title: Fox News

text: Research finds that Fox News increases Republican vote shares and makes Republican politicians more partisan. A 2007 study, using the introduction of Fox News into local markets (1996–2000) as an instrumental variable, found that in the 2000 presidential election "Republicans gained 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points in the towns that broadcast Fox News", suggesting "Fox News convinced 3 to 28 percent of its viewers to vote Republican, depending on the audience measure". These results were confirmed by a 2015 study. A 2014 study, using the same instrumental variable, found congressional "representatives become less supportive of President Clinton in districts where Fox News begins broadcasting than similar representatives in similar districts where Fox News was not broadcast." Another 2014 paper found Fox News viewing increased Republican vote shares among voters who identified as Republican or independent. A 2017 study, using channel positions as an instrumental variable, found "Fox News increases Republican vote shares by 0.3 points among viewers induced into watching 2.5 additional minutes per week by variation in position." This study used a different metodhology for a later period and found an ever bigger effect and impact, leading Matthew Yglesias to write in the "Political Communication" academic journal that they "suggest that conventional wisdom may be greatly underestimating the significance of Fox as a factor in American politics."


title: Fox News

text: Fox News publicly denies it is biased, with Murdoch and Ailes saying to have included Murdoch's statement that Fox has "given room to both sides, whereas only one side had it before". In June 2009, Fox News host Chris Wallace said: "I think we are the counter-weight [to NBC News] ... they have a liberal agenda, and we tell the other side of the story." In 2004, Robert Greenwald's documentary film "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" argued Fox News had a conservative bias and featured clips from Fox News and internal memos from editorial vice president John Moody directing Fox News staff on how to report certain subjects.


title: Fox News

text: A leaked memo from Fox News vice president Bill Sammon to news staff at the height of the health care reform in the United States debate has been cited as an example of the pro-Republican Party bias of Fox News. His memo asked the staff to "use the term 'government-run health insurance,' or, when brevity is a concern, 'government option,' whenever possible". The memo was sent shortly after Republican pollster Frank Luntz advised Sean Hannity on his Fox show: "If you call it a public option, the American people are split. If you call it the government option, the public is overwhelmingly against it."


title: Fox News

text: Surveys suggest Fox News is widely perceived to be ideological. A 2009 Pew survey found Fox News is viewed as the most ideological channel in America, with 47 percent of those surveyed said Fox News is "mostly conservative", 14 percent said "mostly liberal" and 24 percent said "neither". In comparison, MSNBC had 36 percent identify it as "mostly liberal", 11 percent as "mostly conservative" and 27 percent as "neither". CNN had 37 percent describe it as "mostly liberal", 11 percent as "mostly conservative" and 33 percent as "neither". A 2004 Pew Research Center survey found FNC was cited (unprompted) by 69 percent of national journalists as a conservative news organization. A Rasmussen poll found 31 percent of Americans felt Fox News had a conservative bias, and 15 percent that it had a liberal bias. It found 36 percent believed Fox News delivers news with neither a conservative or liberal bias, compared with 37 percent who said NPR delivers news with no conservative or liberal bias and 32 percent who said the same of CNN.


title: Fox News

text: David Carr, media critic for "The New York Times", praised the 2012 United States presidential election results coverage on Fox News for the network's response to Republican adviser and Fox News contributor Karl Rove challenging its call that Barack Obama would win Ohio and the election. Fox's prediction was correct. Carr wrote: "Over many months, Fox lulled its conservative base with agitprop: that President Obama was a clear failure, that a majority of Americans saw [Mitt] Romney as a good alternative in hard times, and that polls showing otherwise were politically motivated and not to be believed. But on Tuesday night, the people in charge of Fox News were confronted with a stark choice after it became clear that Mr. Romney had fallen short: was Fox, first and foremost, a place for advocacy or a place for news? In this moment, at least, Fox chose news."


title: Fox News

text: A May 2017 study conducted by Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy examined coverage of Trump's first 100 days in office by several major mainstream media outlets including Fox. It found Trump received 80% negative coverage from the overall media, and received the least negative coverage on Fox – 52% negative and 48% positive.


title: Fox News

text: On March 14, 2017, Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News commentator, claimed on "Fox & Friends" that British intelligence agency GCHQ had wiretapped Trump on behalf of Barack Obama during the 2016 United States presidential election. On March 16, 2017, White House spokesman Sean Spicer repeated the claim. When Trump was questioned about the claim at a news conference, he said "All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn't make an opinion on it." On March 17, 2017, Shepard Smith, a Fox News anchor, admitted the network had no evidence that Trump was under surveillance. British officials said the White House was backing off the claim. Napolitano was later suspended by Fox News for making the claim.


title: Fox News

text: In June 2018, Fox News executives instructed producers to head off inappropriate remarks made on the shows aired by the network by hosts and commentators. The instructions came after a number of Fox News hosts and guests made incendiary comments about the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents. Fox News host Laura Ingraham had likened the child detention centers that the children were in to "summer camps". Guest Corey Lewandowski mocked the story of a 10-year-old child with Down syndrome being separated from her mother; the Fox News host did not address Lewandowski's statement. Guest Ann Coulter falsely claimed that the separated children were "child actors"; the Fox News host did not challenge her claim. In a segment on Trump's alleged use of racial dog whistles, one Fox News contributor told an African-American whom he was debating: "You're out of your cotton-picking mind."


title: Fox News

text: According to the 2016 book "Asymmetric Politics" by political scientists Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins, "Fox News tends to raise the profile of scandals and controversies involving Democrats that receive scant attention in other media, such as the relationship between Barack Obama and William Ayers ... Hillary Clinton's role in the fatal 2012 attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya; the gun-running scandal known as 'Fast and Furious'; the business practices of federal loan guarantee recipient Solyndra; the past activism of Obama White House operative Van Jones; the 2004 attacks on John Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth; the controversial sermons of Obama's Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright; the filming of undercover videos of supposed wrongdoing by the liberal activist group ACORN; and the 'war on Christmas' supposedly waged every December by secular, multicultural liberals."


title: Fox News

text: In October 2018, Fox News ran laudatory coverage of a meeting between Trump-supporting rapper Kanye West and President Trump in the Oval Office. Fox News had previously run negative coverage of rappers and their involvement with Democratic politicians and causes, such as when Fox News ran headlines describing conscious hip-hop artist Common as "vile" and a "cop-killer rapper", and when Fox News ran negative coverage of Kanye West before he became a Trump supporter.


title: Fox News

text: On November 4, 2018, Trump's website, DonaldJTrump.com, announced in a press release that Fox News host Sean Hannity would make a "special guest appearance" with Trump at a midterm campaign rally the following night in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The following morning, Hannity tweeted "To be clear, I will not be on stage campaigning with the President." Hannity appeared at the president's lectern on stage at the rally, immediately mocking the "fake news" at the back of the auditorium, Fox News reporters among them. Several Fox News employees expressed outrage at Hannity's actions, with one stating that "a new line was crossed". Hannity later asserted that his action was not pre-planned, and Fox News stated it "does not condone any talent participating in campaign events". Fox News host Jeanine Pirro also appeared on stage with Trump at the rally. The Trump press release was later removed from Trump's website.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News released a poll of registered voters, jointly conducted by two polling organizations, on June 16, 2019. The poll found some unfavorable results for Trump, including a record high 50% thought the Trump campaign had coordinated with the Russian government, and 50% thought he should be impeached – 43% saying he should also be removed from office – while 48% said they did not favor impeachment. The next morning on "Fox & Friends First", host Heather Childers twice misrepresented the poll results, stating "a new Fox News poll shows most voters don't want impeachment" and "at least half of U.S. voters do not think President Trump should be impeached," while the on-screen display of the actual poll question was also incorrect. Later that morning on "America's Newsroom", the on-screen display showed the correct poll question and results, but highlighted the 48% of respondents who opposed impeachment rather than the 50% who supported it (the latter being broken-out into two figures). As host Bill Hemmer drew guest Byron York's attention to the 48% opposed figure, they did not discuss the 50% support figure, while the on-screen chyron read: "Fox News Poll: 43% Support Trump's Impeachment and Removal, 48% Oppose." Later that day, Trump tweeted: "@FoxNews Polls are always bad for me...Something weird going on at Fox."


title: Fox News

text: In April 2017, it became known that former Obama administration national security advisor Susan Rice sought the unmasking of Trump associates who were unidentified in intelligence reports, notably Trump's incoming national security advisor Michael Flynn, during the presidential transition. In May 2020, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist, declassified a list of Obama administration officials who had also requested unmasking of Trump associates, which was subsequently publicly released by Republican senators. That month, attorney general Bill Barr appointed federal prosecutor John Bash to examine the unmaskings. Fox News primetime hosts declared the unmaskings a "domestic spying operation" for which the Obama administration was "exposed" in the "biggest abuse of power" in American history. The Bash inquiry closed months later with no findings of substantive wrongdoing.


title: Fox News

text: However, certain Fox personalities have not had as much of a favorable reception from Trump: news anchors Shepard Smith (who retired from Fox in 2019) and Chris Wallace have been criticised by Trump for allegedly being adversarial, alongside Fox analyst Andrew Napolitano, who said Trump's actions in the Trump–Ukraine scandal were "both criminal and impeachable behavior". Trump was also critical of the network hiring former DNC chair Donna Brazile, in 2019. The relationship between Trump and Fox News, as well as other Rupert Murdoch-controlled outlets, soured following the 2020 United States presidential election, as Trump refused to concede that Joe Biden had been elected President-elect. This negative tonal shift led to increased viewership of Newsmax and One America News among Trump and his supporters due to their increased antipathy towards Fox; and as a result, Fox released promotional videos of their opinion hosts disputing the election results, promoting a Trump-affiliated conspiracy theory about voter fraud. By one measure, Newsmax saw a 497% spike in viewership, while Fox News saw a 38% decline.


title: Fox News

text: Writing for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in February 2021, senior media writer Tom Jones argued that the primary distinction between Fox News and MSNBC is not right bias vs. left bias, but rather that much of the content on Fox News, especially during its primetime programs, "is not based in truth."


title: Fox News

text: The "Tampa Bay Times" reported in August 2021 that it had reviewed four months of emails indicating Fox News producers had coordinated with aides of Florida governor Ron DeSantis to promote his political prospects by inviting him for frequent network appearances, exchanging talking points and, in one case, helping him to stage an exclusive news event.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News has published headlines accusing the English Wikipedia of having a left-wing and socialist bias.


title: Fox News

text: On October 30, 2017, when special counsel Robert Mueller indicted Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and revealed George Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty (all of whom were involved in the Trump 2016 campaign), this was the focus of most media's coverage, except Fox News'. Hosts and guests on Fox News called for Mueller to be fired. Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson focused their shows on unsubstantiated allegations that Clinton sold uranium to Russia in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation and on the Clinton campaign's role in funding the Steele dossier. Hannity asserted: "The very thing they are accusing President Trump of doing, they did it themselves." During the segment, Hannity mistakenly referred to Clinton as President Clinton. Fox News dedicated extensive coverage to the uranium story, which Democrats said was an attempt to distract from Mueller's intensifying investigation. CNN described the coverage as "a tour de force in deflection and dismissal". On October 31, CNN reported Fox News employees were dissatisfied with their outlet's coverage of the Russia investigation, with employees calling it an "embarrassment", "laughable", and saying it "does the viewer a huge disservice and further divides the country" and that it is "another blow to journalists at Fox who come in every day wanting to cover the news in a fair and objective way".


title: Fox News

text: When the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election intensified in October 2017, the focus of Fox News coverage turned "what they see as the scandal and wrongdoing of President Trump's political opponents. In reports like these, Bill and Hillary Clinton are prominent and recurring characters because they are considered the real conspirators working with the Russians to undermine American democracy." Paul Waldman of "The Washington Post" described the coverage as "No puppet. You're the puppet", saying it was a "careful, coordinated, and comprehensive strategy" to distract from Mueller's investigation. German Lopes of "Vox" said Fox News' coverage has reached "levels of self-parody" as it dedicated coverage to low-key stories, such as a controversial "Newsweek" op-ed and hamburger emojis, while other networks had wall-to-wall coverage of Mueller's indictments.


title: Fox News

text: A "FiveThirtyEight" analysis of Russia-related media coverage in cable news found most mentions of Russia on Fox News were spoken in close proximity to "uranium" and "dossier". On November 1, 2017, "Vox" analyzed the transcripts of Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, and found Fox News "was unable to talk about the Mueller investigation without bringing up Hillary Clinton", "talked significantly less about George Papadopoulos—the Trump campaign adviser whose plea deal with Mueller provides the most explicit evidence thus far that the campaign knew of the Russian government's efforts to help Trump—than its competitors", and "repeatedly called Mueller's credibility into question".


title: Fox News

text: In December 2017, Fox News escalated its attacks on the Mueller investigation, with hosts and guest commentators suggesting the investigation amounted to a coup. Guest co-host Kevin Jackson referred to a right-wing conspiracy theory claiming Strzok's messages are evidence of a plot by FBI agents to assassinate Trump, a claim which the other Fox co-hosts quickly said is not supported by any credible evidence. Fox News host Jeanine Pirro called the Mueller investigation team a "criminal cabal" and said the team ought to be arrested. Other Fox News figures referred to the investigation as "corrupt", "crooked", and "illegitimate", and likened the FBI to the KGB, the Soviet-era spy organization that routinely tortured and summarily executed people. Political scientists and scholars of coups described the Fox News rhetoric as scary and dangerous. Experts on coups rejected that the Mueller investigation amounted to a coup; rather, the Fox News rhetoric was dangerous to democracy and mirrored the kind of rhetoric that occurs before purges. A number of observers argued the Fox News rhetoric was intended to discredit the Mueller investigation and sway President Donald Trump to fire Mueller.


title: Fox News

text: In August 2018, Fox News was criticized for giving more prominent coverage of a murder committed by an undocumented immigrant than the convictions of Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his long-term personal attorney, Michael Cohen. At the same time, most other national mainstream media gave wall-to-wall coverage of the convictions. Fox News hosts Dana Perrino and Jason Chaffetz argued that voters care far more about the murder than the convictions of the President's former top aides, and hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity downplayed the convictions.


title: Fox News

text: In November 2017, following the 2017 New York City truck attack wherein a terrorist shouted "Allahu Akbar", Fox News distorted a statement by Jake Tapper to make it appear as if he had said "Allahu Akbar" can be used under the most "beautiful circumstances". Fox News omitted that Tapper had said the use of "Allahu Akbar" in the terrorist attack was not one of these beautiful circumstances. A headline on FoxNews.com was preceded by a tag reading "OUTRAGEOUS". The Fox News Twitter account distorted the statement even more, saying "Jake Tapper Says 'Allahu Akbar' Is 'Beautiful' Right After NYC Terror Attack" in a tweet that was later deleted. Tapper chastised Fox News for choosing to "deliberately lie" and said "there was a time when one could tell the difference between Fox and the nutjobs at "Infowars". It's getting tougher and tougher. Lies are lies." Tapper had in 2009, while a White House correspondent for ABC News, come to the defense of Fox News when the Obama administration claimed that the network was not a legitimate news organization.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News guest host Jason Chaffetz apologized to Tapper for misrepresenting his statement. After Fox News had deleted the tweet, Sean Hannity repeated the misrepresentation and called Tapper "liberal fake news CNN's fake Jake Tapper" and mocked his ratings.


title: Fox News

text: In July 2017, a report by "Fox & Friends" falsely said "The New York Times" had disclosed intelligence in one of its stories and that this intelligence disclosure helped Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, to evade capture. The report cited an inaccurate assertion by Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of the United States Special Operations Command, that a major newspaper had disclosed the intelligence. Fox News said it was "The New York Times", repeatedly running the chyron "NYT Foils U.S. Attempt To Take Out Al-Bahgdadi". Pete Hegseth, one of the show's hosts, criticized the "failing "New York Times"". President Donald Trump tweeted about the "Fox & Friends" report shortly after it first aired, saying "The Failing "New York Times" foiled U.S. attempt to kill the single most wanted terrorist, Al-Baghdadi. Their sick agenda over National Security." Fox News later updated the story, but without apologizing to "The New York Times" or responding directly to the inaccuracies.


title: Fox News

text: In a "Washington Post" column, Erik Wemple said Chris Wallace had covered "The New York Times" story himself on "Fox News Sunday", adding: "Here's another case of the differing standards between Fox News's opinion operation", which has given "a state-run vibe on all matters related to Trump", compared to Fox News's news operation, which has provided "mostly sane coverage".


title: Fox News

text: Fox News has often been described as a major platform for climate change denial. According to the fact-checking website Climate Feedback, Fox News is part of "a network of unreliable outlets for climate news." A 2011 study by Lauren Feldman and Anthony Leiserowitz found Fox News "takes a more dismissive tone toward climate change than CNN and MSNBC". A 2008 study found Fox News emphasized the scientific uncertainty of climate change more than CNN, was less likely to say climate change was real, and more likely to interview climate change skeptics. Leaked emails showed that in 2009 Bill Sammon, the Fox News Washington managing editor, instructed Fox News journalists to dispute the scientific consensus on climate change and "refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question."


title: Fox News

text: According to climate scientist Michael E. Mann, Fox News "has constructed an alternative universe where the laws of physics no longer apply, where the greenhouse effect is a myth, and where climate change is a hoax, the product of a massive conspiracy among scientists, who somehow have gotten the polar bears, glaciers, sea levels, superstorms, and megadroughts to play along." According to James Lawrence Powell's 2011 study of the climate science denial movement, Fox News provides "the deniers with a platform to say whatever they like without fear of contradiction." Fox News employs Steve Milloy, a prominent climate change denier with close financial and organizational ties to oil companies, as a contributor. In his columns about climate change for "FoxNews.com", Fox News has failed to disclose his substantial funding from oil companies.


title: Fox News

text: In 2011, the hosts of "Fox & Friends" described climate change as "unproven science", a "disputed fact", and criticized the Department of Education for working together with the children's network Nickelodeon to teach children about climate change. In 2001, Sean Hannity described the scientific consensus on climate change as "phony science from the left". In 2004, he falsely alleged that "scientists still can't agree on whether the global warming is scientific fact or fiction". In 2010, Hannity said the so-called "Climategate" – the leaking of e-mails by climate scientist that climate change skeptics claimed demonstrated scientific misconduct but which all subsequent enquiries have found no evidence of misconduct or wrongdoing – a "scandal" that "exposed global warming as a myth cooked up by alarmists". Hannity frequently invites contrarian fringe scientists and critics of climate change to his shows. In 2019, a widely shared Fox News news report falsely claimed that new climate science research showed that the Earth might be heading to a new Ice Age; the author of the study that Fox News cited said that Fox News "utterly misrepresents our research" and the study did not in any way suggest that Earth was heading to an Ice Age. Fox News later corrected the story.


title: Fox News

text: Shepard Smith drew attention for being one of few voices formerly on Fox News to forcefully state that climate change is real, that human activities are a primary contributor to it and that there is a scientific consensus on the issue. His acceptance of the scientific consensus on climate change drew criticism from Fox News viewers and conservatives. Smith left Fox News in October 2019. In a 2021 interview with Christiane Amanpour on her eponymous show in CNN, he stated that his presence on Fox had become "untenable" due to the "falsehoods" and "lies" intentionally spread on the network's opinion shows.


title: Fox News

text: On May 16, 2017, a day when other news organizations were extensively covering Donald Trump's revelation of classified information to Russia, Fox News ran a lead story about a private investigator's uncorroborated claims about the murder of Seth Rich, a DNC staffer. The private investigator said he had uncovered evidence that Rich was in contact with Wikileaks and law enforcement were covering it up. The killing of Rich has given rise to conspiracy theories in rightwing circles that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party had Seth Rich killed allegedly because he was the source of the DNC leaks. U.S. intelligence agencies determined Russia was the source of the leaks. In reporting the investigator's claims, the Fox News report reignited right-wing conspiracy theories about the killing.


title: Fox News

text: The Fox News story fell apart within hours. Other news organizations quickly revealed the investigator was a Donald Trump supporter and had according to NBC News "developed a reputation for making outlandish claims, such as one appearance on Fox News in 2007 in which he warned that underground networks of pink pistol-toting lesbian gangs were raping young women." The family of Seth Rich, the Washington D.C. police department, the Washington D.C. mayor's office, the FBI, and law enforcement sources familiar with the case rebuked the investigator's claims. Rich's relatives said: "We are a family who is committed to facts, not fake evidence that surfaces every few months to fill the void and distract law enforcement and the general public from finding Seth's murderers." The spokesperson for the family criticized Fox News for its reporting, alleging the outlet was motivated by a desire to deflect attention from the Trump-Russia story: "I think there's a very special place in hell for people that would use the memory of a murder victim in order to pursue a political agenda." The family has called for retractions and apologies from Fox News for the inaccurate reporting. Over the course of the day, Fox News altered the contents of the story and the headline, but did not issue corrections. When CNN contacted the private investigator later that day, the investigator said he had no evidence that Rich had contacted Wikileaks. The investigator claimed he only learned about the possible existence of the evidence from a Fox News reporter. Fox News did not respond to inquiries by CNN, and the Washington Post. Fox News later on May 23, seven days after the story was published, retracted its original report, saying the original report did not meet its standards.


title: Fox News

text: Nicole Hemmer, then assistant professor at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote that the promotion of the conspiracy theory demonstrated how Fox News was "remaking itself in the image of fringe media in the age of Trump, blurring the lines between real and fake news." Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations said while intent behind Fox News, as a counterweight to the liberal media was laudable, the culmination of those efforts have been to create an alternative news source that promotes hoaxes and myths, of which the promotion of the Seth Rich conspiracy is an example. Fox News was also criticized by conservative outlets, such as "The Weekly Standard", "National Review", and conservative columnists, such as Jennifer Rubin, Michael Gerson, and John Podhoretz.


title: Fox News

text: Rich's parents, Joel and Mary Rich, sued Fox News for the emotional distress it had caused them by its false reporting. In 2020, Fox News settled with Rich family, making a payment that was not officially disclosed but which was reported to be in the seven figures. Although the settlement had been agreed to earlier in the year, Fox News arranged to delay the public announcement until after the 2020 presidential election.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News hosts and contributors defended Trump's remarks that "many sides" were to blame for violence at a gathering of hundreds of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Some criticized Trump. In a press conference on August 15, Trump used the term "alt-left" to describe counterprotesters at the white supremacist rally, a term which had been used in Fox News' coverage of the white supremacist rally. Several of Trump's comments at the press conference mirrored those appearing earlier on Fox News.


title: Fox News

text: According to Dylan Byers of CNN, Fox News' coverage on the day of the press conference "was heavy with "whataboutism". The average Fox viewer was likely left with the impression that the media's criticism of Trump and leftist protestors' toppling of some Confederate statues were far greater threats to America than white supremacism or the president's apparent defense of bigotry." Byers wrote "it showed that if Fox News has a line when it comes to Trump's presidency, it was not crossed on Tuesday."


title: Fox News

text: During Glenn Beck's tenure at Fox News, he became one of the most high-profile proponents of conspiracy theories about George Soros, a Jewish Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist known for his donations to American liberal political causes. Beck regularly described Soros as a "puppet-master" and used common anti-Semitic tropes to describe Soros and his activities. In a 2010 three-part series, Beck depicted George Soros as a cartoonish villain trying to "form a shadow government, using humanitarian aid as a cover," and that Soros wanted a one-world government. Beck promoted the false and anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Soros was a Nazi collaborator as a 14-year-old in Nazi-occupied Hungary. Beck also characterized Soros's mother as a "wildly anti-Semitic" Nazi collaborator. According to "The Washington Post": "Beck's series was largely considered obscene and delusional, if not outright anti-Semitic", but Beck's conspiracy theory became common on the rightwing of American politics. Amid criticism of Beck's false smears, Fox News defended Beck, stating "information regarding Mr. Soros's experiences growing up were taken directly from his writings and from interviews given by him to the media, and no negative opinion was offered as to his actions as a child." Roger Ailes, then-head of Fox News, dismissed criticism levied at Beck by hundreds of rabbis, saying that they were "left-wing rabbis who basically don't think that anybody can ever use the word, Holocaust, on the air."


title: Fox News

text: During the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Fox News was considerably more likely than other mainstream news outlets to promote misinformation about COVID-19. The network promoted the narrative that the emergency response to the pandemic was politically motivated or otherwise unwarranted, with Sean Hannity explicitly calling it a "hoax" (he later denied doing so) and other hosts downplaying it. This coverage was consistent with the messaging of Trump at the time. Only in mid March did the network change the tone of its coverage, after President Trump declared a national emergency. At the same time that Fox News commentators downplayed the threat of the virus in public, Fox's management and the Murdoch family took a broad range of internal measures to protect themselves and their employees against it.


title: Fox News

text: Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, two of Fox News's primetime hosts, promoted use of the drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, an off-label usage which at the time was supported only by anecdotal evidence, after it was touted by Trump as a possible cure. Fox News promoted a conspiracy theory that coronavirus death toll numbers were inflated with people who would have died anyway from preexisting conditions. This was refuted by White House coronavirus task force members Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, with Fauci describing conspiracy theories as "nothing but distractions" during public health crises. Later in the pandemic, Hannity, Ingraham and Carlson promoted the use of livestock dewormer ivermectin as a possible COVID-19 treatment.


title: Fox News

text: Studies have linked trust in Fox News, as well as viewership of Fox News, with fewer preventive behaviors and more risky behaviors related to COVID-19.


title: Fox News

text: Once a COVID-19 vaccine became widely available, Fox News consistently questioned the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, celebrated evidence-free skepticism, and blasted attempts to promote vaccinations. More than 90% of Fox Corporation's full-time employees had been fully vaccinated by September 2021.


title: Fox News

text: After Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro promoted baseless allegations on her program that voting machine company Smartmatic and its competitor Dominion Voting Systems had conspired to rig the election against Trump. Hosts Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo also promoted the allegations on their programs on sister network Fox Business. In December 2020, Smartmatic sent a letter to Fox News demanding retractions and threatening legal action, specifying that retractions "must be published on multiple occasions" so as to "match the attention and audience targeted with the original defamatory publications." Days later, each of the three programs aired the same three-minute video segment consisting of an interview with an election technology expert who refuted the allegations promoted by the hosts, responding to questions from an unseen and unidentified man. None of the three hosts personally issued retractions. Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against the network, the three hosts, Powell and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani in February 2021. In an April 2021 court brief seeking dismissal of the suit, Fox attorney Paul Clement argued that the network was simply "reporting allegations made by a sitting President and his lawyers." A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled in March 2022 that the suit could proceed, though he dismissed allegations against Sidney Powell and Pirro, and some claims against Giuliani. The judge allowed allegations against Bartiromo and Dobbs to stand.


title: Fox News

text: In December 2020, Dominion Voting Systems sent a similar letter demanding retractions to Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who had promoted the allegations on Fox programs. On March 26, 2021, Dominion filed a $1.6billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that Fox and some of its pundits spread conspiracy theories about Dominion, and allowed guests to make false statements about the company. On May 18, 2021, Fox News filed a motion to dismiss the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, asserting a First Amendment right "to inform the public about newsworthy allegations of paramount public concern." The motion to dismiss was denied on December 16, 2021, by a Delaware Superior Court judge. In addition to Bartiromo, Dobbs, and Pirro, the suit also names primetime hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil sued Fox, Dobbs and Powell for $250 million in December 2021, alleging they had falsely implicated him in rigging Dominion and Smartmatic machines.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News was the only major network or cable news outlet to not carry the first televised prime time hearing of the January 6 committee live; its regular programming of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" and "Hannity" was aired without commercial breaks. During the weeks following the election, Carlson and Hannity often amplified Trump's election falsehoods on their programs; previously disclosed text messages between Hannity and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany were presented during the hearing. Hannity told his audience, "Unlike this committee and their cheerleaders in the media mob, we will actually be telling you the truth," while Carlson said, "This is the only hour on an American news channel that won't be covering their propaganda live. They are lying and we are not going to help them do it."


title: Fox News

text: In June 2022, a Delaware Superior Court judge again declined to dismiss the Dominion suit against Fox News, and also allowed Dominion to sue the network's corporate parent, Fox Corporation. The judge ruled that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch may have acted with actual malice because there was a reasonable inference they "either knew Dominion had not manipulated the election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion." He noted a report that Rupert Murdoch spoke with Trump a few days after the election and informed him that he had lost.


title: Fox News

text: In April 2021, at least five Fox News and Fox Business personalities amplified a story published by the "Daily Mail", a British tabloid, that incorrectly linked a university study to President Joe Biden's climate change agenda, to falsely assert that Americans would be compelled to dramatically reduce their meat consumption to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions caused by flatulence. Fox News aired a graphic detailing the supposed compulsory reductions, falsely indicating the information came from the Agriculture Department, which numerous Republican politicians and commentators tweeted. Fox News anchor John Roberts reported to "say goodbye to your burgers if you want to sign up to the Biden climate agenda." Days later, Roberts acknowledged on air that the story was false.


title: Fox News

text: According to analysis by Media Matters, on May 12, 2021, Fox News reported on its website: "Biden resumes border wall construction after promising to halt it". Correspondent Bill Melugin then appeared on "Special Report with Bret Baier" to report "the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is actually going to be restarting border wall construction down in the Rio Grande Valley" after "a lot of blowback and pressure from local residents and local politicians." After the Corps of Engineers tweeted a clarification, Melugin deleted a tweet about the story and tweeted an "update" clarifying that a levee wall was being constructed to mitigate damage to flood control systems caused by uncompleted wall construction, and the website story headline was changed to "Biden administration to resume border wall levee construction as crisis worsens." Later on "Fox News Primetime", host Brian Kilmeade briefly noted the levee but commented to former Trump advisor Stephen Miller: "They're going to restart building the wall again, Stephen." Fox News host Sean Hannity later broadcast the original Melugin story without any mention of the levee.


title: Fox News

text: The network has been accused of permitting sexual harassment and racial discrimination by on-air hosts, executives, and employees, paying out millions of dollars in legal settlements. Prominent Fox News figures such as Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly and Eric Bolling were fired after many women accused them of sexual harassment. At least four lawsuits alleged Fox News co-president Bill Shine ignored, enabled or concealed Roger Ailes' alleged sexual harassment. Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch has dismissed the high-profile sexual misconduct allegations as "largely political" and speculated they were made "because we are conservative".


title: Fox News

text: Bill O'Reilly and Fox News settled six agreements, totaling $45 million, with women who accused O'Reilly of sexual harassment. In January 2017, shortly after Bill O'Reilly settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $32 million ("an extraordinarily large amount for such cases"), Fox News renewed Bill O'Reilly's contract. Fox News's parent company, 21st Century Fox, said it was aware of the lawsuit. The contract between O'Reilly and Fox News read he could not be fired from the network unless sexual harassment allegations were proven in court.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News's extensive coverage of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in October 2017 was seen by some as hypocritical. Fox News dedicated at least 12 hours of coverage to the Weinstein scandal, yet only dedicated 20 minutes to Bill O'Reilly, who just like Weinstein had been accused of sexual harassment by a multitude of women. A few weeks later, when a number of females under the age of 18, including a 14-year-old, accused Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of making sexual advances, Hannity dismissed the sexual misconduct allegations and dedicated coverage on his TV show to casting doubt on the accusers. Other prime-time Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham queried "The Washington Post"s reporting or opted to bring up sexual misconduct allegations regarding show business figures such as Harvey Weinstein and Louis C.K. Fox News figures Jeanine Pirro and Gregg Jarrett questioned both the validity of "The Washington Post"s reporting and that of the women. In December 2017, a few days before the Alabama Senate election, Fox News, along with the conspiracy websites "Breitbart News" and "The Gateway Pundit", ran an inaccurate headline which claimed one of Roy Moore's accusers admitted to forging an inscription by Roy Moore in her yearbook; Fox News later added a correction to the story.


title: Fox News

text: A number of Fox News hosts have welcomed Bill O'Reilly to their shows and paid tributes to Roger Ailes after his death. In May 2017, Hannity called Ailes "a second father" and said to Ailes's "enemies" that he was "preparing to kick your a** in the next life". Ailes had the year before been fired from Fox News after women alleged he sexually harassed them. In September 2017, several months after Bill O'Reilly was fired from Fox News in the wake of women alleging he sexually harassed them, Hannity hosted O'Reilly on his show. Some Fox News employees criticized the decision. According to CNN, during the interview, Hannity found kinship with O'Reilly as he appeared "to feel that he and O'Reilly have both become victims of liberals looking to silence them."


title: Fox News

text: In September 2009, the Obama administration engaged in a verbal conflict with Fox News Channel. On September 20, President Barack Obama appeared on all major news programs except Fox News, a snub partially in response to remarks about him by commentators Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity and Fox coverage of Obama's health-care proposal.


title: Fox News

text: In late September 2009, Obama's senior advisor David Axelrod and Roger Ailes met in secret to attempt to smooth out tensions between the two camps. Two weeks later, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel referred to FNC as "not a news network" and communications director Anita Dunn said "Fox News often operates as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party". Obama commented: "If media is operating basically as a talk radio format, then that's one thing, and if it's operating as a news outlet, then that's another." Emanuel said it was important "to not have the CNNs and the others in the world basically be led in following Fox".


title: Fox News

text: Within days, it was reported that Fox had been excluded from an interview with administration official Ken Feinberg, with bureau chiefs from the White House press pool (ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN) coming to Fox's defense. A bureau chief said: "If any member had been excluded it would have been the same thing, it has nothing to do with Fox or the White House or the substance of the issues." Shortly after the story broke, the White House admitted to a low-level mistake, saying Fox had not made a specific request to interview Feinberg. Fox White House correspondent Major Garrett said he had not made a specific request, but had a "standing request from me as senior White House correspondent on Fox to interview any newsmaker at the Treasury at any given time news is being made".


title: Fox News

text: On November 8, 2009, the "Los Angeles Times" reported an unnamed Democratic consultant was warned by the White House not to appear on Fox News again. According to the article, Dunn claimed in an e-mail to have checked with colleagues who "deal with TV issues" who denied telling anyone to avoid Fox. Patrick Caddell, a Fox News contributor and former pollster for President Jimmy Carter, said he had spoken with other Democratic consultants who had received similar warnings from the White House.


title: Fox News

text: On October 2, 2013, Fox News host Anna Kooiman cited on the air a fake story from the "National Report" parody site, which claimed Obama had offered to keep the International Museum of Muslim Cultures open with cash from his own pocket.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News attracted controversy in April 2018 when it was revealed primetime host Sean Hannity had defended Trump's then personal attorney Michael Cohen on air without disclosing Cohen was his lawyer. On April 9, 2018, federal agents from the U.S. Attorney's office served a search warrant on Cohen's office and residence. On the air, Hannity defended Cohen and criticized the federal action, calling it "highly questionable" and "an unprecedented abuse of power". On April 16, 2018, in a court hearing, Cohen's lawyers told the judge that Cohen had ten clients in 2017–2018 but did "traditional legal tasks" for only three: Trump, Elliott Broidy, and a "prominent person" who did not wish to be named for fear of being "embarrassed". The federal judge ordered the revelation of the third client, whom Cohen's lawyers named as Hannity.


title: Fox News

text: Hannity was not sanctioned by Fox News for this breach of journalistic ethics, with Fox News releasing a statement that the channel was unaware of Hannity's relationship to Cohen and that it had "spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support." Media ethics experts said that Hannity's disclosure failure was a major breach of journalistic ethics and that the network should have suspended or fired him for it.


title: Fox News

text: In mid-2021, Fox News agreed to pay a $1 million settlement to New York City after its Commission on Human Rights cited "a pattern of violating the NYC Human Rights Law". A Fox News spokesperson claimed that "FOX News Media has already been in full compliance across the board, but [settled] to continue enacting extensive preventive measures against all forms of discrimination and harassment."


title: Fox News

text: The Fox News Channel feed has international availability via multiple providers, while "Fox Extra" segments provide alternate programming. Fox News is carried in more than 40 countries.


title: Fox News

text: In Australia, FNC is broadcast on the dominant pay television provider Foxtel, which is 65% owned by News Corp Australia, the Australian arm of News Corp and the sister company of FNC-owner Fox Corporation. Local cable news channel Sky News Australia is wholly owned by News Corp Australia and is therefore FNC's de facto sister channel, although has formal partnerships with FNC competitor CNN as well as both ABC News and CBS News.


title: Fox News

text: Since 2002, FNC has been broadcast to Brazil; however, commercials are replaced with "Fox Extra". It is available in packages of Vivo TV.


title: Fox News

text: Fox had initially planned to launch a joint venture with Canwest's Global Television Network, tentatively named Fox News Canada, which would have featured a mixture of U.S. and Canadian news programming. As a result, the CRTC denied a 2003 application requesting permission for Fox News Channel to be carried in Canada. However, in March 2004, a Fox executive said the venture had been shelved; in November of that year, the CRTC added Fox News to its whitelist of foreign channels that may be carried by television providers.


title: Fox News

text: Fox News is available on cable through French Internet provider Free on channel 352. As of Spring 2017, the channel was no longer found on the provider Orange's lineup.


title: Fox News

text: It is available through streaming service Disney+ Hotstar (formerly owned by FNC parent company 21st Century Fox).


title: Fox News

text: In Israel, FNC is broadcast on Channel 105 of the satellite provider Yes, as well as being carried on Cellcom TV and Partner TV. It is also broadcast on channel 200 on cable operator HOT.


title: Fox News

text: In Italy, FNC is broadcast on SKY Italia. Fox news was launched on Stream TV in 2001, and moved to SKY Italia in 2003.


title: Fox News

text: Although service to Japan ceased in summer 2003, it can still be seen on Americable (distributor for American bases), Mediatti (Kadena Air Base) and Pan Global TV Japan.


title: Fox News

text: In the Netherlands, Fox News has been carried by cable providers UPC Nederland and CASEMA, and satellite provider Canaldigitaal; all have dropped the channel in recent years. At this time, only cable provider Caiway (available in a limited number of towns in the central part of the country) is broadcasting the channel. The channel was also carried by IPTV provider KNIPPR (owned by T-Mobile).


title: Fox News

text: In New Zealand, FNC is broadcast on Channel 088 of pay satellite operator SKY Network Television's digital platform. It was formerly broadcast overnight on free-to-air UHF New Zealand TV channel Prime (owned by SKY); this was discontinued in January 2010, reportedly due to an expiring broadcasting license. Fox News' former parent company News Corporation had a stake in both SKY and Prime until 2014.


title: Fox News

text: In Pakistan, Fox News Channel is available on PTCL Smart TV and a number of cable and IPTV operators.


title: Fox News

text: In the Philippines, Fox News Channel is available on Sky Cable Channels 138 (Metro Manila) and 510 (Regional), Cablelink Channel 224 (Metro Manila) and G Sat Channel 50. It was available on Cignal Channel 131 until January 1, 2021, due to contract expiration.


title: Fox News

text: Between 2003 and 2006, in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries, FNC was broadcast 16 hours a day on TV8 (with "Fox News Extra" segments replacing U.S. advertising). Fox News was dropped by TV8 and replaced by German news channel Deutsche Welle in September 2006.


title: Fox News

text: In Singapore, FNC is broadcast on channel 702 on pay cable operator StarHub TV digital platform. It also broadcasts its sister channel, Sky News.


title: Fox News

text: FNC was carried in the United Kingdom by Sky, which was 40-percent owned by 21st Century Fox at the time, and operates its own domestic news channel Sky News. On August 29, 2017, Sky dropped Fox News; the broadcaster said its carriage was not "commercially viable" due to average viewership of fewer than 2,000 viewers per day. The company said the decision was unrelated to 21st Century Fox's proposed acquisition of the remainder of Sky plc (which ultimately led to a bidding war that resulted in its acquisition by Comcast instead).


title: Fox News

text: The potential co-ownership had prompted concerns from critics of the deal, who felt Sky News could similarly undergo a shift to an opinionated format with a right-wing viewpoint. However, such a move would violate Ofcom broadcast codes, which requires all news programming to show due impartiality. The channel's broadcasts in the country have violated this rule on several occasions, while the channel also violated election silence rules by broadcasting analysis of the 2016 Brexit referendum while polls were still open (the channel was blacked out while polls were open during the 2017 general election to comply with the rule).


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 71st running of the Formula One World Championship. It marked the 70th anniversary of the first Formula One World Drivers' Championship. The championship was recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The championship was originally due to start in March, but the start was postponed until July in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was due to be contested over a record of 22 Grands Prix, but as some races were cancelled and new races were added to replace them, a total of 17 races were run. The season started in July with the and ended in December with the . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first eight rounds of the championship were run behind closed doors, with the rest of the races being run at a reduced capacity or also behind closed doors due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes entered the season as the reigning World Drivers' and World Constructors' champions respectively, after they both won their sixth championship in 2019. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Mercedes secured their seventh consecutive Constructors' Championship making them the only team to win seven consecutive championships, breaking Ferrari's record from to . Mercedes also maintained the distinction of being the only team to win the championship since the 2014 turbo-hybrid engine regulation changes were enacted. Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher's record of seven World Drivers' Championships at the Turkish Grand Prix and broke Schumacher's previous record of 91 career wins at the .


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The following teams and drivers competed in the 2020 World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Across the season, four drivers drove as a test or third driver in free practice sessions. Jack Aitken and Roy Nissany both drove for Williams at one and three Grands Prix respectively, Robert Kubica drove for Alfa Romeo Racing at five Grands Prix and Mick Schumacher drove for Haas at one Grand Prix.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Schumacher and Callum Ilott were entered to appear in the first practice session for the , driving for Alfa Romeo Racing and Haas, respectively, but the session was cancelled due to bad weather conditions.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Red Bull GmbH, the parent company of Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso, renamed Toro Rosso as "Scuderia AlphaTauri". The team uses the constructor name "AlphaTauri". The name is derived from Red Bull's AlphaTauri fashion brand.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: After a year's absence, Esteban Ocon returned to racing in Formula One after signing a contract with Renault, replacing Nico Hülkenberg. Robert Kubica left Williams at the end of the 2019 championship and joined Alfa Romeo Racing as a reserve driver. Nicholas Latifi, the 2019 Formula 2 Championship runner-up, replaced Kubica at Williams.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: A day before the British Grand Prix weekend, Racing Point driver Sergio Pérez tested positive for COVID-19 and was ruled out of the race weekend. After seeking clarification from Public Health England, Racing Point stated that they intended to let Pérez race in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix pending a negative coronavirus test. This re-test came back positive and so Pérez was also unable to take part in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. He was replaced for both races by Nico Hülkenberg, who had raced for the team's predecessor Force India in and from to , and last raced in Formula One at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Pérez had a negative coronavirus test result the week preceding the Spanish Grand Prix weekend and he competed in the Grand Prix having been cleared by the FIA to return. Pérez's Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll felt ill prior to the Eifel Grand Prix and tested positive for the coronavirus on the day of the race. Hülkenberg again raced for the team.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: After Romain Grosjean suffered burns to his hands following a crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Haas promoted test driver Pietro Fittipaldi to make his debut at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Grosjean also missed the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix because of his recovery after the crash in Bahrain; Fittipaldi raced again for the team. Lewis Hamilton tested positive for the coronavirus prior to the Sakhir Grand Prix and was forced to sit out. He was replaced by George Russell, with Jack Aitken replacing Russell at Williams. Hamilton returned to Mercedes for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after testing negative for the coronavirus, with Russell returning to Williams.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Twenty-two Grands Prix were originally scheduled for the 2020 World Championship. However, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in numerous race cancellations and postponements. A rescheduled calendar consisted of seventeen Grands Prix, nine from the original 2020 calendar and eight other Grands Prix, while the other thirteen original 2020 races were cancelled. This also meant that the season started with two races in Austria, and later on in the season there were also two races at Silverstone Circuit along with two races at Bahrain International Circuit. Each race is the minimum number of laps that exceeds a total distance of . Under the sporting regulations, a minimum of eight races must take place for the season to be considered a championship.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The following rounds were included on the original calendar published by the World Motor Sport Council, but were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic:


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: After purchasing the commercial rights to the sport from CVC Capital Partners in January 2017, Liberty Media announced plans to expand the Formula One calendar using a concept they termed "destination races" and modelled on the Singapore Grand Prix. Under the "destination races" model, Grands Prix would be established in or near key tourist destinations and integrate racing, entertainment and social functions with the aim of making the sport more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. Several countries and venues announced plans to bid for a Grand Prix, with two bids being successful:


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Liberty Media initially expected that the 2020 calendar would consist of twenty-one Grands Prix and that any new races would come at the expense of existing events, but later negotiated an agreement with the teams to allow up to twenty-two Grands Prix. Several further changes were made between the 2019 and 2020 calendars, with the German Grand Prix discontinued and the Mexican Grand Prix planned to be rebranded as the Mexico City Grand Prix before it was cancelled.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Teams were allowed to use an additional MGU-K compared to 2019 to compensate for the increased demands of contesting the originally planned twenty-two races.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Drivers who participated in free practice sessions were eligible for additional FIA Super Licence points. Any driver who completed a minimum during a free practice session received an additional Super Licence point on the condition that they do not commit a driving infraction. Drivers could only accrue ten Super Licence points across a three-season period from free practice sessions. The rules around helmet designs were relaxed with drivers allowed to change their design as many times as they wanted between races, having previously been restricted to a base design and one permitted major design change (excluding minor alterations) since 2015.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: As a result of what was then planned to be an expanded calendar, the two pre-season tests which took place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were reduced in length from four days to three days each, whilst the two in-season tests that took place at Bahrain International Circuit and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2019 were discontinued. Teams were no longer allowed to hide their cars during testing. The amount of time in which car mechanics were prohibited from working on the car was extended from eight to nine hours.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The rules surrounding jump starts and the weighbridge were relaxed with the race stewards able to hand out less severe punishments for missing the weighbridge and jump starts.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In order to reduce the risk of punctures, the last of the front wing could no longer contain any metal. Brake ducts could no longer be outsourced and must be made and designed by the team. The amount of fuel that could be outside of the fuel tank was reduced from to . A decrease in electronic driver aids meant that drivers were responsible for managing more of the car's torque during race starts.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: From the Italian Grand Prix, drivers were only allowed to run one engine mode from the start of qualifying to the end of the race. However, drivers were still allowed to use electrical power for the powertrain throughout the race weekend.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The season was heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with an announcement prior to the start of the championship that the Chinese Grand Prix would be postponed due to the early COVID-19 outbreak in the country.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Italian-based teams Ferrari and AlphaTauri expressed concern about the spread of the disease and its effect on the championship. As Italy suffered one of the worst outbreaks of the virus, both teams were concerned about the ability of their staff to leave the quarantine zone established in northern Italy and to enter host nations. Pre-season testing in Barcelona proceeded as planned, with all teams and drivers completing the six days of testing.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Ross Brawn, the managing director of the sport, announced that Grands Prix would not go ahead if a team were blocked from entering a host nation, but that events could go ahead if a team voluntarily chose not to enter a host nation. In early March, organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix stated that the event would be "participants-only" and that no spectators would be allowed.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The season-opening Australian Grand Prix was expected to go ahead and all teams and drivers arrived at the venue as planned. Three days before the race was due to take place, McLaren announced their withdrawal from the event after a team member tested positive for the virus. This led to the Grand Prix being cancelled altogether the following morning. Later that day, it was announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix would be postponed rather than closed to spectators, as would the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Formula One and the FIA released a joint statement saying that they "expect to begin the Championship in Europe at the end of May" but that this timeline "will be regularly reviewed". On 19 March, the FIA announced that the Dutch, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix had all been postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. In the statement, the FIA said they now expect to begin the season "as soon as it is safe to do so after May" and that the situation would continue to be monitored. The organisers of the Monaco race, Automobile Club de Monaco, clarified that the race had been cancelled. This meant that Formula One would not race in Monaco for the first time since . Four days later, organisers of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix announced that the race had been postponed.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In early April, organisers of the Canadian Grand Prix announced the race's postponement. Later in the month, the French Grand Prix organisers confirmed that the race would not be held in 2020, and the managing director of Silverstone Circuit stated that should the British Grand Prix go ahead, it would be without spectators. In May, organisers of the Hungarian Grand Prix announced that their race would use the same model. The sport's plans to resume competition called for a ban on team motorhomes and a rigid testing regime to stop any outbreak of the virus.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The Dutch Grand Prix was cancelled entirely in late May, with organisers of the event stating that they would prefer to host the revived race with spectators in attendance in 2021 rather than without spectators in 2020. Formula One confirmed the cancellation of the Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japanese Grands Prix in June. Organisers of the Azerbaijan and Singapore races cited the difficulty of assembling the infrastructure required for a street circuit as the reason for their cancellation, while the Japanese Grand Prix was cancelled because of the Japanese government's travel restrictions. In July the Brazilian, Canadian, Mexico City and United States Grands Prix were formally cancelled amidst rising virus cases and travel restrictions in the Americas. However, organisers of the Brazilian Grand Prix disputed the claims of Formula One Management and were unhappy with their race being cancelled without further consultation. In August the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix was announced, followed, in October, by the cancellation of the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The annual summer break, where factories shut down for two weeks, was brought forward from August to March and April. Teams nominated a three-week period to close with the aim of making room for races later in the year. At the end of March, it was announced that for the first time the factory shut-down would additionally apply to power unit manufacturers. The factory shut-down period was later extended to a total of nine weeks for competitors and seven weeks for power unit manufacturers.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In March, teams agreed that the 2020 Championship could run into early 2021 to ensure the running of as many races as possible. Such a move would also ensure that eight Grands Prix could be held, over three different continents, thereby meeting the minimum number of races needed for the season to qualify as a World Championship.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In early April, Ross Brawn suggested that a rescheduled calendar of 18 or 19 races would be possible should racing begin in July, and that the opening round "is most likely to be in Europe", potentially without spectators. He also raised the possibility of Grand Prix events being reduced to two days in order to ease pressure on logistical operations. However, Alfa Romeo Racing managing director Frédéric Vasseur cautioned that a condensed calendar could escalate the costs of competing and put smaller teams at risk of financial collapse. This was reiterated by other teams, who pointed out that the race sanctioning fees paid by event organisers contributed to the prize money awarded to all teams at the end of the year. This money is awarded proportionally based on the teams' World Constructors' Championship positions and forms a significant part of a team's budget for the upcoming year. With fewer races and the prize structure remaining fixed, teams were concerned that they would suffer a significant financial loss.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In a statement in late April, Formula One CEO Chase Carey declared the intention to begin the season on 5 July and a target to hold between 15 and 18 races overall. In June, the first eight races of a rescheduled calendar were confirmed, with the season expected to begin on 5 July with the Austrian Grand Prix. This revised calendar included two newly named one-off events — both second races at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone — known as the Styrian and the 70th Anniversary Grands Prix respectively. Ross Brawn announced that the eight-round calendar was expected to grow and that the sport was considering races at venues that were not on the original calendar or using multiple configurations of existing circuits to achieve the goal of fifteen Grands Prix.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: On 10 July, the Russian Grand Prix was re-added to the calendar on its originally scheduled date, and the first Tuscan Grand Prix was announced at the Mugello Circuit, the first time the circuit would host a Formula One World Championship race. Later in July, the return of the Nürburgring and the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola to the calendar was revealed, along with the debut of the Algarve International Circuit. These races were named the Eifel and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix respectively, with the return of the Portuguese Grand Prix for the first time since the season. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix took place over a shortened two-day weekend, with a single 90 minute practice session taking place on Saturday morning. This marks the first race at the Nürburgring since and at Imola since , and also the first time that a country (Italy), hosts three Grands Prix since the season.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In August, it was announced that Formula One would return to Istanbul Park for the first Turkish Grand Prix since the season, together with the debut of the Sakhir Grand Prix, to be held at the Bahrain International Circuit, using the configuration of the track called "Outer Circuit". They join the rescheduled Bahrain and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix as the final four races of the season, bringing the calendar to seventeen races.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Of the races and dates on the original calendar, only four races, the Austrian, Belgian, Italian and Russian Grands Prix kept their original dates.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The pandemic required changes to the format of a race weekend, which included abandoning the drivers' parade and pre-race assembly for the host venue's national anthem. A modified podium ceremony was planned for after races. The FIA introduced limits to the number of team personnel who could be on the starting grid to prepare cars and changed the cut-off times for cars to leave pit lane to minimise the amount of time team personnel spent on the grid. Tyre supplier Pirelli was also required to provide an identical allocation of tyre compounds to all teams and drivers. Where Pirelli were previously required to announce compounds for a race several weeks in advance, this window was reduced to two weeks, allowing them to respond to anticipated changes to the calendar.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: In June, Formula One launched the "We Race As One" initiative to fight racism, global inequity and the impact of COVID-19. The initiative used a rainbow logo, with the colours of all ten Formula One teams, also with the #WeRaceAsOne hashtag, and featured prominent "We Race As One" branding on vehicles (including the safety car) and signage on track. Formula One and several teams launched projects or fundraising efforts in support of the initiative.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Ahead of the season opening Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull launched a protest against the Mercedes F1 W11's dual axis steering, a system where the driver can adjust the toe of the car by pulling and pushing on the steering wheel. The system was found to be legal for 2020, but it would be banned by the FIA from 2021 onward.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: After the Styrian Grand Prix, Renault launched a protest against the brake ducts of Racing Point's car, the RP20, alleging that Racing Point had copied the brake ducts from the Mercedes F1 W10, the car used in 2019 by Mercedes. Similar protests would be launched after the Hungarian and British Grands Prix with the verdict being published between the British and 70th Anniversary Grands Prix. The ruling concluded that Racing Point had illegally copied the brake ducts of the Mercedes F1 W10 and Racing Point were subsequently penalised by 15 Constructors' Championship points and fined .


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Racing Point, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and Williams had all indicated an intention to appeal the stewards decision with Racing Point trying to clear their name and Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Renault appealing for a tougher sanction. Ferrari, Renault and Racing Point confirmed their appeal, while Williams and McLaren pulled out of the appeal. Later, Renault announced their decision to withdraw the appeal against the penalty handed out to Racing Point. The same decision was made by Racing Point and Ferrari before and after the Italian Grand Prix, respectively.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The delayed season started with the Austrian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas, driving for Mercedes, took pole position, ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen; however, Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty, since he did not slow sufficiently when yellow flags were waved following a small mistake by Bottas. This promoted Verstappen to second, McLaren driver Lando Norris to third, and Alexander Albon to fourth. In an eventful race, featuring three safety car periods and the retirements of nine drivers, Bottas won, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Norris. Hamilton crossed the line in second place, but received a five-second time penalty after a collision with Albon, who soon retired; after the penalty was applied, Hamilton finished fourth, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr., Sergio Pérez and Pierre Gasly.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The inaugural Styrian Grand Prix was won by Hamilton ahead of Bottas and Verstappen. The Hungarian Grand Prix started with a slippery track. Verstappen slid into the barrier on his way to the grid and broke his steering axis, but his mechanics managed to repair the car before the race start. The race winner was Hamilton, with Verstappen in second and Bottas in third place.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Hamilton won the British Grand Prix despite his left-front tyre delaminating in the middle of the last lap. Verstappen finished second with Leclerc in third. Bottas had a puncture which resulted in him finishing in eleventh. Daniil Kvyat had a puncture at high speed entering Maggotts corner which resulted in a big crash with a safety car, and Sainz Jr. finished 13th after a puncture made him fall from what would have been 4th place. In the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Verstappen won with Hamilton second and Bottas third. This was the first non-Mercedes win of the season. The Spanish Grand Prix was won by Hamilton with Verstappen in second and Bottas in third.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The Belgian Grand Prix was won by Lewis Hamilton, who led every lap and won by 8 seconds over teammate Valtteri Bottas who finished second ahead of Max Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, setting the fastest lap on the last lap. On lap 11, Antonio Giovinazzi crashed at Campus corner; one of the wheels of his car came loose and hit the front right suspension of George Russell’s car, causing both drivers to retire from the race. This brought out the safety car for three laps. Renault achieved a finish of P4 and P5, equalling their best result since their return to the sport in 2016.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The Italian Grand Prix was won by Pierre Gasly after a red flag caused by Charles Leclerc. This was his and AlphaTauri's first race victory. The race marked the first time since Kimi Räikkönen won the 2013 Australian Grand Prix driving for Lotus F1 that the race winner did not drive for Ferrari, Mercedes, or Red Bull and the first time since the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix that all three constructors failed to score a podium finish. The race marked the second career podium finishes for Carlos Sainz Jr., who finished second, and Lance Stroll, who finished third.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix, Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix start, resulted in Hamilton's sixth race win of the season, and Mercedes's third 1–2 finish. Bottas overtook Hamilton into turn one before a major collision at turn two caused the retirement of both Verstappen (who had fallen from 3rd to 14th due to a power issue) and Gasly. This brought out the safety car for 8 laps to allow for the debris to be cleared. At the end of the safety car period, a major misunderstanding in the upper midfield led to a large collision down the pit straight, causing the retirement of Nicholas Latifi, Kevin Magnussen, Giovinazzi and Sainz Jr., and a red flag period. At the first restart, Hamilton overtook Bottas and led the race from there onwards. On lap 42, Ricciardo looked poised for his first podium since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix when Stroll's Racing Point spun off the track due to a puncture, causing the second red flag of the race. This was the first time since the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix that there were two red flag periods in one race. At the second restart, Hamilton maintained his lead to win the race. Red Bull's Alexander Albon overtook Ricciardo in the closing laps, earning his first ever podium and the first podium for a Thai driver in Formula One.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: At the Russian Grand Prix, Hamilton started on pole, but two separate five-second penalties for practice starts outside the designated area meant he finished third; teammate Bottas won the Grand Prix with Verstappen in second.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: At the inaugural Eifel Grand Prix, five cars retired in the forms of Russell, Esteban Ocon, Albon, Lando Norris and Bottas, who had started from pole. Hamilton took first place after Bottas locked up into turn 1 on lap 13. Hamilton would go on to win the race, his 7th win this season. Ricciardo claimed his first podium for Renault, finishing the race in third. The race also saw Räikkönen pass the record for most race starts.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Hamilton took his 92nd win, taking the record for most wins that had been held by Michael Schumacher. Bottas would finish second in the race, twenty-five seconds behind his teammate, with Verstappen finishing third.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: At the inaugural Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton won from Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo who picked up his second podium of the season. Max Verstappen had a puncture from second, putting him out of the race. Mercedes won their seventh consecutive Constructor World Championship.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: The Turkish Grand Prix saw Hamilton claim his seventh world title with a race win, equalling Michael Schumacher's record for the most Formula One world titles. He finished on the podium with Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel, whilst in qualifying, Lance Stroll claimed his maiden pole position in rainy conditions.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton claimed his 11th win of the year, followed by Verstappen and Alexander Albon in second and third. The race was marred by a serious accident involving Haas driver Romain Grosjean, who hit a barrier at the start of the race after making contact with the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat. Grosjean's car broke in two and burst into flames as it split the barrier. Numerous safety features allowed him to escape the crash with only burns to the hands, though they would prove severe enough to exclude him from the remainder of the season, it would be Grosjean's final race with Haas after over 9 years in Formula One. Pérez surrendered third place after an engine failure, putting him out of the race, whilst teammate Stroll flipped at the restart after contact with Kvyat.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Hamilton was ruled out of the Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for the coronavirus and was replaced by Williams' George Russell. Russell impressed by taking the lead from new teammate and pole-sitter Bottas and led for 59 laps, before being taken out of contention by first a tyre mix-up by Mercedes and then a late-race puncture, eventually finishing 9th. Despite being dropped to last position through a lap 1 collision with Leclerc and Verstappen, Pérez took his first race victory, followed by Esteban Ocon taking his first podium finish in 2nd and Stroll finishing 3rd. With his win, Pérez took the record for the most race starts before a first victory, with 190 race starts, beating Mark Webber's record of 130 starts before his win at the 2009 German Grand Prix.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton returned for the last race of the season after testing negative for the coronavirus. Verstappen took the pole position and his 10th win in Formula One ahead of Bottas and Hamilton, who finished second and third, respectively. This race was the last for Vettel at Ferrari, after six years, and Pérez at Racing Point, after two years at Racing Point and five at their indirect predecessor, Force India. Ferrari finished sixth in the World Constructors' Championship, their worst championship result since 1980 when they finished tenth.


title: 2020 Formula One World Championship

text: Points are awarded to the top ten classified drivers and the driver who set the fastest lap. The driver with the fastest lap has to be within the top 10 to receive the point. In the case of a tie on points a countback system is used where the driver with the best results is ranked higher, if the best result is identical then the next best result is considered. The points are awarded for every race using the following system:


title: Billie Holiday

text: Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.


title: Billie Holiday

text: After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson produced the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall.


title: Billie Holiday

text: She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, her final recordings were met with mixed reaction but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, "Lady in Satin", was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959, at age 44.


title: Billie Holiday

text: Holiday won four Grammy Awards, all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, though not in that genre; the website states that "Billie Holiday changed jazz forever". Several films about her life have been released, most recently "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" (2021).


title: Billie Holiday

text: Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, the daughter of African American unwed teenage couple Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan and Clarence Halliday. Sarah moved to Philadelphia at age 19, after she was evicted from her parents' home in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland for becoming pregnant. With no support from her parents, she made arrangements with her older, married half-sister, Eva Miller, for Eleanora to stay with her in Baltimore. Not long after Eleanora was born, Clarence abandoned his family to pursue a career as a jazz banjo player and guitarist. Some historians have disputed Holiday's paternity, as a copy of her birth certificate in the Baltimore archives lists her father as "Frank DeViese". Other historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker. DeViese lived in Philadelphia, and Sadie Harris may have known him through her work. Sadie Harris, then known as Sadie Fagan, married Philip Gough in 1920, but the marriage ended within two years.


title: Billie Holiday

text: Eleanora grew up in Baltimore and had a very difficult childhood. Her mother often took what were then known as "transportation jobs", serving on passenger railroads. Holiday was raised largely by Eva Miller's mother-in-law, Martha Miller, and suffered from her mother's absences and being in others' care for her first decade of life. Holiday's autobiography, "Lady Sings the Blues", published in 1956, is inconsistent regarding details of her early life, but much was confirmed by Stuart Nicholson in his 1995 biography of the singer.


title: Billie Holiday

text: After attending kindergarten at St. Frances Academy, she frequently skipped school, and her truancy resulted in her being brought before the juvenile court on January 5, 1925, when she was nine years old. She was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school, where she was baptized on March 19, 1925. After nine months in care, she was "paroled" on October 3, 1925, to her mother. Sadie had opened a restaurant, the East Side Grill, and mother and daughter worked long hours there. She dropped out of school at age 11.


title: Billie Holiday

text: On December 24, 1926, Sadie came home to discover a neighbor, Wilbur Rich, attempting to rape Eleanora. She successfully fought back, and Rich was arrested. Officials placed Eleanora in the House of the Good Shepherd under protective custody as a state witness in the rape case. Holiday was released in February 1927, when she was nearly 12. She found a job running errands in a brothel, and she scrubbed marble steps as well as kitchen and bathroom floors of neighborhood homes. Around this time, she first heard the records of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. In particular, Holiday cited "West End Blues" as an intriguing influence, pointing specifically to the scat section duet with the clarinet as her favorite part. By the end of 1928, Holiday's mother moved to Harlem, New York, again leaving Eleanora with Martha Miller.


title: Billie Holiday

text: As a young teenager, Holiday started singing in nightclubs in Harlem. She took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and Clarence Halliday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name "Halliday", her father's birth surname, but eventually changed it to "Holiday", his performing name. The young singer teamed up with a neighbor, tenor saxophone player Kenneth Hollan. They were a team from 1929 to 1931, performing at clubs such as the Grey Dawn, Pod's and Jerry's on 133rd Street, and the Brooklyn Elks' Club. Benny Goodman recalled hearing Holiday in 1931 at the Bright Spot. As her reputation grew, she played in many clubs, including the Mexico's and the Alhambra Bar and Grill, where she met Charles Linton, a vocalist who later worked with Chick Webb. It was also during this period that she connected with her father, who was playing in Fletcher Henderson's band.


title: Billie Holiday

text: Late in 1932, 17-year-old Holiday replaced the singer Monette Moore at Covan's, a club on West 132nd Street. Producer John Hammond, who loved Moore's singing and had come to hear her, first heard Holiday there in early 1933. Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her recording debut at age 18, in November 1933, with Benny Goodman. She recorded two songs: "Your Mother's Son-In-Law" and "Riffin' the Scotch", the latter being her first hit. "Son-in-Law" sold 300 copies, and "Riffin' the Scotch", released on November 11, sold 5,000 copies. Hammond was impressed by Holiday's singing style and said of her, "Her singing almost changed my music tastes and my musical life, because she was the first girl singer I'd come across who actually sang like an improvising jazz genius." Hammond compared Holiday favorably to Armstrong and said she had a good sense of lyric content at her young age.


title: Billie Holiday

text: In 1935, Holiday had a small role as a woman abused by her lover in Duke Ellington's musical short film "Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life". She sang "Saddest Tale" in her scene.


title: Billie Holiday

text: In 1935, Holiday was signed to Brunswick by John Hammond to record pop tunes with pianist Teddy Wilson in the swing style for the growing jukebox trade. They were allowed to improvise on the material. Holiday's improvisation of melody to fit the emotion was revolutionary. Their first collaboration included "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Miss Brown to You". "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" has been deemed her "claim to fame". Brunswick did not favor the recording session because producers wanted Holiday to sound more like Cleo Brown. However, after "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" was successful, the company began considering Holiday an artist in her own right. She began recording under her own name a year later for Vocalion in sessions produced by Hammond and Bernie Hanighen. Hammond said the Wilson-Holiday records from 1935 to 1938 were a great asset to Brunswick. According to Hammond, Brunswick was broke and unable to record many jazz tunes. Wilson, Holiday, Young, and other musicians came into the studio without written arrangements, reducing the recording cost. Brunswick paid Holiday a flat fee rather than royalties, which saved the company money. "I Cried for You" sold 15,000 copies, which Hammond called "a giant hit for Brunswick... Most records that made money sold around three to four thousand."


title: Billie Holiday

text: Another frequent accompanist was tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who had been a boarder at her mother's house in 1934 and with whom Holiday had a rapport. Young said, "I think you can hear that on some of the old records, you know. Some time I'd sit down and listen to 'em myself, and it sound like two of the same voices ... or the same mind, or something like that." Young nicknamed her "Lady Day", and she called him "Prez".


title: Billie Holiday

text: In late 1937, Holiday had a brief stint as a big-band vocalist with Count Basie. The traveling conditions of the band were often poor; they performed many one-nighters in clubs, moving from city to city with little stability. Holiday chose the songs she sang and had a hand in the arrangements, choosing to portray her developing persona of a woman unlucky in love. Her tunes included "I Must Have That Man", "Travelin' All Alone", "I Can't Get Started", and "Summertime", a hit for Holiday in 1936, originating in George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" the year before. Basie became used to Holiday's heavy involvement in the band. He said, "When she rehearsed with the band, it was really just a matter of getting her tunes like she wanted them, because she knew how she wanted to sound and you couldn't tell her what to do." Some of the songs Holiday performed with Basie were recorded. "I Can't Get Started", "They Can't Take That Away from Me", and "Swing It Brother Swing" are all commercially available. Holiday was unable to record in the studio with Basie, but she included many of his musicians in her recording sessions with Teddy Wilson.


title: Billie Holiday

text: Holiday found herself in direct competition with the popular singer Ella Fitzgerald. The two later became friends. Fitzgerald was the vocalist for the Chick Webb Band, which was in competition with the Basie band. On January 16, 1938, the same day that Benny Goodman performed his legendary Carnegie Hall jazz concert, the Basie and Webb bands had a battle at the Savoy Ballroom. Webb and Fitzgerald were declared winners by "Metronome" magazine, while "DownBeat" magazine pronounced Holiday and Basie the winners. Fitzgerald won a straw poll of the audience by a three-to-one margin.


title: Billie Holiday

text: By February 1938, Holiday was no longer singing for Basie. Various reasons have been given for why she was fired. Jimmy Rushing, Basie's male vocalist, called her unprofessional. According to All Music Guide, Holiday was fired for being "temperamental and unreliable". She complained of low pay and poor working conditions and may have refused to sing the songs requested of her or change her style. Holiday was hired by Artie Shaw a month after being fired from the Count Basie Band. This association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an unusual arrangement at that time. This was also the first time a black female singer employed full-time toured the segregated U.S. South with a white bandleader. In situations where there was a lot of racial tension, Shaw was known to stick up for his vocalist. In her autobiography, Holiday describes an incident in which she was not permitted to sit on the bandstand with other vocalists because she was black. Shaw said to her, "I want you on the band stand like Helen Forrest, Tony Pastor and everyone else." When touring the South, Holiday would sometimes be heckled by members of the audience. In Louisville, Kentucky, a man called her a "nigger wench" and requested she sing another song. Holiday lost her temper and had to be escorted off the stage.


title: Billie Holiday

text: By March 1938, Shaw and Holiday had been broadcast on New York City's powerful radio station WABC (the original WABC, now WCBS). Because of their success, they were given an extra time slot to broadcast in April, which increased their exposure. The "New York Amsterdam News" reviewed the broadcasts and reported an improvement in Holiday's performance. "Metronome" reported that the addition of Holiday to Shaw's band put it in the "top brackets". Holiday could not sing as often during Shaw's shows as she could in Basie's; the repertoire was more instrumental, with fewer vocals. Shaw was also pressured to hire a white singer, Nita Bradley, with whom Holiday did not get along but had to share a bandstand. In May 1938, Shaw won band battles against Tommy Dorsey and Red Norvo, with the audience favoring Holiday. Although Shaw admired Holiday's singing in his band, saying she had a "remarkable ear" and a "remarkable sense of time", her tenure with the band was nearing an end. In November 1938, Holiday was asked to use the service elevator at the Lincoln Hotel in New York City, instead of the one used by hotel guests, because white patrons of the hotels complained. This may have been the last straw for her. She left the band shortly after. Holiday spoke about the incident weeks later, saying, "I was never allowed to visit the bar or the dining room as did other members of the band ... [and] I was made to leave and enter through the kitchen." There are no surviving live recordings of Holiday with Shaw's band. Because she was under contract to a different record label and possibly because of her race, Holiday was able to make only one record with Shaw, "Any Old Time". However, Shaw played clarinet on four songs she recorded in New York on July 10, 1936: "Did I Remember?", "No Regrets", "Summertime" and "Billie's Blues".


title: Billie Holiday

text: By the late 1930s, Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Easy Living" were imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming jazz standards. In September 1938, Holiday's single "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" ranked sixth as the most-played song that month. Her record label, Vocalion, listed the single as its fourth-best seller for the same month, and it peaked at number 2 on the pop charts, according to Joel Whitburn's "Pop Memories: 1890–1954".


title: Billie Holiday

text: Holiday was in the middle of recording for Columbia in the late 1930s when she was introduced to "Strange Fruit", a song by Abel Meeropol based on his poem about lynching. Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx, used the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" for the poem, which was set to music and performed at teachers' union meetings. It was eventually heard by Barney Josephson, the proprietor of Café Society, an integrated nightclub in Greenwich Village, who introduced it to Holiday. She performed it at the club in 1939, with some trepidation, fearing possible retaliation. She later said that the imagery of the song reminded her of her father's death and that this played a role in her resistance to performing it.