Carl Cameron, once Fox News’ chief political correspondent, revealed that he left the network because of the “partisan misinformation” about “conman” Donald Trump from its right-wing hosts. Now Cameron has joined a new progressive website to promote “real facts over partisan propaganda.”
The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple explains that Cameron teamed up with Think Progress’ Joseph Romm because, Cameron said, “I have a little bit of unfinished business.”
Their collaboration is FrontPageLive.com, a news site where progressives can find stories that feed their sensibilities. A news release calls the site “the go-to liberal antidote” to the Drudge Report, the aggregator that for more than two decades has been amplifying news reports with a conservative spin. Romm sees FrontPageLive.com as a “viralizing engine” for the other side. It will populate frequently with audience-tested headlines, while pairing stories with links to action campaigns working on the issue at hand.
That’s exciting news, in and of itself. But Cameron’s explicit repudiation of Fox and his implicit indictment of the right-wing media's echo chamber, in general, is just as striking. Those who have seen (the still relevant) Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism probably remember the scene in which Cameron schmoozes with George W. Bush, saying that his wife has been “hanging out” with Bush’s sister and that the two have been campaigning "all over the state" together.
Please don’t let that prejudice you against what Cameron is up to now. In a YouTube video below, Cameron makes it clear he plans to use his (inside) knowledge of right-wing tactics and Trump, himself, to fight against both. Wemple reports that Cameron has “an equity stake in the operation.” In other words, Cameron put his money where his mouth is.
Here's where Cameron says he now comes from:
CAMERON: It’s about facts, not partisanship.
The idea of “fair and balanced” news [at Fox] appealed to me, but over the years, the right-wing hosts drowned out straight journalism with partisan misinformation. I left. I have unique insight in understanding of how the right operates and literally 30 years of covering Donald Trump.
Trump’s a con man. He did collude and coordinate with Russia to get elected. He encouraged them to intervene in the 2016 campaign on live television. We all saw it. And recently, he said he’d accept their help again because he sees nothing wrong with it. We saw that too.
And, yes, he is still helping Russia by refusing to take strong actions to protect us from a future cyberattack. This is a state of emergency. Our next elections and democracy are at potential risk.
My job, what I do, is inform. That’s it. Make your own decisions, just please be accurately informed.
I think anyone willing to give up an undoubtedly lucrative job, cross the ideological aisle and take a stand for truth, democracy and decency deserves our appreciation and applause.
Watch Cameron below and maybe see a glimmer of hope for the future. Also, make sure to bookmark Front Page Live.
In the case of David Brock, it was a matter of his personal issues ultimately overwhelming his partisan instincts – but Brock did this within 10 years or so. Cameron made a whole career of selling the Right Wing talking points – enough that he literally retired from Fox News having done so.
My instincts say that he’s trying to set up a way that respectable Republicans can save face once the Pence White House is hopefully shown the door by voters (assuming the Dems in the swing states can find their voting booths next November). Like Ralph Peters and George Will and others, he’s not a friend to the Left, but he is concerned that the GOP has put itself in an untenable position by catering so broadly to the deplorables.
The age of the Pence White House and his childish spokesman has generated some truly odd reactions on both the Right and the Left. On the Right, there are those who’ve backed away from the dumpster fire, like Cameron appears to be doing. And there are those who’ve jumped headfirst INTO the dumpster fire – like Hannity, Limbaugh, Ingraham, Carlson and Lindsey Graham. (And I say this knowing that Carlson has misgivings about the Pence White House’s intentions to viciously attack Iran – Carlson’s misgivings aren’t about the Pence White House, but rather about what the consequences could be for Pence’s 2020 re-election campaign.) On the Left, there are some who have decided to spend the past 2 1/2 years tut-tutting about how the Dems should have nominated Bernie Sanders or about how Julian Assange is supposedly a “hero” and then making odd alliances with outfits like Fox News (like Glenn Greenwald) and there are others who’ve been consistent in their approach that
Right Wing politicians in both parties have generated the situation we currently endure.