Even after years of malfunctions and public scrutiny of Boeing’s 737 Max line, Fox & Friends is baselessly laying the blame for Boeing’s ongoing safety crisis on corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Commenting on the latest dramatic near-disaster when part of the fuselage blew off an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff, Fox host Brian Kilmeade rhetorically asked whether diverse hiring was “causing quality problems” in the planes.
But as Fox News rails against the supposed public menace of corporate DEI, the network’s own jobs listings say the company is “deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Fox host asks whether companies are “hiring the most diverse people” instead of “hiring the best people”
On January 25, Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt delivered a news update on Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun’s visit to Capitol Hill, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration’s stepped-up inspections of the company’s manufacturing processes and the 737 Max planes that are currently deployed.
But according to co-host Brian Kilmeade, perhaps the inspections should be aimed at Boeing’s human resources department.
“And the question is, is this about DEI? Are you not hiring the best people? Are you hiring the most diverse people?” Kilmeade said, further adding that the Biden administration “went over the top with diversity.” He then steered the conversation back to Boeing, asking: “Is that causing quality problems here?”
Fox News and right-wing media narratives against diversity is a distraction from Boeing’s long record of cutting back on safety
In response to the latest disaster, right-wing media — and especially Fox News — have rushed to claim that recent emphasis on diversity in the public and private sectors are to blame for Boeing’s safety issues, and pushed the idea that hiring staff from racial minorities makes flying dangerous.
In fact, there have been ongoing scandals for years with the 737 Max line. Following past air disasters, news investigations repeatedly showed that Boeing has pursued cost-cutting measures that have come at the expense of safety. Fox News and its allies in right-wing media are simply ignoring the known facts about Boeing’s well-documented greed in order to push its preferred “anti-woke” narrative.
As for the real-world response to these problems, the Federal Aviation Administration now has “boots on the ground” at Boeing’s 737 Max factory, and the U.S. Senate is set to hold hearings on Boeing’s safety processes. The CEO of Alaska Airlines announced that further inspections of its 737 Max 9 planes have found “many” loose bolts.
Fox News’ own job listings: “We are deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
As Fox News rails against diversity on air, the network purports to be “deeply committed” to diversity, equity, and inclusion in its own jobs listings. In fact, a current job listing for an associate producer position at Fox & Friends — where applicants might work for none other than Brian Kilmeade — says exactly that: “We are deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
At FOX, we foster a culture and environment where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. We are deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including attracting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent across our company. We live in a diverse world, with different ideas and different perspectives that come together to spark new ideas and make great things happen. That means reflecting the diversity of the world around us is critical to our company’s success. We ensure that our viewers, communities and employees feel heard, represented, and celebrated both on screen and off.
