A thought in regards to those who do not boycott FOX

[Shiva_Rodriguez]

I hope that you don't think me a troll, but I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a moment in regards to advertisers and users of services owned by FOX (such as Myspace, etc...)

Before you begin pelting stones at people who explain that while they support Dr. Paul they cannot stop using the services/advertising spots, please consider their position.

I'm a writer. Right now I have two spec scripts in my desk drawer that can do nothing but sit around and collect dust because of the WGA strike that started months ago. I'm not even a member of the WGA, but because of the the Guild's powerful influence with its signatories a severe consequence will befall any writer who crosses the picket lines. The result? Many of us are faring quite poorly because we cannot make money, even if we're not members of the Guild (and therefore get nothing by way of strike compensation). Some folks are bravely crossing the picket lines - not because they want to, but because they have to.

I wouldn't wish this on anyone with the economy in the shape it is right now. If people in business for themselves depend on places like MySpace to promote their goods and services, they shouldn't be punished for choosing to put food on the table instead of going broke to make a political point. The same goes for smaller businesses that advertise on local FOX channels that may not be able to afford to put advertising elsewhere. (I have no idea what the rates are.)

I personally know a few small home-business people who use MySpace heavily for promoting their wares. They make money from customers found there, and some have contributed both time and money to Dr. Paul's campaign.

I understand that we're all pretty ticked off at FOX, and rightfully so. I applaud those individuals and businesses who are in the position to yank their ads and use of services from FOX. But I understand that it may not be in everyone's best interest to follow suite even if they would like to. Some have shareholders to answer to, others have limited capital to work with. And in the end, it's getting those people to the voting polls that is important in this fight.

People who support Dr. Paul but then find themselves getting pommeled by angry Paulites because they still use FOX services may well change their minds about the entire campaign.

Just a thought.

 

[JMO]

In a free market we only have 1 way to rally against business that fail to meet our needs, and that is not buy their products. These companies were given a choice, either quit advertising and giving money to a business with a unsavory business practice, or lose our business. By continuing to do business with these companies and giving them income to continue their unfair practices, these companies continue to contribute to abuse and support Fox unfair practice. They made their choice, now we make ours.

If you knew that a company was hiring 8 year old kids, forcing them to work 18 hours for pennies, and had them work in unsafe working conditions, would you continue to buy items from that business if they refused to change? We have 2 choices, continue to support business that support unfair business practices, or support their competitors.

Myself I am not going to do a all out boycott, but I am scaling back considerably from companies that support FOX, if given a choice I will buy from the competitor, for example I will look to buy my electronics from some place else besides Best Buy, who at this time gets a good deal of my electronic business. When I buy my next DVD I will see what my other options are and buy from them.

 

[AlexM]

Anyone who uses services provided by anyone that advertises on Fox News is contributing financially to Fox News. The only way to make Fox News pay attention to us is to stop giving them money. If you just can't bring yourself to stop using X product, you're part of the problem and you're enabling Fox News to treat Ron Paul the way they are.

 

[Shiva_Rodriguez]

Anyone who uses services provided by anyone that advertises on Fox News is contributing financially to Fox News. The only way to make Fox News pay attention to us is to stop giving them money. If you just can't bring yourself to stop using X product, you're part of the problem and you're enabling Fox News to treat Ron Paul the way they are.

I understand your position, but I don't think its the only way.

As it stands, we can spend a lot of effort pressuring people to boycott FOX and possibly turning a lot of people off in the process, or we can push extra-hard to get Ron Paul's votes up and to the top of as many primaries as possible.

If we do the latter, the other news networks will spread the word about FOX's biased faster than we ever could. Look at how fast many of them jumped on the story after Dr. Paul obviously made the pre-determined "entry requirements" and still wasn't given the invitation. CNN was ripping on FOX earlier, and to make the story work they had to acknowledge that Dr. Paul was a worthy candidate.

How embarrassing would it be for FOX is Dr. Paul places third or higher in NH? Better yet, what would they do if he won some of those swing states they've all but virtually handed over to other candidates in Faux prediction reports? Will they really stop covering the elections altogether just to save face?

They lose credibility with every passing day. People stop watching. No viewing audience means less people would want to advertise with them.

I understand the natural reaction to want to punch FOX in the throat as quickly as possible. I just think that punch would be a lot stronger and more repetitious if it's done by raising our favorite candidate up to where they have to choose between covering him or losing all credibility.

The elections will end, and people will eventually go back to business as usual... back to watching whoever has the best shows on TV or checking in with their friends on their MySpace accounts. We need those people to get out and vote for Dr. Paul now. They might not be quite so receptive to us if we tell them that they are just "part of the problem" if they don't turn off their TVs and delete their MySpace accounts first.

 

[fortilite]

Fox is dead to me. Fox does not deserve my business, and neither do their main sponsors. I also made a lot of calls to Fox. I should make more.

 

[JMO]

People stop watching. No viewing audience means less people would want to advertise with them.
.

Most of us do not belong to a service that tracks what we view, including me. If I watch or do not watch FOX it doesn't register with any service, for example Nielsen.

 

[Ricochet]

Overstock.com did the best they could, I won't be boycotting them myself. At least they wrote and pressured FOX from the position of concerned client. I figure that's valuable enough to the cause.