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It’s Time to Defund Fox News
If more organizations follow the NAACP’s lead, they may be able to force the propaganda network to do better
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Last week, the NAACP wrote a letter to the NFL making a request for the good of humanity: stop giving money to fucking Fox News.
Okay, that wasn’t their exact phrasing, but it captures the spirit close enough. And who could fault them? No matter how much you want to pretend Fox News doesn’t exist, the propagandist network is indeed growing more dangerous by the day, and more organizations need to confront that reality. No matter the issue — race relations, the 2020 presidential election, or the ongoing pandemic — day and night they bombard their viewers with racism, sexism, and xenophobia while ignoring mass shootings that don’t fit their narrative. (Fox News couldn’t even be bothered to carry the Boulder Police’s press conference after Monday’s mass shooting.) And their newest tactic is promoting anti-vaccination conspiracy theories that will contribute to the massive (and still rising) coronavirus death toll.
Over the years, advertisers have tried to pretend that they haven’t played a direct part in the damage Fox News has wrought by paying for advertisements, but these days it’s become harder for brands to get away so easily with such lame excuses for complicity.
There is no longer any pretense that Fox News personalities like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, or Laura Ingraham are delivering anything other than propaganda. The same goes for the networks “news” anchors like failed daytime talk show host turned Twitter troll, Megyn Kelly. Whether in prime time or during breakfast hours, they’re feeding their audience mindless bullshit; it’s a scam that has long paid handsomely. But if more organizations follow the NAACP’s lead, they may be able to force Fox News to do better.
I know there are only so many places people can go in this world of media consolidation to have their voices heard. At the same time, there has to be a point where you recognize a…
