3/18 TPTB Silence the Dixie CH1X:
http://csua.org/u/b0b (news.yahoo.com)
\_ It goes like this: you have the right to say just about anything
you want, however, you do *not* have the right to be heard. They're
getting paid to sing, not share their political philosophy. People
uninterested in their political philosophy are not required to pay
them for that or their singing or anything else. She's not
President Sheen so she's screwed.
\_ It goes like this: don't badtalk the Pres. or advertisers on
country/western stations will freak and pull your music.
Ani Difranco's been saying bad stuff about the Pres., but her
target audience is expected to support that message, so she
doesn't get pulled.
\_ They run a business. This is something Ms Ch1x didn't get.
She has no right to use their airwaves and equipment to get
her philosophy out, and doubly so since the listeners are
likely to get pissed off and kill the station ratings and
stop buying products on those stations. Perhaps you'd
prefer a Soviet style music selection chosen by a committee
which determines what you're allowed to listen to? No one is
stopping you from supporting Ms. Ch1x. Go into a store and
*buy* her music. I support Ms. Ch1x right to say what she
wants. I do not support her putting people out of work when
stations go under so she can attempt to spread her political
opinion on other people's time and dime.
\_ Actually they're _our_ airwaves.
\_ Which makes this a tragedy of the commons.
\_ *laugh* perfect.
\_ oh please.
\_ uh huh, great response.
\_ Wake up. Natalie Maines didn't use radio to peddle her
beliefs; she made comments at a concert in London. Read
the article and realize that you're talking up the wrong
issue.
\_ I already knew exactly when she made her comments. My
comments still stand. If you're going to mouth off
about topics beyond your job scope you have to expect
that there might be repercussions. For example, I'm
very conservative but work in a very liberal company.
I shut the fuck up and do not in any way share my
political beliefs with others because I put my income
above my right to mouth off. She chose the other path
and has that right as an adult but has to understand as
an adult that other adults have the right to boycott
her. I'd think the left would understand the boycott
concept *really* well by now. Are you upset at all
that the left is trying *really* hard to get a boycott
going on Michael Savage's new TV show? Does that upset
you the same as Ms. Ch1x getting pulled off the air?
\_ Hells bells, of course they have the right to
boycott her. However, the radio boycott was called
by owners of radio stations before the public even
had a chance to tell us how they felt about her
comments. Of course, the owners also have the right
to boycott, but when they do it, they're making
themselves represent "the people" by forcing their
listeners to implicitly take part in the boycott.
That's tyranny of ownership, not tyranny of vox
populi. The message they sent was "toe the line or
don't get played," not "the public disapproves." [fd]
\_ how do you know they weren't flooded with phone
calls and letters everytime they played Ms. Ch1x?
you're just assuming they pulled her instantly
when it was almost a week later in reality which
is plenty of time for US post to show up.
\_ If a left-leaning network exec pulled the plug based
on fears that people would pillory the network for
playing the show, I'd be disgusted. If the same exec
pulled the plug because the show lacked quality or
couldn't pull in the ratings, I'd say go figure.
If the left managed to get people to write in and say
they were going to boycott the network unless the show
got pulled, I'd say they were exercising their
rights as citizens. I may not agree with what they
say, but I support their right to say it.
\_ He isn't pulled yet but the left are beating on
the advertisers this second. How about Dr. Laura?
Her show didn't even get a chance to air before
advertisers were pulling out due to boycotts. I'm
a-ok with that as long as you're a-ok with Ms.
Ch1x losing precious air time a week after she
opened her dumb mouth. She's a singer. She
should sing. If she wants to, she can put it in
a song and if people like it, they'll buy it.
That's the way it works in this country.
\_ Isn't it kind of cruel to say that a musician should just
sing but not express her political views? Isn't that
like Soviet style music? Why is she obligated to
keep her mouth shut to save people's jobs?
\_ People are allowed and encouraged in this country to
express themselves in many ways. One way is to use your
music career to give your political beliefs a boost.
Another way is to close your wallet to send a message to
someone who is using their music career express her
political beliefs that you disagree with her doing so.
Few things are more American than what she did or than
what the radio stations did. I salute both Ms. Ch1x and
the radio managers who pulled her.
\_ She has the right to say what she wants. Similarly, the public
has the right to protest her statements and call her an idiot.
She then is allowed to decide, based on business interests, that
it is more profitable to retract her statement. The free market
works.
\_ Freedom of speech, and, for that matter, all other protections
granted in the bill of rights are protections against the Federal
government. Private individual or corporation shuts you, fuck you,
deal. Ted Turner owns CNN. He does not need to give you airtime.
Get over it. At this point, you might now be inclined to ask why
people have been worrying about corporate consolidation in the
media. [formatd was here -- under 80 columns next time] |