Skip to main content
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Jeanine Pirro
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search
  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Jeanine Pirro
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Coronavirus hysteria

Fox News Channel

Fox News' terrible coronavirus coverage put its viewers and the public at risk. Here's the proof.

Written by Matt Gertz

Published 03/18/20 12:34 PM EDT

Fox News’ early coverage of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 appears to have successfully convinced its viewers not to take seriously the risk posed to the public, according to two polls released Wednesday.

As I noted earlier:

Fox had a responsibility to provide its viewers with clear, accurate information about the ongoing public health crisis. Instead, for crucial weeks, as COVID-19 spread to become a global pandemic, the network’s propagandists downplayed the danger posed by the virus and portrayed it as a politicized hoax engineered by Democrats and the media in order to damage their beloved president. That initial coverage doubtlessly fed Trump’s own lack of concern over the threat, hampering public efforts to curtail the coronavirus. Only after Trump himself showed signs of taking the virus more seriously did many of the network’s hosts pivot and begin informing their viewers they were facing a “crisis.”

Polls show that the network’s coverage had its intended effect.

People who pay the most attention to Fox News are much less likely than others to say they are worried about coronavirus, according to a YouGov/The Economist poll conducted March 15-17:

The same poll shows Fox viewers are much less likely to disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic and much less likely to think the virus will cause a recession than people who get their news from more credible sources.

People who say Fox is their main source of election news are also much more likely to believe the news media has exaggerated the risks posed by coronavirus, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted March 10-16.

Pew similarly finds that 66% of Fox viewers say they are “very confident” in Trump’s handling of the outbreak, compared to 24% of all U.S. adults. Only 27% of Fox viewers call coronavirus “a major threat” to the health of the U.S. population as a whole, compared to 47% among all U.S. adults. 

Fox should never, ever be allowed to live this down.

The Latest

  1. Laura Ingraham: “Tariffs work. Always have, always will.”

    Video & Audio 07/10/25 8:01 PM EDT

  2. On Deadline: White House, Angelo Carusone explains how Donald Trump's betrayal of right-wing podcasts could impact Republicans in the midterm elections

    Video & Audio 07/10/25 7:33 PM EDT

  3. Fox News hosts excuse ICE agents pointing their guns at protesters

    Video & Audio 07/10/25 5:43 PM EDT

  4. Charlie Kirk called for Trump to put tariffs on Brazil in response to the trial of Bolsonaro. Trump just did.

    Video & Audio 07/10/25 2:56 PM EDT

  5. Fox anchor says of Mamdani's drug and crime policies: “Crime and drug addiction, if you get enough of it in the streets and into the bloodstreams of the American people, they'll be easier to control"

    Video & Audio 07/10/25 1:22 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • Fox News

    Fox-News-MMFA-Tag.png

Related

  1. On coronavirus, Fox News and right-wing media failed their audience

    Article 03/17/20 1:29 PM EDT

  2. Fox’s coronavirus coverage was a low point in the network’s shameful history. It should never live it down.

    Article 03/18/20 10:18 AM EDT

  3. Laura Ingraham: “Tariffs work. Always have, always will.”

    Video & Audio 07/10/25 8:01 PM EDT

Media Matters for America

Sign up for email updates
  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS

© 2025 Media Matters for America

RSS