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CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

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Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#111

"Didn't air" doesn't mean what you think it means. It means the interview didn't go over the airwaves via broadcast towers. The full interview is online, which thanks to the Streisand effect already has millions of views and therfore helped CBS in terms of funding. This can be seen as a 4D chess move by CBS. They'll certainly do this again if they're hitting millions of views. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_…

> "Didn't air" doesn't mean what you think it means. It means the interview didn't go over the airwaves via broadcast towers.

That means exactly what I thought it meant. It's still just as bad.

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#112
Reminder that the most reliable way to prevent the rise of the far right is to implement robust safety nets and low inequality, to reduce status anxiety and grievance.

Support for such measures (welfare, healthcare, unionization, high taxes etc) is usually low among Americans.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/welfare-cuts...

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#113

It is a great illustration of how transition to the authoritarianism happens (I've seen it happen in Russia in 2000s). At first you don't even need censorship, you just need to scare owners of channels/newspapers enough, so that they self-censor.

Fear is the enforcement mechanism because it can't be challenged in court.

It is long past time for everyone in tech to take a long hard look at the current situation and stop doing anything that financially benefits Musk, Ellison, or Thiel.

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#114
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Victim blaming? Greedy for trying to stay in business. If you didn’t fight hard enough it’s your fault? You let the government of the hook to easily. By your logic you‘re a perpetrator too because he don’t blame the real bad guy

Yes. I'm blaming victims. If you're suffering from government oppression and you go home and cry instead of stand up for your rights, I'm blaming you for your oppression. You're only a victim if you die with your boots on, so to speak.

You can do that if you are responsible for yourself but there are lots of people with jobs behind that.

It’s not on you to decide they have to die with you.

But the fact that Trump buddy Ellison owns CBS takes that in a completely new direction.

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#115

It is a great illustration of how transition to the authoritarianism happens (I've seen it happen in Russia in 2000s). At first you don't even need censorship, you just need to scare owners of channels/newspapers enough, so that they self-censor.

Indeed. Mark Zuckerberg has long said the administration pressured Facebook to censor COVID-related content, including satire and humor. And now the administration has ended public funding for NPR and PBS. Chilling effect

It goes back even further, just see the 1941 FCC “Mayflower Decision” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_doctrine

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#116
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Victim blaming? Greedy for trying to stay in business. If you didn’t fight hard enough it’s your fault? You let the government of the hook to easily. By your logic you‘re a perpetrator too because he don’t blame the real bad guy

> Greedy for trying to stay in business. If CBS were headed by someone with gumption and less willingness to kowtow to the government, they could resist this pressure and still be fine. Worst case scenario, a merger would get rejected and they would be targeted by some spurious lawsuits. Going out of business is not a realistic risk. What is a risk, however, is non-optimal shareholder value . We live in a world where…

There are lots of things that where unthinkable before Trump.

But it seems this is just business between billionaire buddies

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#117
post #59

Rough spot in time to be: - Once print newspapers were no longer a thing, even local news outlets are struggling to stay alive, and are resulting to sensationalism and entertainment as news - Corporate sponsors retain a huge influence in mainstream news (or have outright purchased it and use it for partisan politics). - "Social" media resides in (you guessed it) corporate-owned walled gardens. - Even those willing to…

There's a decent amount of non-profit news. I read NPR a lot and donate to them and Propublica. I think one of the big issues is advertising so news you actually pay for is a lot less likely to clickbait you.

Pablo Torre, the last true sports journalist in America.

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#118

"Didn't air" doesn't mean what you think it means. It means the interview didn't go over the airwaves via broadcast towers. The full interview is online, which thanks to the Streisand effect already has millions of views and therfore helped CBS in terms of funding. This can be seen as a 4D chess move by CBS. They'll certainly do this again if they're hitting millions of views. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_…

The youtube video currently has ~1.4 million views. Colbert averages 2 to 3 million television viewers per night, plus some number of youtube views that I haven't looked up the stats for.

That is, this interview has been seen by fewer people than it would have, had it been on television.

Re: CBS didn't air Rep. James Talarico interview out of fear of FCC

#120
post #108

[flagged]

>The change here is that late night interviews are not "bona fied news" so equal time rule kicks in

I'll give you "fear" is the wrong word for a company openly courting the administration, but if the equal time clause applies here because CBS is over-the-air using "a public good", it feels like we're long past a time where it should apply to _at least_ cable stations. Ideally, the whole thing would be put back in place how it was before the Regan or Rush Limbaugh era decimation of it (IIRC), but with the net and podcasts and youtube, et al, this is just me getting old and seeing some weird value in locking the splinters of the barn door.

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