“Television is much more difficult because at every moment the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You’re in a constant debate with a gun at your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it’s hard to win the arguments.”
–Judd Apatow
Lots of discussion from the Red Caps on “legacy media being brought to heel”—like media outlets are similar to dogs or any other animal that can be trained to obey its master.
I would challenge their word choice—legacy media hasn’t been brought to heel—what has been brought to heel is “corporate media.”
And we should be clear that we are talking about broadcast media..print media with the possible exception of the New York Times was “brought to heel” generations ago when Gannett started purchasing community newspapers and homogenizing news content…
How long has corporate media been in place?
–NBC has been purchased in pieces over the last four decades, culminating in Comcast being the majority owner.
–CBS was sold by Westinghouse in 1995 and through a series of purchases now belongs to Skydance media (a purchase that made news because the firing of Stephen Colbert appears to have been part of the approval of the sale).
–ABC was sold in 1985 and has been owned by Disney since 1996.
So “Corporate Media” has been in place for a generation—and truthfully it shows.
The corporations that own these broadcast entities all say they are in the “entertainment business” but the reality is like any other company in the financial system they are part of, they are in the “profit business.”
Anything that impacts their profit will soon be removed, and they are willing to deal with the consequences—i.e., bad press.
They can deal with the bad press because they know the America attention span is:
.03198 picoseconds…and shrinking!!!
Two of these three corporate entities are also trying to complete sales—and need the approval of the Federal Communications Commission for the sales to be completed—so they are willing to be brought to heel—hell they’ll ask their master how high they need to jump to get this.
I mention this because true legacy media:
CBS under founder William Paley,
NBC under founder David Sarnoff,
ABC under Edward J. Noble and Leonard Goldenson,
We’ll skip over FOX simply because their entertainment division has been a subsidiary of Disney since 2019 and the FOX News division has been a wing of the Republican party since its creation…
Would be having a field day with the current national situation.
The true broadcast legacy media understood the responsibility their companies had because they were providing information when there was only two sources: print and broadcast.
The world of today was truly science fiction in the early part of the 20th Century and the three networks understood their responsibility—for both news and entertainment.
Sarnoff and Paley were businessmen and as ruthless as the people who now control their broadcast heritage, but again, they also knew their responsibility went beyond dollars and cents.
They needed to ensure people knew the truth—not “both sides”—but the truth no matter how painful it could be.
Legacy media brought us Edward R Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley.
Legacy media brought us the firehoses and dogs of Birmingham,
Legacy media brought us the attack at the Edmund Pettis Bridge,
Legacy media showed the paradox of destroying Vietnamese villages to save them.
Legacy media also brought us Laugh-In, the Smothers Brothers, Jack Parr and yes the venerated Johnny Carson, who was known to poke fun at presidents now and then.
Corporate media has bought us Jimmy Fallon running his fingers through a gangster’s toupee.
Corporate media has also brought us entities that flinch whenever a hand is raised toward them.
Corporate media has all of the moral courage of school paste.
Which is why we’re where we are today.
Legacy media would have dared the FCC to show where their reporters or entertainers did or said something that placed a subject in danger.
Legacy media would not have capitulated to frivolous lawsuits about news interviews.
Legacy media would not be in the process of seeing how they could get out of a contract with an entertainer because that entertainer is endangering their potential sale.
Legacy media would tell the gangsters in the People’s House “we’ll see you in court and match you attorney for attorney…”
Legacy media stood for something.
“Corporate media” will fall for anything.
George Patton—of all people–said it best about the current collection of corporate cowards in charge of the airwaves:
“A coward is someone who lets fear overcome their sense of duty.”
Until next Time…
Thoughts From A Short Round Black Man 