DirecTV Yanks Newsmax, Which Hurts DirecTV A Lot More
DirecTV’s decision to drop Newsmax has totally destroyed the platform’s credibility. The move is strictly politically motivated and cannot be defended as a business decision.
Kudos to Newsmax, because if the liberal puppeteers in charge of these platforms and the MSM didn’t view them as a threat, this change never would have been made.
Every time something like this goes down that is so blatantly political, I’m awash with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I’m disgusted. Disgusted that the Marxist extreme left wing of the Democratic party, is so paranoid that they don’t even want an opposing view to be heard.
On the other hand, I’m emboldened. Obviously, they feared that the Newsmax truth was piercing their veil of lies and they felt a distorted obligation to silence them.
This action is shamelessly transparent, and the American public, sadly is the biggest loser. Freedom of the press means all views are heard and considered. Changes like this do nothing but bring us closer to third world status with state-controlled TV.
Last year DirecTV removed the One America News Network (OANN), another conservative channel. The elimination of Newsmax would affect the ability of Republicans to reach their constituents on an equitable basis, since DirecTV currently carries many liberal news outlets.
Representative Wesley Hunt (R-TX) called the provider’s inability to reach an agreement with Newsmax over cable fees:
“A political decision to censor conservative media, which is a red flag for the First Amendment.”
Hunt sent a letter to DirecTV and its two owners, AT&T and TPG Capital that was co-signed by 41 other Republicans in an attempt to dissuade them from dropping Newsmax.
“I am deeply troubled by DirecTV’s decision to remove Newsmax from their lineup of channels. Deplatforming Newsmax is the latest development in the Left’s ongoing campaign to purge voices they disagree with from the public sphere. This decision by DirecTV and TPG Capital will cut off tens of millions of viewers who rely on Newsmax for their news and information.”
“Newsmax is one of the most watched cable news channels in America; millions of people turn to Newsmax as a source of trusted information. Now more than ever, the American people need access to a free and fair press. I am sure that DirecTV will claim that removing Newsmax from their lineup of channels was purely a business decision, but that is hard to accept when liberal news channels like Vice Media continue to remain on the air. Vice is a ratings failure for DirecTV, yet they continue to profit from their relationship with DirecTV.”
DirecTV is attempting to paint this as a disagreement over fees, which rings hollow when considering the ratings that Newsmax generates for the platform.
It’s true that historically Newsmax did not charge multichannel platforms like DirecTV a fee. However, DirecTV pays a fee to every liberal news channel that it carries, so paying Newsmax with its superior ratings, should be a very negotiable issue.
Republicans can not allow this flagrant discrimination against the first amendment to happen. They must turn over a new leaf and use their power to effectively step in and stop this, rather than deliver soapbox rants against it and then do nothing.
