Saturday, June 27, 2015

Univision does to Trump what corporate advertisers ought to do, to Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch, every day ... by gimleteye

Donald Trump is a ridiculous human being judging his public persona. One wants to be careful about name calling, because God knows we all qualify at some point for having our efforts at being meaningful hung out to dry. Public figures, though, are different cats.

It is in the public realm that Donald Trump is ridiculous, and he is a candidate for the GOP nomination for president and he did make offensive, racist comments against the Mexican people in his first media appearance as candidate.
In response to his ethnic baiting, the Spanish-language broadcaster -- Univision -- made an appropriate decision to block Trump as a corporate content provider from its network. (Trump is part owner of the Miss Universe franchise.) In return, Trump blocked Univision executives from his golf club adjacent to Univision headquarters in Doral. In return, the Univision CEO posted an Instagram photo showing Trump side-by-side America's latest racist standard-bearer and mass murderer, Dylann Roof.

For all Trump's ridiculous-ness, his race and ethnic baiting triggered a response by a media giant that deserves closer reflection by corporate advertisers because the same appeal to gut reflexes like race-baited fear is what animates Fox News, Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes, his Josef Goebbels.

Fox News "commentators" are run by Ailes. They are his versions of Trump only screened through focus groups and market testing. Ailes makes sure his on-air shock troops are quick-witted enough to avoid rolling public condemnation (as opposed to the biting, nipping commentary of The Daily Show and Jon Stewart and the blogs). Their effect is the same as Trump: they stir fear and anxiety for personal advantage, power and fortune.

Trump's coif is doctored as Fox's "Fair and Balanced".

Corporate advertisers should recognize that the goading, simmering fear and anxiety underlying Fox News commentators is harmful to their brands and harmful to America. If they did, they would abandon Fox the way Univision abandoned Trump.

Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch are both too savvy to allow their talking heads to cross the line from fear mongering to overt race and ethnic baiting (the way Donald Trump did). Viewers need to find ways to send corporate advertisers the news: we do not approve your messages to America.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What they clearing have in common is that they fall into the category of "angry white males" who have an obvious disdain and contempt for anyone unlike themselves. It's a national affliction amongst certain population segments and a major political party.

Geniusofdespair said...

What party? The AWM party or the Republicans?

Cato said...

What's wrong with everything happening today is that EVERYTHING IS POLITICIZED, social mores, business, law etc etc have been permeated by politics as opposed to being contained by it.

Even if you dislike Trump comparing him to a person who murdered 9 people in cold blood is even more ridiculous and cynical than Trumps less than lucid comments at the announcement of his candidacy.

Example the law should only be concerned with the fact that an individual committed pre-meditated murder not with what his thoughts (Hate Crime) on politics, race or religion were. Playing into these motivations will lead to future witch hunts that will affect every individual regardless of his place in the political spectrum, no one will be safe.