For the last few years, there have been periodic boycotts of advertisers on some cable news shows. For example, Laura Ingraham made a comment about one of the students from the Florida high school where there was a mass shooting and she got hit with a massive campaign against her show for disrespecting the guy. The student was out pushing a political agenda, but a response was unthinkable to those who supported him. Ingraham's show lost advertisers as a result, but Fox News supported her and the whole thing blew over. That sort of attack, however, has become a standard tactic used by the left against conservative TV personalities.
Today, President Trump seemed to turn the tables. He didn't actually call for a boycott of any sort, but he pointed out that if people were to switch their phones away from AT&T it might cause the phone giant to rein in some of the more outlandish bits of Fake News pushed by CNN (which AT&T owns.) He's correct. If AT&T lost phone business because of constant Fake News on CNN, it might well do something about it. This would not be a response to one comment made on CNN. It would be a response to years of constant lies and attacks on the cable network. And one thing is certain: AT&T cares a great deal more about its phone customers than about the content on CNN. I doubt that AT&T would actually change CNN but it might issue orders to rein in the Fake News. Then it would likely sell the cable network. After all, if there were a too obvious limit placed on CNN, then the left would start boycotting AT&T in response.
I personally don't like politically motivated boycotts. They are overkill and they remind me of the tactics that the Nazis used against Jews in Germany before WW II. We ought to be able to debate issues - even lies - without having to resort to this sort of stuff.
Today, President Trump seemed to turn the tables. He didn't actually call for a boycott of any sort, but he pointed out that if people were to switch their phones away from AT&T it might cause the phone giant to rein in some of the more outlandish bits of Fake News pushed by CNN (which AT&T owns.) He's correct. If AT&T lost phone business because of constant Fake News on CNN, it might well do something about it. This would not be a response to one comment made on CNN. It would be a response to years of constant lies and attacks on the cable network. And one thing is certain: AT&T cares a great deal more about its phone customers than about the content on CNN. I doubt that AT&T would actually change CNN but it might issue orders to rein in the Fake News. Then it would likely sell the cable network. After all, if there were a too obvious limit placed on CNN, then the left would start boycotting AT&T in response.
I personally don't like politically motivated boycotts. They are overkill and they remind me of the tactics that the Nazis used against Jews in Germany before WW II. We ought to be able to debate issues - even lies - without having to resort to this sort of stuff.
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