Spineless Media Assholes
NBC aired a concert special for Gulf Coast disaster relief. That's great. What isn't great is that the West Coast feed of the concert edited out rapper Kanye West's comments criticizing George W. Bush. West said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" and that America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible." Here is the entire story from the condescending Frazier Moore of the AP.
Kanye West's statement went out live on the East Coast (fortunately) but NBC's spineless, quivering TV executives were able to excise these sentences before they reached the tender ears of West Coast Americans. Now, NBC had every right to edit its broadcast any way it wanted to, but why did it do so in this case? Kanye West did not use profanity and he certainly expressed an opinion that millions of other Americans share (including myself). He certainly isn't a gangsta rapper - one of his most popular songs is about his love of Jesus.
AND his comments were relevant to the disaster relief concert. Do Bush-lovers honestly think the U.S. government responded as quickly as possible to the plight of the mostly poor, mostly black New Orleans residents trapped by the flooding? If Hilton Head Island (a rich enclave off the coast of my home state of South Carolina) was cut off by a hurricane, the United States Air Force would airlift the entire fucking island to Hawaii. I'm exaggerating, but not by much.
Kanye West spoke his mind during a concert. His comments were not inappropriate or profane. The NBC execs probably didn't even disagree with it (or at least didn't understand it). NBC was motivated by cowardice, the same cowardice that makes them terrified to air condom ads and anti-war political messages. Television's self-censorship is depressing. If television is afraid to air statements critical of the government, how exactly does our media differ from Russia's, China's, or Iran's?
Two reasons for this - 9/11 and Janet Jackson. After 9/11, radio stations were afraid to play songs that weren't "patriotic." Criticism of Bush and his administration were muted. Public service announcements emphasizing patriotism were the norm. Police and firemen were praised to the point of absurdity. I thought the United States was going to start a First Church of Christ The Emergency Responder, and have all cops and firemen canonized.
The overreaction to the Janet Jackson nipple exposure, led by then FCC chairman Michael Powell, started a pathetic round of media appeasement. Fines for all sorts of "indecency" started to be imposed or threatened by the FCC, so live broadcasts are now routinely aired with a delay, and nudity (but not violence) has been allegedly reduced. Bono was almost fined for using the word "fucking" on broadcast TV (I read that thousands of children were made deaf just by hearing that horrible, horrible word).
At the time, I hoped this media overreaction was going to be social conservatism's Battle of the Bulge, the last desperate counterattack by fanatics, deluding themselves that they could turn the tide. In my mind, the Moral Offensive, like the Bulge, would have some surprising early successes, only to be crushed in inevitable failure. Now, I'm not so sure. If liberals keep allowing their voices to be drowned out, conservatism could triumph, and in an Orwellian twist, the victorious right-wingers will pretend everyone agreed with them in the first place. Control of information lets you control the reality of the past, present, and future. Write NBC and tell them they are a bunch of cowards.
Kanye West's statement went out live on the East Coast (fortunately) but NBC's spineless, quivering TV executives were able to excise these sentences before they reached the tender ears of West Coast Americans. Now, NBC had every right to edit its broadcast any way it wanted to, but why did it do so in this case? Kanye West did not use profanity and he certainly expressed an opinion that millions of other Americans share (including myself). He certainly isn't a gangsta rapper - one of his most popular songs is about his love of Jesus.
AND his comments were relevant to the disaster relief concert. Do Bush-lovers honestly think the U.S. government responded as quickly as possible to the plight of the mostly poor, mostly black New Orleans residents trapped by the flooding? If Hilton Head Island (a rich enclave off the coast of my home state of South Carolina) was cut off by a hurricane, the United States Air Force would airlift the entire fucking island to Hawaii. I'm exaggerating, but not by much.
Kanye West spoke his mind during a concert. His comments were not inappropriate or profane. The NBC execs probably didn't even disagree with it (or at least didn't understand it). NBC was motivated by cowardice, the same cowardice that makes them terrified to air condom ads and anti-war political messages. Television's self-censorship is depressing. If television is afraid to air statements critical of the government, how exactly does our media differ from Russia's, China's, or Iran's?
Two reasons for this - 9/11 and Janet Jackson. After 9/11, radio stations were afraid to play songs that weren't "patriotic." Criticism of Bush and his administration were muted. Public service announcements emphasizing patriotism were the norm. Police and firemen were praised to the point of absurdity. I thought the United States was going to start a First Church of Christ The Emergency Responder, and have all cops and firemen canonized.
The overreaction to the Janet Jackson nipple exposure, led by then FCC chairman Michael Powell, started a pathetic round of media appeasement. Fines for all sorts of "indecency" started to be imposed or threatened by the FCC, so live broadcasts are now routinely aired with a delay, and nudity (but not violence) has been allegedly reduced. Bono was almost fined for using the word "fucking" on broadcast TV (I read that thousands of children were made deaf just by hearing that horrible, horrible word).
At the time, I hoped this media overreaction was going to be social conservatism's Battle of the Bulge, the last desperate counterattack by fanatics, deluding themselves that they could turn the tide. In my mind, the Moral Offensive, like the Bulge, would have some surprising early successes, only to be crushed in inevitable failure. Now, I'm not so sure. If liberals keep allowing their voices to be drowned out, conservatism could triumph, and in an Orwellian twist, the victorious right-wingers will pretend everyone agreed with them in the first place. Control of information lets you control the reality of the past, present, and future. Write NBC and tell them they are a bunch of cowards.
posted by David Bowden at 10:29 AM
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