House Democrats are taking media training sessions to prepare for Fox News appearances
- Democratic members of the House of Representatives are going through media training to be able to appear more often on Fox News.
- Fox News regularly boasts the largest cable news ratings in the United States, making them a prime target for anyone looking to amplify their voice.
- The Democratic National Committee recently banned Fox News from hosting an official 2020 presidential primary debate.
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Democrats in the House of Representatives are being invited to attend media training to prepare themselves to appear on Fox News, a cable news channel with hosts who are often partial to Republicans.
Fox regularly boasts the highest ratings on cable news, incentivizing Democrats to appear on the network in order to effectively reach more Americans.
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According to a document obtained by CNN, the House Democrats' communications arm is offering media training for members looking to venture over to Fox for news hits. The seminar is titled, "Winning on Fox News: Best practices" and features training from media strategist John Neffinger and CNN commentator Jess McIntosh.
"Members want to go on Fox, and we encourage them to do so. There are three big cable news networks, and one of the three happens to be Fox," said Michael LaRosa, a spokesman for the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. "So, our view is, why alienate or ignore all of those viewers?"
While Fox News typically broadcasts right-leaning coverage - with the exception of a few straight-news hosts such as Bret Baier, Chris Wallace, Martha McCallum, and Shepherd Smith - their audience is overall quite massive.
Fox's flagship shows have dominated primetime. Both Sean Hannity's self-titled show and Tucker Carlson's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" beat out MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in April. CNN has fallen far in the ratings, with their highest rated program, "Cuomo Primetime," finishing 26th overall amongst cable news networks, according to Forbes.
And while the Democratic National Committee decided to not allow any 2020 presidential primary debates on Fox, candidates have still flocked to the network for town hall events.
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But those events have been moderated by non-ideological news hosts like Baier and McCallum. House Democrats could be venturing onto programs like "Hannity" or "Tucker Carlson Tonight," where the extra training might come in handy.