When Is a "Bombshell" Declared A "Bombshell"?

If an explosive story about Fox News isn't on the front page of any of the major papers did it really explode?

— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 17, 2023

And until it is, is it a "bombshell?"

CNN’s Don Lemon set off an uproar inside the cable news channel with his comments on air about the ages when a woman is “in her prime.” On Friday, CNN’s chairman said that Lemon’s remarks were “unacceptable and unfair.” https://t.co/pKS8efnPJv

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 17, 2023

NYT picked up that story (I assume tweets indicate articles on the website or in print.)

"Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is "busy, noisy and thoroughly uninspired," our critic writes. "A hash of recycled ideas and schtick, it borrows from Frank Herbert’s 'Dune,' the 'Star Wars' cycle and Marvel’s own annals." https://t.co/rMWtOIx3EF

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 17, 2023

And they made sure to review "Quantumania." Oh, and:

Here's a look at some of the highlights worth watching from late-night TV. https://t.co/4kcJbWa8ET

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 17, 2023

Well, yesterday: "That wasn't exactly what they were saying on the air." Is that called "understatement"? Inquiring minds want to know!

Tucker Carlson, to Laura Ingraham: “Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane.”

Ingraham: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy.”

That wasn't exactly what they were saying on the air. https://t.co/19VeYLDqhu

— Jeremy W. Peters (@jwpetersNYT) February 16, 2023

Is "disbelief" stronger?

Fox News stars privately expressed disbelief about Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, though the lies continued to be promoted on air. https://t.co/AUpRtyaxNU

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 17, 2023

NEW: Messages and testimony from Fox News stars and execs show their private disbelief over Trump's voter fraud claims, while the network continued to promote many of those lies on the airhttps://t.co/d3c6rOClIZ

— Katie Robertson (@katie_robertson) February 16, 2023

Admittedly this is not an exhaustive search of major news outlets, but OTOH, the NYT is the "newspaper of record," so: what's the record on "bombshells"? Seems to me FoxNews being exposed as a cable news network that regularly engages in lies and considers those lies its "brand" is pretty big news, and a bit more than "that wasn't exactly what they were saying on the air." I'd ask what we might expect CJR to say about it, but they'd turn it over to Jeff Gerth, and we get Whitewater redux, redux.

"I mean, they show in excruciating detail that the highest ranking executives at Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, Suzanne Scott, the CEO, as well as some of the top hosts, like you just mentioned, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingram. They knew, they privately knew these election fraud claims from the Trump team were nonsense. They use very harsh language to describe them."

Darcy says, "they allowed these lies to take hold on the network's air and they show, these messages show, that the talent over at Fox News and the executives were very worried after the election of the audience rebelling, that they were going to Newsmax. You'll remember that Donald Trump was attacking Fox News saying, 'turn the channel go to this Newsmax channel,' which is saturating the airwaves with election denialism. They were worried about this, and not only did they turn a blind eye to the election lies, but they even in some cases, tried cracking down on those who were fact checking Trump."

No, no, no; it just "wasn't exactly what they said on the air." The Great Gray Lady said so! Harumph!