The FCC won't let them be...
Tumblr, we need to have a discussion. I know this is the no nuance website and thinking critically is an afterthought a lot the time and a lot of yall may not like what I have to say, but I ask you to read anyway.
Firstly, the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is fucked up and a gross violation of the first amendment of our constitution. That is not in question. However, yall are quick to jump down ABC/Disney’s throat. Now, they are obviously the ones who pulled the plug despite not thinking it was wrong or bad enough to warrant cancelation.
But these selective boycotts are a waste of your time. Firstly, most of y’all don’t even watch the show on avenues that are a) legal or if they are legal are b) Nielson rated. All that these selective boycotts are going to do if you manage to pick up enough steam is to get your favorite shows canceled. It is awfully funny to me though that these targeted actions don’t include ABC’s number one show: High Potential. It’s giving ‘I still want to be able to watch my favorite show and not feel bad about it’.
Also, I have barely seen anyone actually talk about what IS happening here. ABC was threatened by the FCC. It is Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcasting Group that said they were going to preemptively pulling Kimmel off of their combined 52 affiliate stations, including most of the highest metro populations. Also, a suspension is not an outright cancelation. (Even though it is as good as one)
SINCLAIR BROADCASTING IS THE ONE EXTORTING KIMMEL. Sinclair said that if he wants to go back on the air he needs to apologize and donate to Turning Point. That is extortion. And the FCC SHOULD be preventing this.
That brings us to the crux of the problem. The FCC. The FCC can pull ABC’s license in total and then we get NOTHING. ABC studios shut down until the license can be gotten back. Is this legal? No. It’s not.
It’s not legal at all.
BUT WHO IS GOING TO STOP THEM? Congress? Congress Oversight Committee has launched an investigation, but they don’t have subpoena power right now. The supreme court? The one that is in Trump’s corner? The president? The same one who said no one has the right to criticize him?
By all means PUT PRESSURE ON THESE PEOPLE. Make your voices heard.
BUT MAKE THEM HEARD BY THE RIGHT PEOPLE. Put pressure on these conglomerate broadcasting companies that own monopolies of these stations. Only eight ABC stations are actually owned by ABC directly.
Please look at what is actually happening and not just what fandom is telling you, because I gotta tell you, pick me politics is exhausting and fandoms are rampant in them.
By all means, cancel your subscriptions. Boycott the NETWORK. But don’t think that your precious SNL creator will stand up to them and not bend at the knee. Don't think that other networks wouldn't have done the same thing. Nexstar and Sinclair own 57 NBC affiliates (more than ABC affiliates). Don’t think that selective boycotts are going to work in this case. But KEEP TALKING. Explain to people what the real problem is here. Don’t just fall in line because a BNF has a loud keyboard. That doesn’t make them all knowing.
KEEP PRESSURE ON THE FCC AND THESE AFFILIATE BROADCASTING COMPANIES.
Keep pressure on the networks to show them that we will not go silently into the night. But remember, at the end of the day, they can fight it and they might even win (in this political climate who knows, the constitution is made up at this point) but we do not have a government that will actually enforce the constitution unless they see fit. You cannot expect lawfulness from a corrupt government. There is no recourse for the FCC to do their jobs.
