Fox 26 Houston reporter Ivory Hecker is blowing the whistle on Fox with claims that she has been “muzzled” in an attempt by the network to keep information from viewers.
Hecker announced that she has leaked incriminating recordings to Project Veritas, the non-profit undercover journalism enterprise that made waves in 2009 with their reporting on corruption within the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) during the Obama administration. Hecker was initially reporting on the Texas heatwave causing local power outages.
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“I want to let you, the viewers, know that Fox Corp has been muzzling me to keep certain information from you, the viewers, and from what I’m gathering I am not the only reporter being subjected to this. I am going to be releasing some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox because it applies to you, the viewers. I found a non-profit journalism group called Project Veritas who’s going to help put that out tomorrow, so, tune into them.”
Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe was suspended from Twitter in April after the organization released videos of CNN technical director Charlie Chester admitting that “fear sells” and that his network had been working to get Former President Donald Trump voted out of office. O’Keefe and his team have employed other social media outlets and direct-to-reader distribution lists to disseminate stories to readers.
Project Veritas quickly became a trending topic on Twitter heading into Monday evening. Hecker has been suspended by the network, effective immediately. Fox 26 KRIV Human Resources Director Tracey Rivers contacted Hecker, requesting that all company-owned property be returned.
In an interview with James O’Keefe, the local reporter revealed that the assistant news director at Fox 26 would not allow her to report on a Bitcoin story, deeming the piece to be irrelevant for their “poor African-American audience.”
Hecker’s reporting on the COVID 19 pandemic was lambasted by VP and News Director Susan Schiller who pressured Hecker to “cease and desist posting about Hydroxychloroquine.” Hecker had interviewed the Critical Care Chief at Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center in regards to their use of the drug in COVID-positive patients.
Hecker’s bosses adamantly vetoed any pieces that may contradict the corporate priorities of Fox:
“Industry executives, who are the people who hire us and keep us employed – that’s the part that needs to make a difference to you . . . It’s not just about the viewers. It’s about what our CEO reads. It’s about what our GM reads.”
A sales coordinator for the network admitted to undercover Veritas reporters that the CDC initiated a “bidding war” in order to flood the channel with pro-vaccine advertisements. Hecker confirmed that her superiors often snuffed any stories that may cause blowback from advertisers.
“Vaccines are a potential money maker for Fox. Fox gets paid for that. As a viewer you need to look at who is advertising on this TV station, and you’ve got to realize – surely that the TV station doesn’t want to hurt its advertisers.”
Hecker told Project Veritas that she will be leaving the corporate “censored press” to pursue a career in independent journalism. The interview is available on the Project Veritas website.
This article has been updated to include details on the full interview between Project Veritas Founder James O’Keefe and former Fox 26 reporter Ivory Hecker.
Jacob Ornelas is a journalist, social media influencer, and contributor to Def-Con News. He has built a following of over 87,000 on the social media platform TikTok where he delivers daily headlines without the “legacy media spin.” He can also be found on Instagram, Twitter, and Parler @PatriotJakey.
