"This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
Brendan Carr, Chair of the Federal Communication Commission
ABC caves.
Timeline:
Sept. 10 -- Charlie Kirk assassinated.
Sept. 15 -- Jimmy Kimmel's monologue observed that Trump and the GOP were blaming Democrats for the murder. (Trump began doing so the day of the assassination, before any shooter was identified.) Kimmel's monologue was accurate and anodyne. Here is what he said:
We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On September 12, the White House flew the flags at half staff which got some criticism but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this.
Kimmel then showed a clip of a reporter asking Trump how he was holding up after the death of his friend. Trump said:
I think very good. And by the way right there you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House which is something they’ve been trying to get as you know for about for 150 years and it’s gonna be a beauty.
Kimmel observed that it was a short moment of mourning.
The bit was accurate and fairly edited. It was moderately humorous. In no way did it celebrate or minimize Charlie Kirk's death. The bit pointed out that Trump had "moved on" to a new interest, the ballroom addition to the White House.
Sept. 16 -- Republicans and Republican media assert that Kimmel had said was that the shooter was MAGA. He did not. Kimmel said, accurately, that the GOP was trying to assert that the shooter was not MAGA, which is exactly what it was doing. Fox News is an example of this mis-characterization of Kimmel.
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| Fox News website headline |
There’s actions we can take on licensed broadcasters. And frankly, I think that it’s really sort of past time that a lot of these licensed broadcasters themselves push back on Comcast and Disney and say…’We’re not gonna run Kimmel anymore…because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibility of fines or license revocation from the FCC.'
Sept. 17, afternoon -- ABC cancels the Jimmy Kimmel show.
Sept. 17, later that afternoon -- Media reporter Brian Stelter asks the FCC chairman if he had any comment on the cancellation. Carr responded with this note of triumph.
We are at a national turning point.
My youth and young adulthood was an era of when media held government to account. Nationally, they would call out LBJ's "credibility gap" and Nixon's abuse of power. Locally, in the early 1980s when I was a county commissioner, two newspapers and three TV stations had large newsrooms. They followed every important meeting. They interviewed and quoted my critics.
It is a new era. Recognize Trump's effectiveness. He relentlessly criticized "fake news." He advanced "alternative facts" with bravado and shamelessness. He sells a version of the facts that is the opposite of what we observe ourselves in real time. He said he won an election that he lost. He said the rioters breaking through barricades and doors at the Capitol were peaceful patriots. He sold it.
He is bringing the media to heel, threatening the underlying business of the media companies. He fabricates a lawsuit and uses the Federal Trade Commission threat of blocking a corporate merger to extract a payoff. Stephen Colbert called it a flat-out bribe. Trump intimidates the media into pulling editorials endorsing his opposition and into cancelling comedians who mock him. Big media is afraid of him, and for good reason. He is using the power of government to threaten their businesses, doing so openly and shamelessly. It is working for him. Every victory makes the next victory easier. We see that obeying in advance is the new normal.
Big media doesn't hold Trump to account. Trump holds big media to account.
It is a different world, and a worse one.
[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com. Subscribe. Don't pay. The blog is free and always will be.
14 comments:
‘It’s a new world and a worse one” sums up my feelings. I’ve run out of outrage, surprise, disappointment, and moved toward the inevitable downfall of the United States in my thinking. It didn’t have to happen.
The question of accuracy is a bit convoluted, on Kimmel and here now. Yes, Kimmel accurately stated that MAGA was claiming the Kirk assassin was not MAGA...and that claim was likewise accurate. Kimmel at least insinuated otherwise.
That said, Kimmel did nothing in my view warranting such a drastic response, much less specific threats from the FCC head. This is ugly overreach. Meanwhile, walking into the Windsor Castle state dinner? I saw Tim Cook of Apple photographed.
During the Biden Administration, Trump & Chumps used to whine incessantly about “cancel culture,” and one of Trump’s first official acts this term was to sign an executive order “restoring free speech and ending federal censorship.” What a shame that Republicans are too stupid to appreciate the irony. It makes me wonder how long Peter will be able to continue this blog before they come for him too.
Wrong, Peter. We’re not at a turning point. That point is in the rear view mirror.
The Fascists won.
IT'S ANOTHER DUMB DESPERATE DISTRACTION FROM THE EPSTEIN FILES. DON'T FALL FOR IT.! NAMES ARE COMING!! BILLIONAIRES, POLITICIANS, BANKERS AND SHEIKS! KIMMEL NOW WILL BE BIGGER THAN BEFORE FREED FROM DINOSAUR CORPORATE RESTRAINTS AND A LOT RICHER AFTER THE COMING LAWSUIT. BTW, THE ROYAL FAMILY MUST BE SEETHING. WHERE'S "BONNIE PRINCE" A? HA!
A few observations:
Broadcast TV, like PBS, ABC, NBC, and CBS use the licensed airwaves for their programming - soap operas, comedy shows, dramas, entertainment, and even some news and opinion.
There were broadcast standards of what could and could not be shown or said; standards that evolved over time, and continue to evolve.
Violating those broadcast standards could affect whether a broadcast license could be suspended.
Cable channels on the other hand are not subject to broadcast standards, so just about anything goes. There's something for everyone. Same goes for streaming media.
Almost all non-broadcast media is funded by advertisers, benefactors, or subscribers.
Broadcast media on the other hand relies almost entirely on advertisers, and somewhat by private donations, or government grants and donations (like PBS); and in turn, those advertiser rates are dependent on the audience sizes.
The corporations running the broadcast stations are usually careful with what is broadcast.
With the plethora of media, broadcast and non-broadcast, all are looking at costs, and might be more careful with what is being made available to viewers.
The audience is the biggest factor.
On cable, we see the lineup of personalities changing over time. If the personalities are losing audience, then the advertisers notice and cut their support unless changes are made.
With broadcast we see the actions like that of the FCC that have a huge impact on the financial interests the media companies might have. There is not a clear definition for what those broadcast standards are.
Today, we are seeing threats to the airwaves. No broadcaster wants to be fined by the government, or risk losing the right to broadcast their programming. We've seen those threats in the past, too.
In any case, we'll see if non-broadcast media gives Kimmel or Colbert a new home for their form of attracting and entertaining their audience. Take a look at Gutfield! to see what is possible and available.
Cable media, Substacks, blogs, and other streaming sources are available for all viewpoints. The companies that own them control what is and what is not permitted. Again, audience size and what their worth is to advertisers and supporters have a big say.
Broadcast media, not so much.
As usual, you give the Occupant something to gloat about...his "effectiveness." Like Kirk, you enjoy being the provocative bad boy behind a fake good boy facade.
He wins every time you hand him a compliment.
Let the Boycott Begin: Disney, ABC, ESPN, ABC News, ALL OF IT
The mainstream media gave Trump $1.6billion in free air time in 2016 because Trump brought good ratings. At the same time, they never once played Bernie giving his whole speech. Not once.
The media bosses felt no need at all to do what is best for the country or hold Trump to account.
Now, the media is reaping what it sowed. Pundits are ashen faced and can talk of nothing but Kimmel. Democratic leaders like Chris Murphy ask Americans to go into the streets to demand the return of Kimmel (really?)
All I can muster is my tiniest violin.
"Cable media, Substacks, blogs, and other streaming sources are available for all viewpoints."
Right, until your cult leader decides to come after them. I'm sure Putin must be proud.
… the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.
It seems to me that this can be fairly read as an implied assertion that the Kirk assassin was MAGA.
Jimmy Kimmel had Alan Cummings on his show in July as guest host, and Cummings spent his monologue telling the audience how special and magical trans people are, like superheroes (really).
As all the men of late night do, he mocked women’s safety concerns by saying ‘there is no evidence trans people are a threat to women.’ That’s partially true….because there is no accurate recording of crimes committed by trans people, in the US or his home country of Scotland or anywhere in the West. No records means no statistical evidence.
Crimes committed by males who say “I identify as a woman’ are counted as women’s crimes. But that doesn’t mean that women’s rights activists don’t know of cases like Dana Rivers, a natal male who murdered a lesbian couple and their son, now incarcerated in a California women’s prison, with all records indicating Rivers is Female. We only know this is a natal male due to Rivers public trans activism prior to the killings. Rivers was instrumental in destroying the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival because it was for women-born-women, camping and dancing nude in the woods. The trans-led boycotts and threats and protests drove it to close down after 40 years.
It’s simply not true that women have paid no price because males have decided they can be women in law and every aspect of life.
Jon Oliver spent his entire show mocking female athletes seeking fair single-sex sports, a few months ago. I won’t shed a tear if he goes down.
A commenter on CNN observed that all the late night comedy shows are uniformly ultra-lefty, Hollywood style identity politics. Only Democratic officeholders ever appear. Should we not expect more diversity from the broadcast networks that are supposedly serving the whole country?
Never fear, the Democratic leaders of Congress have issued a sternly worded letter asking Brendan Carr to resign.
The Democrats took off their gloves, folded them neatly, and put them in a cute, sparkly little purple box decorated with pearls.
Is that worse than an explicit assertion that Trump won an election he lost? Or that people with no criminal record are murderers and rapists? Or that Democrats are treasonous for not applauding him. Let's fire any whack job who makes such outrageous statements.
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