DANA PERINO

Fox News Channel has named Jesse Watters as host of a 7 p.m. Eastern opinion hour, leading in to its prime-time opinion lineup of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.

Media coverage of the first anniversary of the U.S. Capitol attack reflected and reinforced differing political realities.

Fox News Channel's prime-time lineup tends to make the most noise and attract the most attention, but last month, viewers have been drawn to something earlier.

Media outlets that often spend hours each day exploring the country's differences paused to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by recalling almost wistfully the sense of common purpose that united Americans in the aftermath.

Skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccination is a common theme in media appealing to conservatives, despite assurances from doctors and scientists that the vaccine is safe and effective.

President Joe Biden listens to a question during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)NEW YORK – Joe Biden's first presidential news conference was notable for what was missing after predecessor Donald Trump: no contentious exchanges with reporters, no Fox News and no questions about COVID-19. Before taking a question, Biden announced he was setting a new goal of having 200 million vaccine doses for the coronavirus administered during his first 100 days in office. Trump on Thursday accused the White House reporters of throwing “softballs” to Biden. AdThat quickly became an issue at Fox, where the chyron “Biden Snubs Fox News during First News Conf” was put onscreen.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)NEW YORK – At the end of Donald Trump's presidency, television networks left the mute button unused. CNN's Wolf Blitzer, meanwhile, called it “totally inappropriate” and said it was “pretty repulsive” that Trump didn't cite Biden. The Washington Post updated its count of lies and misstatements by Trump: 30,534 heading into his last day as president. Over on CNN, Dana Bash watched Trump leave the White House for the final time as president and walk to the Marine One helicopter.

(David Tulis/Pool Photo via AP)NEW YORK – After Air Force One took Donald Trump out of Washington, an unusual Inauguration Day quickly felt more traditional — even comforting — for people watching at home. "What we're seeing today is an ejection of insurrection.”Trump skipped the inauguration of his successor, the first president to break that tradition since 1869. “If Democrats need thousands of troops to occupy the Capitol on Inauguration Day, then it seems possible that their candidate wasn't actually elected by the people,” Sharp said. “He said that there is truth and there are lies, lies that are told for power and lies that are told for profit,” Wallace said. The Washington Post updated its count of lies and misstatements by Trump: 30,534 heading into his last day as president.

Both Fox and CNN announced schedule changes on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Both Fox and CNN announced lineup changes Monday, as is often the case for news organizations with a new president about to take power. For years, first with Shepard Smith and then with MacCallum, Fox has stressed news instead of opinion in that hour. In fact, Newsmax issued a statement that its improved daytime and 7 p.m. ratings since the election has triggered changes at Fox. Since the election, CNN has averaged 1.92 million viewers in those daytime hours, with Fox and MSNBC both at 1.53 million.

FILE- People pass the News Corporation headquarters building and Fox News studios in New York on Aug. 1, 2017. Several Fox News Channel executives and on-air personalities were exposed last week to a person on a private plane who later tested positive for COVID-19. Fox cited privacy concerns in not identifying who had tested positive or was exposed. Fox News Media President Jay Wallace was also on the flight, the Times said. Only people critical to the broadcast will be allowed in at Fox headquarters on election night, the memo said.

NEW YORK Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity are providing television viewers with a distinctly different vision of the Democratic National Convention each night from their perches on Fox News Channel. But as cable rivals CNN and MSNBC devote three hours in prime time to the convention including showing the Democrats' feed virtually uninterrupted Fox will not dislodge its biggest opinion stars. Hannity called the convention a predictable dose of poorly produced, cult-like, psychotic rage (and) hysteria against all things Donald Trump. Hannity had 3.88 million viewers Monday, and many Fox viewers clicked away when news coverage of the convention began. Fox pointed out that its convention coverage schedule was the same as it was in 2016 and will be for next week's Republican national convention.

(Scott Olson/Pool via AP)NEW YORK After a night in which television struggled to keep up with the Democrats' virtual convention, networks were rewarded with the most traditional of political events a powerful speech. This will not be like any convention we have seen before, ever, CNNs Anderson Cooper said at the opening of his networks coverage. Segments spent on broadcast networks previewing speeches by Obama and Sanders seemed like time-wasters when there were other things to show. Wallace's colleague, Dana Perino, stumbled into an unfortunate word choice in an effort to convey enthusiasm for Obama's address. Four years ago, when Hillary Clinton was nominated, 25 million people tuned in to the first night.

LOS ANGELES The Democratic and Republican conventions will lack for crowds but not television coverage. The Democratic meeting will be virtual, with Biden planning to make his acceptance speech from Wilmington, Delaware. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC plan an hour of nightly coverage of the conventions at 10 p.m. EDT. CNN's commentators for the Democratic meeting include Van Jones, Jennifer Granholm, Andrew Yang, and Scott Jennings. Commentary for the Republican convention will be handled by Rick Santorum, David Urban, Amanda Carpenter and Granholm.