CREDO Action & Alexandra Rosenmann / AlterNet – 2016-03-11 00:31:38
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/cbs_trump/
ACTION ALERT: Tell CBS News: Stop Boosting Trump Coverage for Profits
CREDO Action
THE LETTER
Tell CBS News President David Rhodes:
“Reject the comments from CBS CEO Les Moonves. Commit to cover this presidential election fairly and responsibly, and to not erode the values of diversity and good of the country in an attempt to derive profits and ratings from the hateful campaign of Donald Trump.”
Last week, CBS CEO Les Moonves came out and said it: Profiting from hate is not only more important to him than the good of the country — he wants to do more of it.
Speaking on a panel in San Francisco, Moonves said Trump’s campaign “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS” and that “The money’s rolling in, this is fun.” He went on to say, “it’s a terrible thing to say, but bring it on, Donald, go ahead, keep going.”1
Having the CEO of one of the nation’s most powerful corporate media outlets blatantly admit that profits and ratings are driving the non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage of Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric is not only a damning indictment of corporate media, but also incredibly dangerous for the country.
We need to make it clear to Moonves, CBS, and all traditional corporate media that Americans hold them to a much higher standard when it comes to racism and intolerance and the media’s responsibility to accurately and fairly inform the public.
Tell CBS News: Stop letting profits drive coverage of Donald Trump’s racist campaign. Click here to sign the petition.
Not only are Moonves’ admission irresponsible, they contradict his company’s own diversity and tolerance policy which states, “CBS Corporation, and its divisions are committed to building an environment that values diversity throughout the corporation and in its business practices.”2
It’s fair to say that if an employee of CBS was caught making similar statements as Trump, he or she would be fired or disciplined. But the CBS president is not only gleefully promoting Trump, he can’t wait to do more.
This wasn’t the first time Moonves went on record egging on one of the most hateful and divisive campaigns in American political history. During an investor presentation in December, Moonves was recorded saying, “Go Donald! Keep getting out there!”3
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen TV news recently that traditional corporate media is giving Trump an outsized platform, legitimizing and amplifying his hate.4 But that should have no place in an organization who says they are “recognizing the power and influence a media company carries through its various business units.”
CBS’s diversity statement says, “Our goal is to impact the industry.” If CBS wants to impact the industry to promote the values of diversity the company claims to hold, CBS News should commit to cover this presidential election fairly and responsibly, and to not erode the values of diversity and good of the country in an attempt to derive profits and ratings from the hateful campaign of Donald Trump.
ACTION: Tell CBS News: Stop letting profits drive coverage of Donald Trump’s racist campaign. Click here to sign the petition.
Thank you for your activism.
Murshed Zaheed, Deputy Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets
1 Lee Fang, “CBS CEO: ‘For Us, Economically, Donald’s Place in This Election Is a Good Thing’,” The Intercept, February 29, 2016.
2 “CBS Corporation: Diversity”
3 Fang, “CBS CEO: ‘For Us, Economically, Donald’s Place in This Election Is a Good Thing’.”
4 John Nichols, “The Discourse Suffers When Trump Gets 23 Times As Much Coverage as Sanders,” The Nation, February 14, 2015.
Copyright 2016 CREDO. All rights reserved.
If Trump Wins, 5 Reasons Why the
‘Human Species Is in Very Deep Trouble’
Alexandra Rosenmann / AlterNet
(March 7, 2016) — The first question we have to ask ourselves regarding a Trump presidency is if Trump means what he’s saying. “Trump says all sorts of things,” Noam Chomsky reminded us. “Some of them make sense; Some of them are crazy. But the US is an extremely powerful state [and] if Trump means what he’s saying, the human species is in very deep trouble.”
Here are his top five reasons why.
1. Global warming would continue to affect vulnerable areas.
“Global warming is a hugely significant phenomenon; the effects of global warming are extremely severe. The Republican Party, Trump in particular, will block measures to stop production from coal plants. Trump simply says, ‘It’s not happening.’ That’s quite apart from other policies he’s advocating,” Chomsky explained.
“Trump said, ‘Fine, let’s torture people,'” Chomsky said. “In fact, the kind of torture that’s outlawed by international law and became international scandal — waterboarding — he said ‘that’s the least of it, let’s do more.'”
3. Refugees would be disregarded as an external problem.
Trump had a radical response to the Paris attacks last year. “‘Let’s keep all Muslims out of the country’ [Trump said], Let’s build a wall, or rather let’s get Mexico to build a wall to prevent people from fleeing into the United States,” Chomsky reminded us. “Now, where are they fleeing from? Mostly from Central America where they’re fleeing from the results of our policies.”
4. Race relations would plummet.
“The people flocking to Trump’s banner are the people for whom the death rate is actually increasing,” Chomsky notes. “They have seen themselves as having their lives taken away from them, their dignity taken away, the possibilities for the future taken away. That has happened before in the past and the outcomes were not pretty.”
5. World war would be ever looming.
“American-run polls show that the US is the greatest threat to world peace by a large margin. Right now the spectacle of the Republican primary is frightening people around the world, justifiably.”
It’s hard to know what to expect under a Trump presidency, but as Chomsky said, “to have somebody who’s kind of a wild man with his finger on the button that could destroy the world or make decisions with enormous influence is an extremely frightening prospect.”
Listen to Chomsky’s full analysis at this link.
Alexandra Rosenmann is an AlterNet associate editor.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
