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The Christmas tree was set on fire in the square next to the News Corp. Building which houses Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post in New York City. Local firefighters were able to quickly put out the blaze and nobody ended up getting hurt.
However, the property damage was pretty extensive. The Xmas tree had 10,000 glass ornaments, 100,000 lights, and cost a whopping 500,000 dollars. It took workers 21 hours to assemble, too. However, Fox News plans to rebuild the tree after the incident.
Mike explained why Fox News has such a large following despite its negative reputation among some Americans. "Fox News has a huge following because they operate as an echo chamber for the far-right Republican Party. They parrot back the talking points, with no fact-checking, to a rabid audience that eats it up," the media expert was candid with Bored Panda.
"People tune in because they know they’ll hear want they want to hear. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s truthful or not, or a conspiracy theory with no evidence, Fox News spews it out under the guise of 'News' in the network’s name. Their audience loves it!"
In Mike's view, Fox News has "no interest" in improving its journalistic ethics. "They’ve created a formula that works as far as amassing a large audience, even if what they’re doing is damaging to the country and democracy. It’s a shame, really, what they’re doing, but as they say, 'there’s a sucker born every minute," he told Bored Panda, adding that he believes Fox News is doing real damage to the US, in terms of the "COVID misinformation and conspiracy theories they push."
I was interested to find out more about dark humor and our sense of guilt. According to comedy writer Ariane from London, we shouldn't necessarily feel guilty for laughing at the Fox News Christmas tree being set alight. "If you find something funny, that’s largely out of your control. But if you do want to stop laughing at a situation like this, just imagine the incident had happened to you or one of your loved ones," the humor expert told Bored Panda.
Ariane, being the traditional, online, and social media expert that she is, gave Bored Panda some insights into Fox News' reputation. "Fox News is often called Faux News for their lax approach to the truth!" she said that they're well-known far and wide for 'gently' bending the truth.
"If they want to be more highly regarded, they would have to change their whole ethos and become more responsible, ethical, and stick to the facts. But I can’t see that happening anytime soon!"
According to Ariane, "there are a lot of right-wingers out there who see the world in a very narrow way, and Fox News confirms their world view, reflecting their prejudices back at them. It’s a real shame."
Police officers arrested a suspect, 49-year-old Craig Tamanaha, by yesterday morning. Tamanaha allegedly scaled the tree and set it aflame at 15 minutes past midnight on Wednesday.
According to The New York Times, the police believe that the suspect is homeless. They’re currently investigating whether mental illness or drug use may have played a part in his actions. Tamanaha had been arrested in March 2021 for drug use, the police state.
The suspect was charged with seven counts, among which were arson, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. Officers are still looking into the actual cause of the fire. Tamanaha seems to have acted alone, but it’s still not clear what his motives were.
Tamanaha's father Richard, from Hawaii, told the New York Post that his son may have set the tree alight to "get onto the news" in order to get attention.
The ‘All-American’ Xmas tree in Manhattan isn’t the only one to have been targeted by arsonists. On Monday, someone set fire to a 52-foot Christmas tree in Oakland in California. Meanwhile, Chicago authorities are investigating someone setting fire to the Washington Square tree. This is the third year in a row that this has happened.
