Fox News released a recut version of a February COVID-19 PSA on Wednesday directing viewers to the new vaccine finder on the company’s digital homepage.
Online and in the media, speculation abounded that Fox News created a “new” PSA due to rampant criticism of some of their opinion hosts’ vaccine coverage. The fact is, however, that the PSA was shot early this year and debuted in February.
In the February version, Fox News talent John Roberts, Dana Perino, Harris Faulkner and Steve Doocy urge viewers to mask up and get vaccinated. Faulkner hosted a town hall on vaccines around the same time and Doocy has been vocal about his own vaccination in recent months.
Wednesday’s recut features Faulkner and Doocy’s segments from the original PSA, with Doocy saying, “America, we’re in this together,” and Faulkner adding, “And if you can, get the vaccine.” The new version is 10 seconds long, significantly shorter than the original 30-second clip, and directs viewers to FoxNews.com, where the sidebar on the right of the page directs to the government’s official vaccine site locator. Perino’s encouragement for viewers to wear masks was omitted from the recut version as mask mandates have lifted around the country since the original aired in February, as was Roberts’ contribution.
So, no, in spite of media coverage saying the spot is “new” and tweets claiming the PSA is somehow a response to external pressure, it’s just a repackaging of something that’s been airing on the network and available online for almost half a year.
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