(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Fox Finding Out: Kick Them When They're Down [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-30 Last week I wrote about the many reasons the Dominion settlement was a good thing for democracy and for the world and, obviously, for Dominion. Some people agreed with me; others did not, because they wanted Dominion to knock Fox out completely and accused Dominion of taking a bribe. This, in my opinion, is unfair: in civil suits, money is paid; that is the point. But, it turns out the Dominion settlement, combined with other lawsuits, had repercussions this past week. Not just ripples, but waves. Most of us cannot predict exactly which straw will break the fox’s back. But it is not the one straw that does it. It is the many straws that break the back of the fox. Fox is down. This is our opportunity to reduce or even remove the influence of this evil media company. Don’t surrender in advance. Instead, do something. Ideas are down below, after some reminders of some of the recent developments. Note: next weekend I am traveling and will not be able to post this diary. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Like I said, the Dominion settlement was a good thing, in part because so much is being exposed, not always directly about Fox, but about senators who should be barred from office, such as Ted Cruz. We started Monday with Tucker Carlson being fired. Their star. Why, exactly? It’s hard to tell. The Grossberg suit? The texts allegedly insulting the Murdochs? The Smartmatic suit? Pressure from other shareholders? Maybe Murdoch is finally losing it? Please, feel free to speculate down below. However, since then, viewership has plummeted: x The cataclysmic drop in Fox’s 8 pm audience: HALF (not a typo) of the viewers have left in the few days post-Tucker. Via @oliverdarcy https://t.co/gh2UmQnOOu pic.twitter.com/xFgN5lhGlS — Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) April 28, 2023 I know, they may find someone just as bad, but in the meantime, that’s good. Because every moment these people don’t watch Fox news is a moment for their brains to heal a little. Apparently, MT Greene and Russian guy Lavrov are both upset, which is good for the US and the world. Also, enjoy the fact that Fox has an oppo file on Tucker that is keeping him from saying much. 😄 More lawsuits are coming up. Smartmatic. Abby Grossberg. We’re not the only country with people angry at the Murdochs. Apparently Prince Harry (well, he is in the US, but the tabloids in this case are British) is angry with the Murdochs, too. Clive Irving, The Daily Beast The two tracks of Rupert Murdoch’s debasement of journalism have converged into one extremely costly crisis for him. It’s clear that Murdoch’s last years as a media tycoon will be spent paying for his criminalizing of print journalism and his primetime television assault on truth. Prince Harry’s onslaught in a London court on Murdoch’s British tabloids exposes the long and unstinting drain on the Murdoch purse of 16 years of litigation to settle claims by many thousands of victims of phone hacking. Coming on the heels of the $787.5-million payout by Fox News to settle the Dominion defamation case it means that what were once viewed as cash cows have turned into fiscal black holes—more cases against Fox are in the pipeline and paying off hacking victims could still take years. In the meantime, we should use the advantage the Dominion settlement gives us. Because, no one pays three quarters of a billion dollars when they believe they’re innocent. We can also use the firing of Tucker to point out that you don’t want your cable fees to go to a place which is being sued by everyone. If you are contacting the FCC, or your cable provider, or any politician, whether local or national, you can use phrases such as: “I don’t want to fund FOX’s lies.” or, more generally, “I don’t want to fund FOX’s lawsuits.” Repeat, and Repeat Some More Repetition is good. Repetition is good. The other side knows this. They know that if they repeat things, even false things, people start to believe them. Even when they don’t believe them, they sink in, to the point that they feel true, even when people know they’re bullsh*t. Think of all the things you know are false but also know are accepted arguments, because they’ve been repeated so often (trickle-down economics, only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun, etc). The left is different. We don’t like to repeat things, because it seems rude. And it can seem redundant to repeat truths, because they are self-evident. This puts truth at a disadvantage. Anyway, I’m repeating truths here. And I’m asking you again to take a few steps to take down FOX News. Have you already taken some steps? Tell us about them in the comments. Have you already taken some steps? Maybe you can do them again. No reason not to contact the FCC more than once. Or your representatives, local, state, federal. Have you not taken any steps? See if there’s anything you can do. Have you encouraged others to take steps? Do that some more. Do the same things again (as long as it makes sense). Because repetition is good. Although many viewers are addicted to FOX and the right-wing lies, once it is stopped, they do recover. At least some of them. WHAT WE CAN DO ➡️Visit this website, Unfoxmycablebox. From their website: Pay for cable or satellite TV? You’re subsidizing Fox News whether you watch it or not. Your cable or satellite TV provider pays a subscriber fee to carry Fox News. That cost is passed directly on to YOU. Every network charges cable and satellite providers a small fee per subscriber; the one for Fox News is extraordinarily high. A typical household pays Fox News almost $2 per month—about $20 per year— via their cable or satellite provider, regardless of whether they actually watch the channel. In 2023, a wave of big contracts between Fox News and TV providers for subscriber fees are set to expire. These contracts make up a major source of Fox News’ subscriber fee revenue. If we want to stop paying the "Fox fee," now is the time to act. From Progressive Muse: “AntennaWeb can tell you what channels you can pick up over the air with an antenna. I have an amplified antenna which helps with more distant channels. No subscription required.” From tallen387: “Even if you don’t subscribe to cable, you can still tell your local cable company that one of the reasons you don’t subscribe to cable at all is because you don’t want your money going to Fox News or any of the other somewhat odious channels you find in the so-called ‘basic package’ (I was against televangelists — another species of pig that has been feasting at that particular trough for a long time — long before Fox News was even on my personal radar). And of course, now that your money is basically helping Fox News pay off an almost certainly onerous judgment against it, you're basically in the position of bailing out the people who should be paying the judgement: Fox News management and the stockholders. The same message should be sent to advertisers: why should consumers buy your product when part of the money they spend is helping to bail out Fox News and insulate Fox News management and stockholders from the consequences of their actions?” ➡️Complain to your cable company. If you have a cable subscription that makes you pay for FOX News, then complain to them now. Tell them you don’t want to pay for a media outlet that lies all the time. Here’s some suggested text: I’m writing to you to let you know I don’t want to have any of the money I pay you go to FOX News, which is lying to the American public, as determined by Judge Eric Davis. I expect you to reduce my bill by $X. Even if you don’t have cable for your TV pleasure, but you use a cable company for your internet, you can let them know you’re not pleased if they’re supporting FOX. ➡️ Contact government. If you feel as if that’s not enough, then contact those who have influence on the contract. Contact your governor, contact your mayor, contact your senators and your representatives. The House, with the Rs in charge, will not help, but the Senate could. Demand hearings, especially the lies exposed by Dominion. Also, some R senators are not pleased by those lies these days. They hate tRump with a passion. Suggested text: Dear Senator: FOX News is pumping poisonous propaganda into the public. Lies should not be tolerated. Judge Eric Davis even found that they are full of lies. ➡️ Write letters to the editor talking about how we’re being forced to subsidize lies that hurt us. Let other people know. Tell them on FB, Twitter, Instagram. ➡️ Afraid no one reads your stuff? Then freewayblog (thanks, freewayblogger) ➡️ Complain to the FCC (thanks, dadadata) You should contact the FCC if you have complaints or questions about the following issues: Cable Consumer Complaints . File complaints at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us Suggested text: Dear FCC: I strongly object to being forced to subsidize FOX News via my cable subscription. They are pumping propaganda for the Republican party. Judge Eric Davis has even found that they are lying. I want my bill to be reduced by these fees. Also, if you could get them off the airwaves altogether, that would be great. ➡️Do you have connections in the military? The Pentagon should pull the plug on FOX news. (Mike Lofgren, Jen Senko) At least as recently as a year ago, FOX News was the most popular cable news on the military. From the article: There is a whole library of information about how Fox News influences mom and dad to become rabid right wingers. This is hardly surprising, because Republican operative Roger Ailes teamed up with media baron Rupert Murdoch for the specific purpose of a purported "news" channel to hype Republicans and malign Democrats. Less is known about how the network propagates incitement to sedition and refusal to follow lawful orders to members of the military, the very persons charged with upholding the Constitution and national security. And the Pentagon is abetting it. As to the seriousness of the problem, a former Marine has told the authors: "Right-wing society has captured the military . . . If you walk the Pentagon halls there will be not one TV tuned to anything but Fox." Another source told us that at their Air Force facility, Fox News is always blaring in common spaces during duty hours. Far from always being a service member's choice, the situation is often as at an airport lounge, where everyone is subjected to it like it or not. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has spoken of the need to prevent political extremism in the military. Indeed, the high percentage of service members and veterans among the Capitol rioters is alarming. How do we get it out of the military? VoteVets has tried, without success, but there seems to be more opportunity now. It may not be easy. There is the first amendment. Many of the people in the military really like FOX News. On the other hand, people do recover, at least somewhat, when no longer exposed to the toxic propaganda. ➡️ Go after advertisers (thanks for the reminder, Progressive Muse) Fox News gets way too much money from cable fees, but it also gets bucks from advertisers. Boycott their advertisers. Sometimes advertisers are unaware of where their ads are going, as they work through third parties who place their commercials. But one place is tracking this: “The group is called Check My Ads and they have been profiled by media like NPR and Fast Company” (Progressive Muse). You may find helpful information there. ➡️ Turn off the station (thanks Wolvie) Apparently, there’s something called “TVBGone” — a sort of remote that allows you to turn off the station in public places. I have never used this, and it does seem kind of rude. Maybe some military personnel should get this... ➡️Use the divisions between FOX and tRUmp. This is attacking FOX from the right, or rather from the crazy, but it is one way to weaken them. If you are speaking to tRump lovers who love FOX, let them know that the hosts all hate him. x 2/And, Tucker continued, speaking of Trump’s presidency: “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump.” — Jill Wine-Banks (@JillWineBanks) March 8, 2023 Even if your FOX-loving acquaintances refuse to believe you, the message sinks in. 👢 Let’s kick FOX “News” when it’s down, so it stops being an existential threat. ➡️ Do you have other ideas? Please post them down below. ➡️ Have you already done something? Please, tell us your story! 🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recentoffering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and sequels, Scavengers of Mind and the brand-new Familiars of the Flock (They’re really good! They’rereally cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also availableon Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/30/2166373/-Fox-Finding-Out-Kick-Them-When-They-re-Down Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/