'Sponsored by Sharpie': Fox News brutally mocked as the network prepares to debut new weather channel

Matthew Chapman
July 06, 2021

CNN screenshot

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Fox News is moving ahead with plans to produce its own dedicated weather channel.

"Later this year, Rupert Murdoch is set to debut Fox Weather, a 24-hour streaming channel that promises to do for 7-day forecasts what Fox has done for American politics, financial news and sports," reported Michael Grynbaum. "Amid a waning appetite for political news in the post-Trump era, media executives are realizing that demand for weather updates is ubiquitous — and for an increasing swath of the country, a matter of urgent concern. In the past week alone, temperatures in the Pacific Northwest broke records, wildfires burned in Colorado, and Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into a hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean."

The news was greeted with mockery from commenters on social media, many of whom anticipated that Fox Weather could carry the signature right-wing bias of national Fox networks. Some noted the irony given Fox has long spread climate denial, and others wondered whether the network would support political alterations of the weather, like when former President Donald Trump infamously changed a hurricane map with a Sharpie

.