Even though Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham were dangerous, Fox News had to have Chris Wallace.
Not any more.
Wallace said that this was his final Fox News Sunday as the show drew to a close. We will meet like this, it's the last time, and I say this with real sadness.
Wallace said in his farewell that no one at Fox News ever interfered with which guests he booked or what questions he asked, and that he was proud of what his team had built there. After 18 years at the network, it was time to move on.
He wants to try something new, to go beyond politics to all the things he is interested in. I am ready for a new adventure.
CNN+ is a streaming subscription service that will debut in 2022.
It's bad for Fox News if Chris Wallace leaves.
Good for him. It's bad for journalism. This is not the end of an era. It is the end of a trusted voice in a place that is not always known for them.
Chris Wallace is a Fox News commentator.
Wallace interviewed Trump in 2020 and called him out on his lies and dodges. In recent weeks, Wallace has thoroughly questioned those who lied about the 2020 election or defended the January attack on the U.S. Capitol and democracy, even more so than his colleagues at the so-called liberal networks.
Fox News steered further right after the election, seemingly inspired by Trump's badgering and the rise of far-right disinformation factories. The threat from smaller networks was short-lived, but in President Joe Biden, Fox News hosts found a reliable punching bag.
This is understandable. The audience of Fox News doesn't watch to hear people talk about Biden succeeding or to hear a host expose the lies that fuel the discontent with the 2020 election results.
It gets you ratings in the short term. History won't be as kind in the future as it is now.
They had Wallace.
Carlson and the ilk are not journalists. Fox News has their presence. They get the ratings and grab the headlines.
Wallace is a good journalist. He stood up as a solid defense against Carlson and the clowns.
Conservatives and liberals were upset by Wallace's work. That is a sign that you are doing a poor job. For the most part, it was the latter for him.
The former president's supporters accused Wallace of being against Trump after the Trump interview. Wallace was thought to be a hero by Trump's detractors.
Chris Wallace said he must be doing something right.
Wallace's replacement will tell us a lot about Fox News' future.
Wallace addressed Wallace was neither in an interview with The Arizona Republic in 2020.
Wallace came to Fox News from ABC in 2003 and said that the reaction was silly. I am not advocating a point of view. I am merely trying to act as an umpire and call balls and strikes, and if it is a factual matter, that is just not true. I don't see that as expressing an opinion or commenting.
James Fallows wrote in his newsletter, "every time my colleagues in the media shrink from using words like 'coup' or 'lie' we undermine democracy."
Wallace felt like a lonely last bastion of that sort of thinking at Fox News. Where they go from here and who they replace Wallace with is going to have a lot to say about the network.
The legacy of FOX News Sunday will continue with many of the network's star journalists rotating in until a permanent host is named, the network said in a statement. The rotation includes John Roberts, Martha MacCallum, Shannon Bream, Bill Hemmer, and others.
Good. What about the permanent replacement?
That tells us something if they go with a center or center-right host. If they double down on Carlson or Jeanine, that will tell us a lot more.
Goodykoontz can be reached at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. GoodyOnFilm has a Facebook page. Goodyk is on the social networking site. You can subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.
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Chris Wallace left Fox News for CNN+. Good for him, but not for Fox.
