As Fox News downplayed coronavirus, Rupert Murdoch's family took the threat seriously by canceling his 89th birthday party

The New York Times

"If you were watching some of the commentators on Fox News and Fox Business in the first 10 days of March, you wouldn’t have been too worried about the coronavirus — it would be no worse than the flu, and the real story was the 'coronavirus impeachment scam,'" says Ben Smith. "Many of the networks’ elderly, pro-Trump viewers responded to the coverage and the president’s public statements by taking the virus less seriously than, a week later, everyone else had. Public health experts have said that some of them may die as a result, as I reported this week. But one elderly Fox News viewer, a crucial supporter of President Trump, took the threat seriously: The channel’s chairman, Rupert Murdoch, who was to celebrate his 89th birthday on March 11. On March 8, as the virus was spreading, the Murdoch family called off a planned party out of concern for the patriarch’s health, according to a person familiar with the cancellation. There were about 20 people on the guest list." ALSO: President Trump to join Fox News for a "virtual" town hall featuring Dr. Oz and his White House coronavirus team.