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After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

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Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#141
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extortion doesn't count for much if the FCC had no leg to stand on. I would have loved to have seen the fine and the resulting court-case, but unfortunately for everyone ABC pulled the program because of complaints from its broadcasters. We do not (as far as I know), have the ability to know to what extent the FCC Chair's comments mattered at all. I absolutely agree the FCC is overstepping and that the FCC Chair is d…

> Extortion doesn't count for much if the FCC had no leg to stand on. What on earth are you saying here? It worked. Obviously it "counts", it actually happened! The show was pulled from the air! You're saying that censorship isn't "technically censorship" if in some alternative universe Disney fought back and won? They didn't! As for your opinion about the reach of the FCC's powers or the risk to broadcasters of regu…

Do you have any statement from ABC or Disney that they pulled the show due to FCC comments?

Per PBS.org:

> ABC, which has aired “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since 2003, did not immediately explain why it suspended the show on Wednesday. But its announcement came after both Nexstar and Sinclair said they would stop airing Kimmel’s show on their ABC-affiliated stations.

Until we get any indication that the FCC chair's comments were the source of the cancelation, I maintain that while what Carr said was stupid and bad, and what the FCC mostly does is stupid and bad, and while what Disney mostly does is stupid and bad, that this is not some new form of fascism.

It's clear you think I'm an idiot, so I'm quite sure my words will mean nothing to you, but please, hear this: A megacorporation took an action that has caused you to have strong animosity towards a fellow citizen based on perceived but not actual happenings. Resist the urge to be pissed off. I will happily march with you when and if the federal government actually attacks freedom of speech.

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#142
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extortion doesn't count for much if the FCC had no leg to stand on. I would have loved to have seen the fine and the resulting court-case, but unfortunately for everyone ABC pulled the program because of complaints from its broadcasters. We do not (as far as I know), have the ability to know to what extent the FCC Chair's comments mattered at all. I absolutely agree the FCC is overstepping and that the FCC Chair is d…

> Extortion doesn't count for much if the FCC had no leg to stand on. What on earth are you saying here? It worked. Obviously it "counts", it actually happened! The show was pulled from the air! You're saying that censorship isn't "technically censorship" if in some alternative universe Disney fought back and won? They didn't! As for your opinion about the reach of the FCC's powers or the risk to broadcasters of regu…

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Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#143
post #115

A lot of things can be true at the same time: - The FCC shouldn't be involved in content moderation, and the FCC Chair is obviously on an authoritarian power trip. - What Kimmel said was wrong (assuming you believe Utah state investigators) and deeply irresponsible and inflammatory. - Clearly the market was already deciding that Kimmel's show is irrelevant (Nielsen ratings quite clear on that). - The FCC is only invo…

> - What Kimmel said was wrong (assuming you believe Utah state investigators) and deeply irresponsible and inflammatory. Was it really though? Paraphrased, Kimmel said that the killer was a republican. He had a republican background, but it didn't motivate the killing which didn't seem to have any particular ideology beyond (maybe) trans identity politics and/or edgelord memery. So yeah, that was wrong. But if that'…

> Paraphrased, Kimmel said that the killer was a republican.

He literally didn't though? Why does this mistake keep being made. Kimmel made 0 assertions about the shooter. He did make assertions about the President and his conduct, however.

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#144
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - What Kimmel said was wrong (assuming you believe Utah state investigators) and deeply irresponsible and inflammatory. Was it really though? Paraphrased, Kimmel said that the killer was a republican. He had a republican background, but it didn't motivate the killing which didn't seem to have any particular ideology beyond (maybe) trans identity politics and/or edgelord memery. So yeah, that was wrong. But if that'…

> Was it really though? Paraphrased, Kimmel said that the killer was a republican. He had a republican background, but it didn't motivate the killing which didn't seem to have any particular ideology beyond (maybe) trans identity politics. So yeah, that was wrong. Look I don't even pretend to know the truth. But the sitting governor of Utah, the highest authority on the investigation (which is being done by Utah stat…

> unless I believe in a conspiracy by the state of Utah itself

What about political incentives? The conservative media sphere was falling over themselves to rush to label the shooter before any evidence or even a statement of "ideology" was given by the Utah gov, such that the WSJ posted and retracted an article about how the shooter was trans. An observation of that was what got Kimmel turned off the air. It wasn't what the Utah gov eventually said, it was all that had taken place before then.

> And, if you notice that it's not even clear the FCC took any action, that it was actually ABC's distributors who caused the ruckus

What if the chair caused the ruckus with the distributors by making public comment and explicitly threatening to pull ABC's status, on a timeline before the distributor made the call? Why is this explicit threat of removal, not just taken against the show, but against the entire network, not considered an action?

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#145

People are discovering that cancel culture goes both ways. Neither one is good. But let's not pretend that cancel culture has not been going for many years now. Remember Fox News cancelling, their most popular at the time, Tucker Carlson Show?

Government threats led to Tucker's cancellation?

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#146
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - What Kimmel said was wrong (assuming you believe Utah state investigators) and deeply irresponsible and inflammatory. Was it really though? Paraphrased, Kimmel said that the killer was a republican. He had a republican background, but it didn't motivate the killing which didn't seem to have any particular ideology beyond (maybe) trans identity politics and/or edgelord memery. So yeah, that was wrong. But if that'…

> Paraphrased, Kimmel said that the killer was a republican. He literally didn't though? Why does this mistake keep being made. Kimmel made 0 assertions about the shooter. He did make assertions about the President and his conduct, however.

He... sorta did: "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 [...]"

The sentence is convoluted but clearly implies that "this kid" was "one of the MAGA gang".

Is that what Kimmel meant? No, his point was that they (the MAGA gang) were exploiting the tragedy to "score political points". But it's not what he said, really. So arguments over meaning can at least happen in good faith. If someone says they're offended, I think it's not unreasonable to clarify and offer an apology.

...but not obviously to be sacrificed at an altar to the FCC commisioner.

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#147

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We also found out that Kimmel was planning a second attack on MAGA when the executives at ABC were already on-edge about the timing causing a backlash; simultaneously when Kimmel's ratings have dropped 43% since January to under 1.1M, which is "advertisers bailing out" territory. That's a lot duller than the Brendan Carr theory.

geeze we sure strayed far from "legalize comedy" pretty quickly. Here we are, discussing quips like they're a military operation.

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#148
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By "not nearly as bad as you think", what I mean is, the FCC has always policed content on broadcast television For boring stuff like sex and profanity! When was the last time a show was pulled under threat of FCC action because of political speech? Has it ever happened before? And it's happening again, just days after it worked the first time. Your cynicism, whether it's deliberate or not, is serving you very badl…

Extortion doesn't count for much if the FCC had no leg to stand on. I would have loved to have seen the fine and the resulting court-case, but unfortunately for everyone ABC pulled the program because of complaints from its broadcasters. We do not (as far as I know), have the ability to know to what extent the FCC Chair's comments mattered at all. I absolutely agree the FCC is overstepping and that the FCC Chair is d…

> We do not (as far as I know), have the ability to know to what extent the FCC Chair's comments mattered at all.

Two things - firstly, it wasn't a comment, it was a threat to kill ABC's ability to broadcast by the person with power to revoke their license. There's a difference.

Secondly, if you don't want to have the appearance of responsibility for your thumb on the scale, don't put your thumb on the scale. Don't just say that your thumb was one of many and it could've been anyone's pressure that caused the cancellation. There should be no confusion.

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#149

A lot of things can be true at the same time: - The FCC shouldn't be involved in content moderation, and the FCC Chair is obviously on an authoritarian power trip. - What Kimmel said was wrong (assuming you believe Utah state investigators) and deeply irresponsible and inflammatory. - Clearly the market was already deciding that Kimmel's show is irrelevant (Nielsen ratings quite clear on that). - The FCC is only invo…

Here’s a full transcript of the monologue - which is absurdly hard to find in all the coverage.

https://pastebin.com/25ZmRNwj

Re: After getting Jimmy Kimmel suspended, FCC chair threatens ABC's The View

#150

I'm not a US citizen so take what I write below with a grain of salt. I always thought the US to be a stronghold of democracy and free speech. I know, it's a naive view and we know how huge companies and corrupt politicians can subvert the system. But still, I thought it had a decent law system that, although imperfect like any other system, kept things from going back to the dark ages. I don't believe that anymore a…

> I always thought the US to be a stronghold of democracy and free speech. Every single story and moral guidance I've ever been told from childhood, whether from movies, books, church, or culture in general is that people like those in power right now are the bad guys. I no longer have any idea what people on the other side actually think. I don't think they know anymore either. I think they just want to exert power…

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