All too often, when the people get upset, those that have upset them follow a simple prescription - wait and let it burn out. In the early/mid 1990s that was the advice given to the Gap when more and more progressive religious groups and student groups became enraged over the use of semi-slave labor by one of their suppliers in the El Progresso Free Trade Zone in El Salvador. The Gap did not follow that advice, and under pressure it folded, creating a human rights policy that it insisted its suppliers follow. Critics in the retail industry were furious - what was Gap doing? Allowing consumers to determine its policies and thus its profits? All it had to do was wait, the anger would burn out - the people would forget and go back to shopping there.
Gap understood something that its critics didn’t. There comes a point in time where a line is crossed and something so egregious happens that the people DON’T forget, or at least not many of them - and in those cases, surrendering and nipping it in the bud is the best thing for long term profit, and survival.
Donald Trump has tried to follow a middle path with his illegitimate kidnapping of immigrant children. He has signed a document saying that the policy is abolished, while creating a new policy that still incarcerates the children, but at least with their parents, and planning, according to a member of his own cabinet, to quietly continue separating yet more children from their parents. He assumes that this middle path will quiet the people and they will go back to being nicely pliant.
Sinclair broadcasting, a Right wing media corporation owning stations across the country is preparing a media blitz supporting child separation. This got revealed and word of it spread. Now Sinclair is denying their intent, but the sources are robust. So, Sinclair in hunkering down with the expectation of riding out the storm until the people burn out, forget and allow things to return to normal for them.
We the people must not permit this. Unlike Fox, Sinclair is masquerading as a standard American corporation. Unlike Breitbart it owns many local, well respected stations, some Fox, some not, with many local anchors to deliver the news. It has already shown that it can use lockstep delivery, having anchors at over a hundred stations read the same material at the same time, in an attempt to influence public opinion broadly. Unlike Fox, it has some influence outside of those already committed to doctrinaire Right Wing positions and it could have at least modest effect, becoming another cog in a well oiled propaganda machine that would make Goebbels blush.
We the people do not have to permit this. I just send a note to Sinclair, telling them bluntly that I would not be influenced by their lying and would not tolerate any word from them supporting child separation. I told them bluntly that I would seek out their advertisers and inform them individually that I would not buy their products as long as they supported Sinclair. I also told them that I would find 10 other people to take the same pledge and stick to it.
Again unlike Fox, Sinclair is susceptible to this sort of thing. They have a broad audience and they cannot afford to so offend liberal and moderate viewers that they lose them - nor can they afford to lose advertising dollars due to boycotts they can’t control. In other words, unlike Fox we can have an influence here.
There is a list of Sinclair stations here: http://www.businessinsider.com/sinclair-broadcast-group-stations-by-state-list-2018-4 If you are in the broadcast area of one of them, please find out who advertises on that station. Write a letter or an email to Sinclair, let them know your intent to boycott their advertisers for XXXX station and to convince 10 friends to do the same, and have those 10 friends find 10 friends each…
If they hear from enough of us, they will yield the field - because they cannot afford not to.
Here is the Sinclair address and present email connection. Do not relent. They are playing for keep, no excuse must prevent us from doing the same. There are more of us, we will win if we play.
Here is the contact information :
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030
P : 410.568.1500
Webform (as of this moment) for email: http://sbgi.net/contact/