in Minnesota sparked a global outrage that kicked off protests in several countries. For Grant, who has been at the forefront of the fight for the rights of indigenous Australians for decades, it was a pivotal moment.

“That experience of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter spoke to me very personally. It spoke to our shared history,” he said.

Grant told of his own experiences of racism growing up in Australia, where, as part of a group of Aboriginal school children, he was told by his headmaster that he’d never amount to anything. After relocating to Canberra, he and his siblings found themselves “in a world that was overwhelmingly white”.

And those in power in Australia are still overwhelmingly white, Grant said, pointing to institutions from government to media. Yet he said even today, to discuss racism in Australia was “a difficult conversation”.

“It’s a country where people come to escape history, not to confront history,” he said. “Yet if we don’t do that as a nation then we are forever diminished. You cannot keep people in chains forever and not think that at some point it isn’t going to come to the surface, and that’s what we’re seeing in the United States.”

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