(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . FOX News Is Finding Out: Let's Unplug Them Now! [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: 2023-05-28 Fox “News” spreads poisonous propaganda throughout the United States. Alas, many people are addicted to it; they even crave it. There’s evidence that when people are cut off, they do improve, becoming less angry and less ignorant. Cutting them off is difficult, though, as But this diary series is not about getting people unhooked from Fox, it’s about unplugging Fox and reducing its power. In the past month or so, we’ve had some amazing developments. The $787 million settlement with Dominion. The firing of Tucker Carlson. There are even rumors about other hosts being forced to leave. Fox is fighting back at the negotiation table. They want an increase in cable fees, According to Media Matters (Madeleine Peltz, John Knefel): Following Fox News’ massive defamation settlement paid out to Dominion Election Systems, the network is now pursuing an even more aggressive strategy to raise revenue by increasing the fee paid by cable and satellite providers to $3 per subscriber, according to a new report from Vanity Fair. If you have cable, please object to your cable provider. After a review of recent events — please add your own if you have any — this diary has a list of things that can be done to reduce the sway of Fox on our world. Also, if you have suggestions for any of these sections, please post them in the comments. Note I will not be doing this for the next two Sundays as I will be traveling. Hope to return in late June. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Here are some suggestions that were posted last week: JohnathanSwiss There are 60 million cable subscriptions this year. Ten years ago it was 100 million. Many of those subscriptions are hotels, sports bars, hospitals and other locations where cable is a part of the business. Most households have cut the chord already. There is absolutely no excuse for our military to be paying cable subscriptions, however. Biden needs to use an Executive order to get cable out of our military installations. Since the right wing has become an anti-American cult the military should block right wing internet websites from its servers as well. edgee (a reply to JohnathanSwiss? May 22, 2023 at 03:47:34 AM Inspired by this comment, I just emailed President Biden. Here's what I said (and I hope I didn't put my foot in my mouth. I don't ever watch TV so I'm a little clueless). Dear President Biden, I am dismayed that our military is paying cable subscriptions for TVs to be blasting in every common space. I urge you to use an Executive order to get cable out of our military installations. My understanding is that these TVs are almost always tuned to Fox "News," which means our military personnel are constantly being bombarded with extremist right-wing propaganda of the worst kind. Since the right wing has become an anti-American cult, the military should block right wing internet websites from its servers as well. Thank you for everything you are doing. I can't tell you how glad I am that you and Kamala got elected, and I support your re-election. Go, Joe! Best regards, … JohnathanSwiss edgee May 22, 2023 at 01:59:41 PM Excellent idea. I just did it too. Here is the link if anyone wants to chime in as well: www.whitehouse.gov/... 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.” Also, new website, Nofoxfee.com, to check out below, sponsored by Media Matters. 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 Nofoxfee.com. From their website: URGENT! Fox is trying to force cable customers to pay more for TV in order to subsidize Fox News’ hateful, deceptive content — the “Fox Fee.” Your provider could be in negotiations with Fox RIGHT NOW. Unless you tell them to say #NoFoxFee, YOU could be footing the bill for Fox News whether you watch or not. CONTACT YOUR PROVIDER NOW Based on previous contract renewals, Spectrum/Charter, Xfinity/Comcast, and Cox could all be in negotiations RIGHT NOW. Tell them you want them to stand up to Fox's strong-arming and say #NoFoxFee! ➡️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. Note I featured them in this diary. ➡️ 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. 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 recent offering: 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. And now to look at a real fox, reclaiming the word for goodness: And another, for those who can still see tweets: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/28/2171847/-FOX-News-Is-Finding-Out-Let-s-Unplug-Them-Now 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/