Why make this story about Megyn Kelly (never a fan) or NBC or Sandy Hook or JPMorgan Chase? If Kelly does it right, she'll expose Alex Jones for the evil creature he is.
2
I can't help but wonder what the response would have been from individual and corporate sponsors of the Public if it had chosen to portray Julius Caesar as Obama, or perhaps Netanyahu. Plenty of people view them and their policies as dangerously authoritarian. Now t h a t would actually have been dangerously provocative and created interesting conversations here in the City. Who would be doing the picketing and protesting then? And who would be withdrawing their financial support?
It does recall a previous fuss concerning the painting of a cross dipped in urine. Art? Or deeply insensitive? Guess it depends on where you are standing.
It does recall a previous fuss concerning the painting of a cross dipped in urine. Art? Or deeply insensitive? Guess it depends on where you are standing.
1
Someone willing to work for Fox News for YEARS cannot change their spots by moving to another network. They simply besmirch that network which is left permanently stained. Megyn Kelly is totally tone deaf to interview subjects, and after having chosen a bad one, instead of going after the red meat she genuflects. Now, had Christiane Amanpour interviewed either Putin or Alex Jones, neither would have gotten away with their masks still on.
6
That Alex Jones's poisonous diatribes add nothing to sane public discourse is evident to most. However, I am troubled by the effort to muzzle him in spite of his odious and hatehul rhetoric. I would hope that Kelly would expose him for crank that he is for all to see. Yes, Jones represents the ugly and dark side of free speech but it is free speech non the less.
I remeber watching William Buckley's Firing Line and seeing guests as diverse as George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party leader and members of the New Africa Movment. Say what you want about Buckley's politics, he had an incisive way of exposing twisted logic for all the viewers to see. Kelly certainly is no Buckley but I hope her intent is to expose Jones' insanity.
I remeber watching William Buckley's Firing Line and seeing guests as diverse as George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party leader and members of the New Africa Movment. Say what you want about Buckley's politics, he had an incisive way of exposing twisted logic for all the viewers to see. Kelly certainly is no Buckley but I hope her intent is to expose Jones' insanity.
8
Julius Caesar was written hundreds of years ago. Most of us learned it in high school. Theatre companies have been using modern day characters in Shakespeare plays for years.
Sean Hannity and other broadcase journalists should hold themselves to a higher standard. They are exacerbating the deep divisions in our country.
Sean Hannity and other broadcase journalists should hold themselves to a higher standard. They are exacerbating the deep divisions in our country.
6
This guy has already hung himself out to dry. In proceedings related to his divorce, Jones admitted that his bizarre allegations are simply meant for entertainment and don't necessarily have any truth value. All any interviewer has to do is confront him with his own words.
5
Mushrooms grow in manure, usually in the dark. So do Alex Jones's conspiracies. They should be exposed to air and light. Maybe they'll dry out and blow away. We can hope anyway.
It's not NBC sponsors who should be targeted. It's whoever supports Jones making a living off his vile, made up, twisted stories. A pizza shop owner and a yogurt maker took him on in recent months and he backed right down.
I empathize deeply with the Sandy Hook families, but it's not an NBC interview that is the source of their pain. It's that Alex Jones exists at all.
The mission of good journalism is to expose ugly truths. Otherwise they will continue to flourish in their dark little corners ... kind of like Jones does.
It's not NBC sponsors who should be targeted. It's whoever supports Jones making a living off his vile, made up, twisted stories. A pizza shop owner and a yogurt maker took him on in recent months and he backed right down.
I empathize deeply with the Sandy Hook families, but it's not an NBC interview that is the source of their pain. It's that Alex Jones exists at all.
The mission of good journalism is to expose ugly truths. Otherwise they will continue to flourish in their dark little corners ... kind of like Jones does.
5
Quite simply, when the media gives hate a forum, we end up with a Donald Trump. If the media cannot set its own standards, their sponsors will.
8
Odd how this article did not point out how the New York Times and Time Warner still supported New York's Public Theater. The duplicity is sickening because they would of undoubtedly pulled support if it was Hillary or Bill Clinton in the role of Julius Caesar. Hey New York Times, how about reporting on how Hillary gave US uranium to Russia while she was secretary of state?
2
Talk about a false equivalency! Alex Jones is no William Shakespeare, and as one person suggests sponsorship of one of the most important plays in English is not the same as buying advertising space to enable showcasing a detestable liar. Ms. Kelly is guaranteed the right to support any nasty sewer rat she wishes--that's the nature of free speech--but corporations are not required to support her in her desperate quest to be taken seriously.
Who wants an airline to be their censor? It's just crazy, right?
My city is a delta hub so there aren't many other options, and for short trips there are usually no other options. But after this, I can't think of any place I need to be enough to fly delta again. I've quit lying to myself. There ARE other options.
My city is a delta hub so there aren't many other options, and for short trips there are usually no other options. But after this, I can't think of any place I need to be enough to fly delta again. I've quit lying to myself. There ARE other options.
4
Giving Alex Jones a platform on a major network news program is the first step in legitimizing his views, most of which are reprehensible, hateful, and refutable. It is wrong, it is unjustifiable. Megyn Kelly is a smart reporter, but it is extremely disappointing that you can take her away from Fox, but can't take the Fox out of her.
3
Alex Jones and his ilk have polluted the internet with their sick and twisted hype. There are already numerous tabloid websites devoted to such trash. Is Megyn Kelly so arrogant as to think she was going set the record straight or expose a greater truth by interviewing this nut job? Sadly, he, like she, are both earning a living at this. What's worse is, in her attempt at journalism (?), she is just the enabler. Sad.
2
Is sponsorship the same as advertising?
A sponsor of an event is supporting the idea or mission of something regardless of whether that thing results in monetary gain for the sponsor. (Although obviously they hope so).
An advertiser pays to put ads on television, radio, the internet, etc specifically to get people to buy their product, they do not need to have any civic investment in the medium or subject matter.
If Delta and B of A have sponsored the whole season or the ongoing mission of The Public Theater, then presumably they are clear on what it is. If they signed on for one particular production, they have a right I suppose to know what the production really entails up front and decide whether they want to support it.
If Megan Kelly really considers herself a "journalist" now that she is on NBC and she is truly covering Alex Jones as news event as she says, then fine.
Anyway it's a two way street: I didn't stop watching PBS and listening to NPR after Monsanto, Cargill and now the Koch brothers started "sponsoring" them.
A sponsor of an event is supporting the idea or mission of something regardless of whether that thing results in monetary gain for the sponsor. (Although obviously they hope so).
An advertiser pays to put ads on television, radio, the internet, etc specifically to get people to buy their product, they do not need to have any civic investment in the medium or subject matter.
If Delta and B of A have sponsored the whole season or the ongoing mission of The Public Theater, then presumably they are clear on what it is. If they signed on for one particular production, they have a right I suppose to know what the production really entails up front and decide whether they want to support it.
If Megan Kelly really considers herself a "journalist" now that she is on NBC and she is truly covering Alex Jones as news event as she says, then fine.
Anyway it's a two way street: I didn't stop watching PBS and listening to NPR after Monsanto, Cargill and now the Koch brothers started "sponsoring" them.
2
The Kochs are sponsoring PBS? Yikes!
Paraphrasing Justice Louis Brandeis, 'sunshine is the best disinfectant.' I despise Alex Jones and his warped and twisted hoaxes, not to mention the damage he does. But I also applaud Megyn Kelly for interviewing him on-air. And I have no doubt -- no doubt -- she will expose him and his poisonous conspiracy theories for what they are: A fraudulent attempt to make money off people who are otherwise susceptible to his rants.
4
Don't hold your breath, honey, on Megyn being a disinfectant. If you think she will be, you haven't been paying attention. :/
While I find Megyn Kelly vacuous and Alex Jones dispicable, there is a real opportunity for journalism here. Similar to Bill Maher giving Milo Yiannopoulos the stage to show his true self, Jones should have to answer to a wider public for the views he promotes. Sure, if Kelly allows a fluff interview similar to what she did for Trump, then the public and the sponsors have a right to protest. Until then, the public needs to have better judgement about what media events to be "outraged" over.
5
Kelly knows her interview will cause tremendous pain to the Sandy Hook families without adding anything of importance to the public square.
She's going to do it anyway. She's doing it for ratings and money.
That pretty much says it all.
I don't care what the sponsors do; Kelly's show will never be aired in my house.
She's going to do it anyway. She's doing it for ratings and money.
That pretty much says it all.
I don't care what the sponsors do; Kelly's show will never be aired in my house.
45
Brands may be afraid to offend, although I doubt it. What they're really afraid of is the relentless torrent of lies from provocateurs on the Right disguise as real media.
Provocateurs so hidebound and ignorant they run right to the schoolyard "Oh, yeah. What if it looked like Obama? How'd you like it then?" Without making the effort or having the intelligence to realize that's been done, and done well, to no noticeable response.
Or taking the trouble or having the knowledge to realize this is a play compulsively staged in contemporary guise almost from the date of its reputed first production in 1599.
In America artists from Orson Welles to Iron Maiden to Ray Bradbury have made their chops and their reputations using Julius Caesar as an allegory for contemporary politics. Usually, Caesar is killed in plain sight, always the killers suffer for their actions, and always the lesson is about abuse of power and the lust for control.
Its what art does. The greatest of art does it any social context, at any time, and always to great effect.
What insecure, fascist-leaning governments do is attempt to censor or defund productions or, sensing the potential for wide spread disapproval resulting from such actions, create an environment so threatening that private supporters of the art will garb their dollars and run away.
Sponsors who do so reveal their utter lack of strength, of nerve, of vision, of concern for the society they wish to take for every penny they can get.
Provocateurs so hidebound and ignorant they run right to the schoolyard "Oh, yeah. What if it looked like Obama? How'd you like it then?" Without making the effort or having the intelligence to realize that's been done, and done well, to no noticeable response.
Or taking the trouble or having the knowledge to realize this is a play compulsively staged in contemporary guise almost from the date of its reputed first production in 1599.
In America artists from Orson Welles to Iron Maiden to Ray Bradbury have made their chops and their reputations using Julius Caesar as an allegory for contemporary politics. Usually, Caesar is killed in plain sight, always the killers suffer for their actions, and always the lesson is about abuse of power and the lust for control.
Its what art does. The greatest of art does it any social context, at any time, and always to great effect.
What insecure, fascist-leaning governments do is attempt to censor or defund productions or, sensing the potential for wide spread disapproval resulting from such actions, create an environment so threatening that private supporters of the art will garb their dollars and run away.
Sponsors who do so reveal their utter lack of strength, of nerve, of vision, of concern for the society they wish to take for every penny they can get.
4
Jones would be 'newsworthy' only if Kelly were going to do an objective report on the kind of irresponsible politically-motivated lying that Jones (and others like him) engage in. Giving a purveyor of fake news any kind of an interview forum makes no sense at all from a news standpoint. Kelly should re-think her ideas about the meaning of 'newsworthy'.
11
There are grieving families of 26 murdered victims, 20 of them tiny first-graders, whose lives have been forever diminished; there is a whole village, an entire New England state, and a nation still hurting from a young madman's very real, very ugly rampage. And yet former Fox low life Kelly says about her coming interview of the nut case claiming the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax "that while she found the claims by Mr. Jones involving the Sandy Hook shooting 'personally revolting,' he was a newsworthy interview subject." Go back to the bottom feeders at Fox, Ms. Kelly.
29
I cannot believe the repulsive depths to which NBC News (the former Jewel in the Crown of network news) has sunk in pursuit of ratings by spotlighting Alex Jones and his cruel lies. Nor can I understand why any major news network would want to help perpetuate the ongoing pain and torment endured by the families of the children & teachers murdered at Sandy Hook. I assume NBC employees, viewers, and advertisers will be united in their disgust over the network's decision to combine worthlessness (Jones) and opportunism (Kelly)
and to offer it to the public on Father's Day.
and to offer it to the public on Father's Day.
23
There's a difference between theater presenting criticism of the rich and powerful as art (fulfilling a core component of it's job since the foundations democracy) and a news source presenting a two-bit conspiracy-monger as having a point of view worthy of precious air time. The false equivalence this creates directly contradicts their responsibility as members of the fourth estate.
One is fulfilling a responsibility to the public and the other is abdicating it.
This would be true if the players were criticizing Hillary Clinton and the news organization were giving a prestigious slot to some looney who thinks that Breitbart was murdered by Putin.
One is fulfilling a responsibility to the public and the other is abdicating it.
This would be true if the players were criticizing Hillary Clinton and the news organization were giving a prestigious slot to some looney who thinks that Breitbart was murdered by Putin.
2
I get the fury over Megan Kelly's NBC interview with Alex Jones, even if I don't support it. Giving "air time" to someone doesn't automatically confer legitimacy, only newsworthiness. Infowars, Jones' company, now has White House press credentials and is close to Trump. Who is he, what motivates him? Huge segments of America know him as a would be clown who happens to be dangerous because of the way he propagates ignorance -- others see him as a truth teller. What is the problem with having a good, hard hitting interview potentially dispel these myths? Are we really such a country of snowflakes that we can't be exposed to something odious but significant without thinking for ourselves and coming up with our own conclusions. Are our expectations about ourselves and news media really that low? The same could be said of "art." If we can't be exposed to difficult ideas in art, and be able to discuss them, rather than rigidly censor them, we really are lost as a culture, and as a society. There's nothing left but propaganda and censorship. Nothing there that will expose us to facts and ideas we don't like and let us figure them out for ourselves. That's not a democracy I want to live in.
12
It's not a question of snowflakes just flakes. Advertizers have rights of free speech as well. They exercise it with their dollars or withholding them. Just because there is a fake news side to an issue doesn't imply airing it. For those who feel the advertizers are being unfair feel free to send your dollars to Megyn for support.
There is no censorship issue here (or with the case of NY Public Theatre). Private companies are free to decide where they want to spend their funds. NBC is free to air whatever it wants to put within the scope of the broadcast rules and face consequences.
19
On Caesar Trump: such is the price of fame . Although I don't think they should have re-written lines.
On Jones: Was Kelly going to get him to admit that he knows perfectly well that the murders took place? If so, it might be worthwhile. Otherwise she is legitimizing someone who goes out of his way to create more pain for people who have already suffered a horrible loss.
On Jones: Was Kelly going to get him to admit that he knows perfectly well that the murders took place? If so, it might be worthwhile. Otherwise she is legitimizing someone who goes out of his way to create more pain for people who have already suffered a horrible loss.
31
I, too, have the right to remove my own support and/or personal business from entities that support moralities with which I do not agree, or entities that try to "punish" what I see as free expression.
Unfortunately, I do not have the economic or political clout to make much of a difference.
"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."
Unfortunately, I do not have the economic or political clout to make much of a difference.
"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."
6
Hey, Chris, it isn't "shrinkage." Sorry, dude. You're right, "Some animals are more equal than others"; but don't worry wondering, you're not one of them.