Since the election of Donald Trump last November, the landscape of American politics and media coverage has drastically changed. While Fox News still remains at the top of the mountain, the network has received increased backlash as of late, including from surprising people like former White House intern and now author, Monica Lewinsky.

Fox News backlash

When Fox News was created by recently deceased Roger Ailes over 20 years ago, it was viewed as the conservative alternative to the current news of the day. Right-wing Americans have long pushed back at the press, accusing typically well-respected journalists and reporters of having a liberal bias against their own views, as well as those of the Republican Party.

During the early years, the network focused heavily on the presidency of Bill Clinton, and eventually the scandal involving then White House intern Monica Lewinsky. As expected, the network was highly critical of the president, routinely bashing him, Democrats, and Lewinsky, all in the name of defending the conservative brand. Fast forward to present day and Fox News is still the number one cable news channel in the country, despite recent sexual assault and harassment allegations that have hovered over the network. As reported by The Hill on May 22, Lewinsky didn't hold back her thoughts on the channel while commenting on the recent death of Ailes.

In an op-ed written for the New York Times on Monday, Monica Lewinsky ripped into Fox News and the network's treatment of her during the scandal involving Bill Clinton.

"My character, my looks and my life were picked apart mercilessly," Lewinsky wrote, while describing their reporting of her as a "nightmare."

“Truth and fiction mixed at random in the service of higher ratings," Monica Lewinsky wrote, before saying that for Fox News, "no rumor was too unsubstantiated, no innuendo too vile and no accusation too abhorrent." The former Clinton intern went on to describe the remarks made on television as being "excruciating," while explaining that she was left to feel like a "whore, a bimbo, a slut and worse."

Ratings woes

Though Fox News has long been known as the top cable news network, liberal rival MSNBC is starting to make waves.

For the first time in the network's history, MSNBC won the prime-time slot last week, averaging 2.44 million viewers compared to the 2.4 million brought in by the opposition. It's unknown if the ratings results for last week were a fluke, or if the scandal-ridden Fox News will continue to slide as networks critical of Donald Trump see an increase in popularity.
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