Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax finished out the third week after being dropped by DirecTV whe, yes, even more victimhood:
- Fmr Dem Gabbard Blasts AT&T DirecTV for Censoring Newsmax
- Rep. Hageman to Newsmax: Left Prefers Censorship To Competition
- Rep. Murphy to Newsmax: Hearings 'Absolutely' Needed on DirecTV
- Rep. Self to Newsmax: Want 'Action,' Not Just Hearings, on DirecTV Newsmax Drop
- Rep. Van Duyne to Newsmax: Investigate Censorship Like DirecTV's
- Rep. French Hill to Newsmax: DirecTV's Censorship Topic for Judiciary Committee
- Rep. Kevin Kiley to Newsmax: Bias Against Conservatives 'Has Been Brewing for Some Time'
- Major Jewish Leaders Demand AT&T's DirecTV Return Newsmax
- Rep. Byron Donalds to Newsmax: Oversight 'Looking Into' AT&T DirecTV Hearing
- Rep. Mike Flood to Newsmax: Rural Americans Rely on Network
- Sen. Ted Cruz Launches Probe of Big Tech Censorship
- Rep. Biggs to Newsmax: Authoritarian Government Starts With Censorship
- Rep. Lawler to Newsmax: 'Critically Important' DirecTV Restores Newsmax
- Fred Fleitz to Newsmax: 'Average Americans' Are 'Standing Up' to AT&T
- Rep. Guest to Newsmax: Conservatives Should 'Close Pocketbooks' to AT&T
- Sen. Blackburn to Newsmax: It's 'Imperative' Providers Reverse Course on Censorship
- John Moody to Newsmax: 'Dying' DirecTV Can't Justify Dropping Newsmax
- Sarah Palin to Newsmax: 'Obvious' Censorship From DirecTV
- Biden FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn: 'Very Troubled' by 'Deplatforming of Newsmax'
- Trump: 'Disgrace' for AT&T to Censor Newsmax
Newsmax also put out a Feb. 11 "news" article by Lee Barney:
Since DirecTV dropped Newsmax on Jan. 24, AT&T's stock has fallen by almost 7%, wiping nearly $10 billion from its market value.
AT&T, the 70% owner of DirecTV, has come under fierce criticism after deplatforming Newsmax from its satellite TV systems — the second conservative channel it has removed in the past year, with OAN going last April.
Days after the Newsmax drop, former President Donald Trump called on Americans to cancel not only DirecTV but all AT&T services, including cellular and wireless services.
[...]
Since the removal of Newsmax, AT&T stock appears to be significantly underperforming the market while major stock indices have held steady during the past 12 trading days.
The S&P 500 actually rose 0.37% between Jan. 25 and Feb. 10, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined just 1.84% between those dates.
Unsurprisingly -- since the Newsmax agenda comes before facts -- Barney offered no evidence that deplatforming Newsmax had anything whatsoever to do with AT&T's stock drop, apparently unaware of the idea that correlation does not necessarily equal causation.Also note that Barney did not mention the actual stock price of AT&T, presumably because that would undermine his case. The stock price was $20.42 on Jan. 25, which then plunged to ... $19.07 on Feb. 10. The price on Jan. 25 was actually a six-month high, and it had been much lower -- under $15 -- last October, when Newsmax wasn't an issue.
Still, Newsmax found a way to invoke it as part of its victimhood ploy:
- Trump on Falling AT&T Stock: 'Reinstate Newsmax'; It'll Only 'Get Worse'
- John Schneider to Newsmax: AT&T's Stock Drop Shows People's Power
- Rep. Davidson to Newsmax: AT&T's Stock Drop Sends Message
- Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: AT&T's Losses Show Newsmax's Value
With the addition of these 25 article, this means that in the three weeks after DirecTV dropped it, Newsmax has run at least 170 articles attacking the decision -- and, as near as we can tell, only one of these articles (and one opinion column) reference the fact that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, The First, which negates its frequent claims that conservative views are being "censored" by Newsmax.
Meanwhile, a Feb. 14 column by Bernard Kerik complained that Fox News isn't supporting Newsmax in its victimhood:
Fox News, the network that claims to be "fair, balanced and unafraid," seems eerily silent as of late. This deafening silence seems to coincide with DirecTV's drop of Newsmax from the airwaves. DirecTV, it should be noted, is owned by AT&T.
The satellite provider, DirecTV, pulled the plug on Newsmax on Jan. 24 after refusing to go on paying a licensing fee to carry its programming.
DirecTV wouldn’t pay a penny — despite Newsmax being the fourth largest cable news channel in the nation, and having more viewers than most of the 22 liberal-leaning channels that it continues to air — and pay fees to.
You would think that censoring a fellow conservative outlet would stir outrage in Fox News, who — given the present political environment — could always be next.
However, you would be wrong.
According to The Daily Beast, Fox News "has only devoted 35 seconds of airtime to Newsmax getting the boot — via a brief mention from Howard Kurtz" on his Sunday morning media show.
"Where are you, Fox? How about you, Fox . . . We did it for OAN," said Newsmax host Eric Bolling, referring to One America News, another conservative outlet that was dropped by DirecTV last year.
Quite a difference from four years ago when Fox News offered a strong defense of a CNN reporter who was kicked out of a White House event for shouting questions at President Donald J. Trump.
Ther difference, of course, is that Newsmax is a direct competitor to Fox News, while it needs CNN around as a foil and a "liberal" punching bag. Kerik does eventually understand the former point, though he bizarrely invokes Martin Luther King Jr. in doing so:
Fox’s disgustingly transparent silence while AT&T’s DirecTV attempts to sabotage and destroy Newsmax, a major fellow conservative network, is painfully abhorrent, and raises serious questions of motive and intent.
Why are they now cowardly? Why are they afraid to speak out?
Is this an opportunity to remain silent while DirecTV attacks and attempts to destroy their principal conservative competitor?
We can only speculate, but as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
For now, one thing is clear, Fox News is no longer a friend and supporter of conservatives, and more so, is no longer a staunch defender of our nation's First Amendment.
Kerik is deluded if he thinks Fox News ever cared about the First Amendment if it wasn't in its financial and political interest to do so.
