The line between opinion shows and ones rooted in fact can remain blurry at Fox News Channel, the SEC has ruled -- or rather, viewers will have to determine where that line falls themselves.
The SEC has said that Fox News does not need to clearly label its commentary shows as "opinion" to differentiate them from their more straightforward news broadcasts, as Reuters first reported and IndieWire has confirmed. An activist investor named John Chevedden, who's made a name for himself by routinely submitting petitions to try to affect change in major companies, petitioned Fox News to label its shows accordingly. (Chevedden had made a similar petition in 2023 that he withdrew before the shareholder meeting that year.)
Chevedden believes there is a legally protective reason to do so: Following the $787.5-million settlement the cable channel reached with Dominion about untrue claims regarding its voting machines that Fox News anchors (such as Tucker Carlson) had made on-air, such a move to label pundit-driven shows as "opinion" might reduce legal liability.
"The 2023 Dominion lawsuit highlights the risk of a news organization inadequately differentiating its news reporting from its opinion and entertainment programming," Chevedden's proposal letter reads.
"Failure to differentiate between journalism and opinion also poses a clear threat to an informed electorate and a thriving American democracy," it continues. "Studies show that Fox viewers are more likely to be misinformed about issues including elections and the integrity of voting systems, COVID-19, climate change, and other issues. Typically, it is Fox's opinion shows that are identified as the basis for the misinformation. Blurred lines between opinion and journalism also introduce significant business risk from potential reputational damage."
Fox News' reputation is in the eye of the beholder, but its reach is not up for debate. Fox News Channel is the most-watched cable news network, and it often draws larger audiences than even broadcast news programming does. But its popular primetime lineup of shows hosted by Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, and Sean Hannity are very opinion-driven. (To be fair: So are the primetime lineups for the left-leaning CNN and even-lefter-leaning MSNBC.) Some viewers may see these commentary shows through the same lens they see Fox's news-oriented programs that air on the channel earlier in the day.
When reached, a spokesperson for Fox declined comment on the ruling to IndieWire. The SEC did not immediately respond to our request for a copy of its decision.
Though its talking heads have earned Fox News Channel every bit of its right-wing reputation, Fox News has some of the most respected journalists in the business, especially its election desk. When Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden in 2020, it all but declared to the world that Biden had won the election. The bold move also led to an inherent rift within the network: The factual team had one perspective on who had won Arizona (and thus, America), and some of the commentators on the more opinion-driven shows had a different one.
By ruling as they have, the SEC is putting the onus for differentiating fact and opinion back on the viewer. That is, after all, the normal business practice of a cable news channel -- any cable news channel. MSNBC doesn't highlight the fact that its own primetime talk is a different beast than the afternoon news shows hosted by Jose Diaz-Balart and Andrea Mitchell. (Then again, MSNBC's afternoon anchor Katy Tur routinely receives complaints on X that she's pro-Trump, so who knows.)
Under Dean Baquet, the New York Times even urged its reporters against appearing on MSBNC's primetime pundit-driven lineup (now consisting of Joy Reid, Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner, and Lawrence O'Donnell, with Rachel Maddow on once a week). Op-Ed writers were allowed, and every now and then an investigative reporter such as Susanne Craig still appears on those shows, but those guest spots are usually related to a specific piece of journalism they've just published in the Times.