Noteworthy News

[Thumpalumpacus]

There are lots of examples. When you're an employee, you have to obey the boss.

The problem you seem to be eliding is that corporate censorship can be just as odious as governmental censorship. The question boils down to which right is more important? The right to speak your mind, or the right to (not) associate with people who make comments you don't like?

I personally think that if you hire someone to comment, you probably ought to allow them to comment and let the ratings sort themselves out.

This, on the other hand, appears quite clearly to be a quid pro quo in order to get a merger/buyout approved by an FCC that has already been weaponized against other critics, something you neglected to mention for some reason or other.

[Paraselene]

Indeed. A television personality gets fired for doing his job.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Indeed. A television personality gets fired for doing his job.

It's almost as if these Republicans don't trust the free market. It must be regulated, by threat if necessary.

[Fireball]

Jack-Booted Government Thugs.

[Belacqua]

This, on the other hand, appears quite clearly to be a quid pro quo in order to get a merger/buyout approved by an FCC that has already been weaponized against other critics, something you neglected to mention for some reason or other.

On the "Damned Trump" thread I wrote this two days ago:

ABC isn't public, though. It isn't in "the public sphere." 

It's a private for-profit company owned by Nexstar. The directors of Nexstar are obligated to turn a profit for their shareholders. 

Nexstar has agreed to buy a rival conglomerate, Tegna, for billions of dollars. The deal requires FCC approval, because it would violate current regulations on how many TV stations one company can own in any given market. If Brendan Carr is mad at Nexstar it could endanger the deal. 

Trump's FCC has generally been in favor of loosening regulations on media companies like this. Not for free speech reasons, obviously, but to help rich people get richer. 

Legacy media is losing viewers fast. A lot of people voted for Trump. If a significant number of those people decide to stop watching Nexstar stations or going to Disney attractions, some rich people won't make as much money as they could. 

For-profit media can't be trusted to censor itself. It doesn't exist to tell the truth.

So I had already mentioned it. 

As for hiring someone to tell jokes on TV, the boss gets to decide what kind of joke he wants to hear. That's how capitalism works.

[Thumpalumpacus]

As for hiring someone to tell jokes on TV, the boss gets to decide what kind of joke he wants to hear. That's how capitalism works.

No. In capitalism, the customer decides which joke he wants to hear.

[Belacqua]

As for hiring someone to tell jokes on TV, the boss gets to decide what kind of joke he wants to hear. That's how capitalism works.

No. In capitalism, the customer decides which joke he wants to hear.

From Wikipedia:

Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit.

emphasis added

Pleasing the customer is not the goal of capitalism. Obtaining profit is the goal of capitalism. 

The directors of Disney, Nexstar, and the ABC affiliates who wanted Kimmel fired are calculating what will maximize their profits. If pleasing Trump and the FCC helps them get their merger to make a few more billion dollars, that's what they'll do.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit.

emphasis added

Pleasing the customer is not the goal of capitalism. Obtaining profit is the goal of capitalism. 

Good luck doing that without customers coming to your brand.

The directors of Disney, Nexstar, and the ABC affiliates who wanted Kimmel fired are calculating what will maximize their profits.

No, they're actually in this case devoted to minimizing losses, which is the other half of the P/L statement.

If pleasing Trump and the FCC helps them get their merger to make a few more billion dollars, that's what they'll do.

It's a gamble, like any business decision -- go off somewhere new, or ply the tried-and-true? But to shitcan this red herring of yours, you wrote that "the boss gets to decide what kind of joke he wants to hear". You didn't appeal to any business marketplace sense, but here you are pushing goalposts now and saying it wasn't about the joke, it was about the business sensibility.

Funny thing is -- the consumer will decide that, your boss's taste in humor notwithstanding. That's capitalism, baby.

[Belacqua]

Funny thing is -- the consumer will decide that, your boss's taste in humor notwithstanding. That's capitalism, baby.

OK, so the directors of these companies have the choice to

1) get approval for a multi-billion dollar deal and make huge profits, or 

2) keep a not-very-popular comedian on the air.

And you think that 2) is the wise business choice.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Funny thing is -- the consumer will decide that, your boss's taste in humor notwithstanding. That's capitalism, baby.

OK, so the directors of these companies have the choice to

1) get approval for a multi-billion dollar deal and make huge profits, or 

2) keep a not-very-popular comedian on the air.

And you think that 2) is the wise business choice.

You have to demonstrate both of your claims before you'll get any deeper reply from me. You're projecting "huge" profits. Let's see your numbers. You're saying Kimmel is not very popular. Neither is Trump. Firing Kimmel to appeal to Trumpeteers is of necessity a limit on your market base, because some people will take umbrage because they're Kimmel fans, and some people will take umbrage because the network caving to government pressure.

So let's your balance sheet on this transaction. Are you really going to gain more viewers? What are the properties, what do their balance-sheets look like, are they for sale because founders are cashing out, or are they for sale to flesh out the revenue-stream for the seller?

And, aside from that, you still haven't explained how capitalism is not driven by consumers. So if you could spare a few neurons for that hanging and overdue answer, I'm sure you'll get plaudits and acclaim for actually answering a goddamned question. Why does a boss's taste matter more than his customers' taste? Be specific.