Imagine my surprise when I learned that ABC News is now pretending to have some sort of "policy" by which on-air personalities can be not only judged and suspended, but fired outright, for what they post to social media.
From Fox News (No link because fuck 'em):
ABC News insider says there was 'no alternative' but for network to fire Terry Moran over anti-Trump post
'We f---ing took it seriously and dealt with it pretty g--d--- quickly,' the network staffer told Fox News Digital
ABC News was left with "no alternative" but to let longtime correspondent Terry Moran go over his now-deleted X post attacking President Donald Trump and top White House aide Stephen Miller, according to one network staffer.
"It's just sad honestly," the ABC News staffer told Fox News Digital. "It's sad for him, a long-time colleague, friend, a good person, family man… It's just unfortunate, but there was no alternative, especially in these times."
The network insider acknowledged that, with the industry-wide issue of distrust of the legacy media, not addressing Moran's post promptly and having the drama dragged out could have cost ABC viewership...
"We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew," a spokesperson for ABC News told Fox News Digital.
Who knew?
And what exactly might those "ABC News policies" be? Is it "On-air employees shalt not shit talk people on Twitter." or is it "On-air employees shalt not shit talk people who can fuck with our bottom line on Twitter."?
I kinda suspect it's the latter, and that it's not exactly written with that kind of clarity, because those kinds of "policies" never are. Because everyone -- wink, wink -- understands -- nudge, nudge -- the context. In which case, that explains why there was verbal warning, and no written warning, just -- bam! -- fired.
However, if it's a blanket policy of not shit talking people on social media, well damn. I guess I have a story to tell.
If you only know Mr. Matthew Dowd as a person who now spends most of this time posting "On this day..." BlueSky notifications about obscure dead people (and blocking more people than the combined total of all pro football offensive lines since the day the Dayton Triangles took on the Columbus Panhandles at Triangle Park, on October 3, 1920) you may be unaware that he used to have the very important job of ABC News' chief political analyst. Or that he occupied that influential position during what one could argue was the most consequential political events of our lifetime: the 2016 presidential election.
And in his capacity as ABC News' chief political analyst, Mr. Dowd talked a whole lotta shit on social media every fucking day. He was, during that period, the most high-profile and ubiquitous promulgator of the Both Sides Do It lie. Mr. Dowd was an aggressively outspoken advocate for "Disrupting the K'rupt Duopoly" by voting 3rd party or not voting at all.
I disagreed with Mr. Dowd, and told him so. On Twitter. Repeatedly. He wasn't merely wrong: he was using his high-profile media position to spread a toxic lie that threatened to end up putting a monster in the White House. Which would be a disaster.
In response, Mr. Dowd insulted my readers, and personally insulted me. On Twitter. Repeatedly. Which, I am now given to understand, is a firing offense at ABC News.
Funny old world.
When, in the fullness of time, it turned out I was right and Mr. Dowd had been catastrophically wrong, he reacted by blocking me and anyone who brought up his past.
Eventually, as he went about hurriedly rehabbing his reputation and finding a new home at MSNBC under the wing of his old Bush regime running buddy, Nicole Wallace (where he suddenly believed the diametric opposite of everything he had said he believed during his tenure at ABC News), Mr. Dowd deleted his entire Twitter archive.
Which is why there is no record of any of this ever happening...
...except for a few fragments preserved on this here blog :-)
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1 comment:
I had a comment to the previous post that "had an error" (may have been too long) and so disappeared, but for the sake of it, equate these bastards with the Soviets. Us "children of the 70s" know all the buzzwords: They're getting their marching orders straight from the Kremlin. Equate them with the Soviets whenever possible.
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