Fox Corp has gone “Woke.” The media giant that was once seen as the place where conservative-minded Americans could go to get their daily dose of Republican-friendly commentary, editorializing, and news reporting, has seen better days.
After agreeing to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit, firing Tucker Carlson, and seeing viewership plummet shortly afterward, Fox appears to have some systemic issues that have hurt viewership.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently questioned the firing of Carlson and insinuated that “other stuff that is going on with Fox” as being the reason for the media outlets' recent demise.
“I think there is more to it, I don’t think it was really about Tucker, I think it is about some of this other stuff that is going on with Fox. He was someone who was willing to speak out and challenge the prevailing orthodoxies,” said Gov. DeSantis
Former President Donald Trump has also taken his shots at the network that helped him with the presidency in 2016 but now appears to be working against him. It looks as if the network may favor Gov. DeSantis if he decides to run for president in 2024.
Could the “other stuff” going on a Fox, as DeSantis eludes to, be the wokeness that the network has embraced?
According to Fox Corp’s 2022 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the media company is “committed to diversity from the very top.”
In looking at the 46-page report, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) runs rampant throughout Fox Corp. Fox Corp even has a Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion to help define, protect, and promote the DEI that is “fundamentally woven in the fabric of the Company.”
“We are committed to diversity from the very top. Our Board of Directors requires that minority and female candidates are presented for consideration with each director vacancy. We believe that the more voices in the room and the more diverse the experiences of our colleagues, the better FOX’s internal culture and external programming are.
Our diversity enables us to be more reflective of the audiences we reach and enhances our ability to create news, sports and entertainment programming that serves all viewers across the country. An inclusive and diverse workplace is not merely a strategy or business objective—it is fundamentally woven in the fabric of the Company. This commitment begins with our approach to talent recruitment across all our disciplines and extends to the way we nurture and advance our colleagues’ careers.
The Executive Vice President of Human Resources and the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion monitor and oversee diversity initiatives and data on an ongoing basis. Moreover, we have voluntarily posted on our corporate website our 2021 Employment Information Report (EEO-1), showing the race, ethnicity and gender of our U.S. employees. For example, by the end of 2021, our first/mid-level officials (EEO-1 Category 1.2) and managers were approximately 41.7% female and 30.6% non-White. Similarly, our employees categorized as professionals (EEO-1 Category 2.0) were 36.7% female and 35.3% non-White. We are proud of our workforce and our ongoing efforts to further its diversity."
DeSantis has been spearheading the anti-DEI efforts in Florida and recently signed a bill into law that would combat the usage of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards at the state level.
DeSantis also divested $2 billion in state assets from money manager BlackRock over its ESG investment policies.
Interestingly enough, BlackRock owns 15.1% of Fox Corp.
