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DH's avatar

There is a long tradition going back to Jimmy the Greek (1988) and even before for media personalities to get the sack for saying "offensive" stuff or making fabricated claims. So Kimmel's case is nothing new.

The only reason it raises any First Amendment concern at all is that it might have happened in response to pressure from the FCC. Which is frustrating as hell if you believe in both free speech (government stays out) and free association (private orgs can hire/fire whoever they wish). Public shaming to get those who celebrate murder fired was working just fine up until then.

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stepfanie tyler's avatar

I agree. But that's why I added the context from Mike Solana at the bottom which alleges the FCC did make a statement (which some say was "pressure"), but after Kimmel's statements, 2 local affiliates refused to air the show. So the pressure wasn't all FCC-induced (at least according to the reports I've seen). Some of this just feels like the market doing market things, but I could absolutely be wrong... that's my current take based on what I've seen though.

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DH's avatar

That's the source of my frustration. It's quite possible Kimmel getting fired had nothing to do with the FCC jawboning and was in the works anyway. But because that FCC guy shot off his mouth, it's impossible to know.

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stepfanie tyler's avatar

Yes, that's very frustrating. I guess we can only hope some exec at one of the networks will eventually make a truthful statement about the intentions behind it all... long shot, probably.

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Jeremy Hall's avatar

breaking news:

ST had a silly goose time making fun of the yahoos living in her comments section.

also breaking:

it's officially silly goose time.

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stepfanie tyler's avatar

YES. Needed a break from all the so-called seriousness. Must laugh. Must engage in silly goose activities.

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Jeremy Hall's avatar

i know when you mean business you write in uppercase or caps

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stepfanie tyler's avatar

Funny because I originally had this one titled properly and it felt too real, so I changed it right before publishing.

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