#4. hold fake news agitators and powerbrokers accountable
the to-do list — how to quash fake news and fix our broken democracy
We’ve learned that criticizing unethical politicians and news outlets doesn’t stop bad behavior. At times it’s had the opposite effect — we’ve seen it rally support for Trump and the GOP, and alienate their supporters away from Dems and mainstream media. There’s no incentive for Fox and the GOP to respond to criticism if it doesn’t impact their audience share, electability or policies. Focusing instead on the folks who hold the purse strings and have something to lose has proved more effective.
Taking advertisers to task for supporting irresponsible or divisive news programming has impact. Advertisers drop ad buys when confronted by the public. The groups Sleeping Giants, the Anti-Defamation League, Color of Change, and Media Matters have been successfully leading the charge. The recent Stop Hate for Profit campaign is an example — it convinced over 400 advertisers to boycott Facebook’s laissez-faire approach to hate speech and fake news, threatening the media giant with $70 billion in losses.
Similarly, more effective than complaining about the misdeeds of giant corporations and broadcast networks is calling out specific leaders who run or own the organizations, and backroom funders and enablers. Even a media mogul doesn’t want to be at a gathering where the conversation turns to a full page ad that reads “Rupert Murdock has blood on his hands” or “Rebekah Mercer is spreading hate.” MeidasTouch and The Lincoln Project have been using this strategy — reminding the public and dishonest leaders of their misconduct.
By focusing on and holding chief offenders accountable in ways that get attention like full-page ads in papers and billboards, hashtags, and advertiser pressure campaigns, we can rein in bad behavior. Unscrupulous primetime hosts often actually help publicize criticism because they are in essence gossip and controversy-focused entertainers — that’s the achilles’ heel of spin-snipers like Beck and Carlson — they can’t resist a fight. Ultimately, they’ll help publicize criticism that’s directed at them if it’s a juicy story. And when ad buyers abandon ship, even media darlings fall.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
