On November 3, 2020, long-time, loyal viewers turned to Fox News and Fox Business to monitor the results of the Presidential election and other key national and state elections. The viewership expected that Fox would project the winners and report the results consistently with its “fair and balanced” motto. In practice, this would have meant applying the same criteria and analytical tools across all parties in determining the likely winner of ongoing elections; announcing such projections and the ultimate winners in a timely and consistent manner; and disseminating and reporting events and discoveries that substantially affected or were likely to affect the accuracy and credibility of an ongoing election.

Viewers were sorely disappointed.  The protocols followed by Fox in making projections and announcing winners were anything but fair and balanced. As states began to release vote totals, Fox hastily and repeatedly projected the Democrat candidate as the winner with a small percentage of the vote accounted for, even where the known votes heavily favored the Republican candidate.  In identical scenarios where the Republican candidate had the same or a greater amount of votes, Fox refused to make a projection, even when the Republican candidate solidified his or her position as more votes came in.

In the Presidential election, Fox leapt to project Joe Biden as the winner of one state after another and assigned the corresponding electoral college votes to the running tally. By contrast, CNN and MSNBC, networks that have traditionally favored Democrats in their reporting, reported for those same elections that it would be premature to name a winner. At one point, Fox assigned more than 60 Electoral College votes to Biden than either CNN or MSNBC.

By 11 P.M. on November 3, it was clear that several states had ceased to update the vote totals provided to the networks. In all of these states, Donald Trump had a sizable margin of victory, and it appeared unlikely that Joe Biden could receive enough votes to overcome the gap. This was also the case for key Senatorial races, including Thom Tillis (NC) and John James (MI).  If viewers’ sole source of information had been Fox News, they would have been clueless as to the causes of the delay.

Those following social media, however, discovered that there were a shocking number of newsworthy events that were impacting the election results. Some states claimed to have just discovered volumes of “new votes” for Joe Biden. In Arizona, voters were allegedly given Sharpies by poll workers that rendered their ballots null and void. Pennsylvania poll workers refused to permit poll watchers to observe the count, in clear contravention of the law. Other states reported bugs in election software that were generating dramatically skewed votes.

Fox proved to be an utter failure in its coverage of these events and many more. In the days following Election Day, compelling evidence that the vote totals in several battleground states were grossly inaccurate led the Republican Party to file judicial challenges. The associated recounts and related efforts will undoubtedly be lengthy and intensive, as they must to ensure that all legal votes are tallied; it is only when those efforts have been completed that the United States will be assured of the identity of our next President and the outcome of other affected elections.

Nevertheless, on November 7, Fox announced that Joe Biden would be inaugurated on January 20, 2021 — the first network to do so. It is difficult to think of a more irresponsible act. By prematurely making this announcement, Fox grievously undermined the electoral process, completely ignored the role of the judiciary, and demonstrated an utter disregard for the accuracy of the election results. In a year that has engendered chaos like no other, Fox is tacitly encouraging a hostile, aggressive response to candidates who are only seeking the truth. If such hostility must exist at all, it should be directed at those who manipulate our elections and force officials upon the country who do not truly reflect the will of the people.

The rationale for Fox’s abdication of its role as America’s journalist is not entirely clear, but it appears to be an attempt to ingratiate the organization with the Democrats and other global  media and technology companies that have already fallen sway to liberal bullies.

By signing this petition, we reject this new Fox. We will not honor Fox with our time or our money. This extends to Fox affiliates, News Corp., and the sponsors and advertisers of Fox and its affiliates. If expanding the #CancelCulture is the only way that we can grab Fox’s attention, then so be it:

We hereby cancel Fox until and unless a true Fair & Balanced approach is restored.