Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?

For nearly 20 years, “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace has left the conservative network and joined network rival CNN+ for his new show, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” Wallace has been a staple news anchor at Fox News, often being a moderator at presidential debates, interviewing leaders of the Republican party, and hosting a slew of controversial guests. Unlike his fellow anchors like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, Wallace was considered the tamer of the hosts, often playing the middle-man on controversial topics.

In an interview promoting his new CNN show, Wallace credited his decision to leave Fox News due to the network culture. “Before, I found it was an environment in which I could do my job and feel good about my involvement at Fox, And since November of 2020, that just became unsustainable, increasingly unsustainable as time went on,” said Wallace.

The “unstainable” and toxic work environment that Wallace refers to is the constant lies and misinformation said to the Fox News viewers. Wallace was the sore thumb of the group within Fox Network as one of the few anchors who did not blindly follow along with Trump’s narrative, which the network religiously favored.

But why now? After nearly twenty years on-air, Wallace knew about the lies and the intentions behind Fox News. The anchors purposely change the story's narrative to fit their story for more clicks, all in the effort to blindly follow Trump. So why now?

In response to the question above, Wallace told the New York Times, “I think Fox has changed over the course of the last year and a half. But I can certainly understand where somebody would say, ‘Gee, you were a slow learner, Chris.”

However, Wallace is jumping-ship now after nearly 20 years with a company that has many issues with reporting hard facts seems a bit disingenuous.

If Wallace was an honor-following journalist, he should have left the company either sooner or condemned the actions of his previous company. Like his other former Fox News co-host, Wallace is responsible for the polarization and exaggeration of stories that have greatly shaped the American audience.

For now, it looks as though Wallace is following the money trail and not apologetic for his part in destroying the news business. While Wallace is no longer directly feeding the machine that is Fox News, his past works contributed to the lies, manipulation, and fueled distrust and polarization in America.

It will be interesting to observe how CNN viewers will approach Wallace and how Wallace's journalism tactics will change to match his new demographics' political thought process.