An Open Letter to SiriusXM Radio
I have subscribed to SiriusXM Radio for more than 6 years. I love it. I love the 40’s channel, the NPR channel, Met Opera, and the 80’s channel. Two of the Christmas options are #1 and #2 on my presets.
But today I cancelled my service.
I didn’t even realize that you carried Breitbart programming until yesterday when you started promoting Steve Bannon’s return to the Sirius XM Patriot channel as a “regular host.” Breitbart News is a daily feature on this station with multiple shows on the weekends.
Seriously?
Your company website touts its EEO statement prominently:
But you promote and give a platform to a man who peddles bigotry and promotes hatred, sometimes disguised as politics — but often just nakedly. Frankly, if I had known you had Breitbart programming, I would have cancelled my subscription a long time ago, because Bannon himself described Breitbart as “the platform for the alt right.”
From Mother Jones: “We’re the platform for the alt-right,” Bannon told me proudly when I interviewed him at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July. Though disavowed by every other major conservative news outlet, the alt-right has been Bannon’s target audience ever since he took over Breitbart News from its late founder, Andrew Breitbart, four years ago. Under Bannon’s leadership, the site has plunged into the fever swamps of conservatism, cheering white nationalist groups as an “eclectic mix of renegades,” accusing President Barack Obama of importing “more hating Muslims,” and waging an incessant war against the purveyors of “political correctness.”
Today when I called to cancel my subscription, the woman who took my call said, “But the views expressed on SiriusXM do not reflect the views of SiriusXM radio.”
You don’t get an out that easily. If you choose to have a financial relationship with Breitbart, you are choosing to have a financial relationship with the alt-right. You don’t have to do that. You are choosing to give them a platform. They are not conservatives — you have lots of conservatives in your lineup. I don’t agree with them; I don’t generally listen to them. But this isn’t about conservatives and liberals. This is about white nationalism, flagrant racism, and Nazis.
For a company that trumpets its devotion to diversity to do business with the alt-right… well, that is the definition of hypocrisy.
There is a line between genuine conservatism and the alt-right. Breitbart crossed it long ago with Steve Bannon leading the charge.
Under the #GrabYourWallet campaign, Breitbart has lost 90% of their advertisers — in less than a year. So, since SiriusXM Radio chooses to do business with Bannon and Breitbart, I choose not to do business with you. Let me know when you remove them from your station lineup. I’ll be back.