Over the past few weeks, bloggers have been calling for boycots to the advertisers of Fox News and the idiots who appear on that channel.
Some bloggers even list the companies to boycott, the addresses and e-mails to complain to, and how and what to do.
This will not have the desired effect, and here's why...
At last count, not counting HD and movie channels, I receive 140 channels on my TV. Just about all these channels are sponsored by advertisers who pay for that station to air their commercials.
Back in the early days of TV, certain programs were sponsored by a single product or corporation, like GE Theater, or The Colgate Hour. Proctor & Gamble were the big sponsors of daytime dramas, hense the term "soap operas". Nightime television shows were "brought to you by..." So, if you had a problem with the content of that show, there was an advertiser to warn, "Pull your support of that show or I won't buy your product."
Now, there are no "one product" shows anymore. The same corporations that pay for commercials on Fox also pay for air time on MSNBC, Comedy Central and the Golf Channel. They have no say in what the programming is, just how much they have to pay for the commercial. Threaten to boycott the product because of one show and you may find that the same company advertises during your favorite show. It is a no win situation.
So, what's a body to do?
Stop giving these idiots the time of day. Keith Oldermann is doing just that with regard to O'Reilly. He announced that Bill-o will never be mentioned on his show again, and look what happened. Greg and Hannity are now in the spotlight. Nobody really cares what Bill is saying anymore.
Yes, I understand your anger and frustration. How could these people be allowed to say those things on the air? How can they get away with it?
Something must be done to shut them up, right? Why?
As long as they have an audience, the advertisers will pay. And their audience will continue to grow, because, like a few friends of mine, people will tune in just to hear the next outrageous remark, regardless if what Hannity of Beck of Rush say is accurate or politically correct.
I'm with Keith on this one. Turn them off. Tell the public places to turn them off. Stop re-telling the hideous remarks, giving them a greater audience. I don't care what Beck thinks about Obama. I care how my representative Peter King is going to vote on health care, and what I can do to make that vote a "yes". I don't care what Rush thinks about Sotomayer, I care what my senators think about education reform, and how my grandchildren will compete in a global market.
For those among you who feel some action must be taken, call or write the FCC and start demanding regulations. I am tired of the lying and have contacted this agency a few times to protest. If there is a law requiring truth in advertising, there should be a law regarding truth in broadcast and cable journalism.
But boycotting? Not gonna work.