The high cost of free speech

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There are days that feel impossibly dark. Wednesday was one of them.

Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show was cancelled after comments he made about Trump’s response to Charlie Kirk’s death, and instantly the scope of what this administration was capable of grew even wider. It was hardly about Kimmel at all, but more about the world of possibility; the lengths Trump and his cronies would go to step on the necks of people who disagreed with them. If a famous, wealthy, white man could be silenced in this way, what hope could there be for the rest of us?

In times like these, I try to think about what I could say that would be additive when there is so much noise. The fear, the outrage, the grief: I’m feeling it all. But as an independent journalist, I’m also trying to see a glimmer of opportunity on this scorched Earth. Maybe this move has blown the hinges off the doors at long last. Maybe, after years of layoffs and restructures and mergers, a greater swath of people will understand that we must try something different. 

As MSNBC host Chris Hayes so aptly put it two months ago in the wake of comedian Stephen Colbert’s talk show getting cancelled, “Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repercussions.”

We learned Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr went on a right wing podcast and said Kimmel’s show should be suspended from ABC for his comments. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. A few hours later, Kimmel was pulled by Nextstar, the media conglomerate that owns 32 news ABC stations, which led to ABC suspending him indefinitely. It was the ultimate corporate flex with an unambiguous message: Do not fuck with power. 

On Thursday, Trump, per CNN, “said he would endorse moves by the Federal Communications Commission to pull licenses, and suggested networks should reapply for them periodically. He added later that not airing conservative views could be rationale for removing networks’ licenses.”

As someone who’s chronically online, it can be difficult to parse what’s a big deal in my corner of the world vs. what’s breaking through to the world at large. As soon as I saw the news of Kimmel’s suspension, my throat tightened. The walls scooched a bit closer. But it wasn’t until a friend whose demands at work don’t allow her to consume bad news like a firehose said she was bugging out about it that it felt like we’d crossed yet another rubicon.

I’ve always had a healthy regard for how quickly fortunes can change—being the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor will do that to you—but the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder has made Republicans’ effort to bring any ideological foes to heel feel that much more immediate.

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, an ultra-MAGA Republican, announced Wednesday that 70 teachers in his state were under investigation because of comments they made about Kirk. According to a press release from his office, 224 reports were submitted via software called Awareity about “defamatory comments,”  plus 30 “reports on not observing a moment of silence and 3 reports on schools who refused to fly their flag at half staff.” As a result of those reports, Walters is seeking retaliation.

“Superintendent Walters has made it clear that all teachers must abide by a set of standards written into the code of conduct,” the press release said. “Any teacher posting defamatory and egregious comments will NOT be teaching in Oklahoma classrooms and any school that refused to participate in a moment of silence and/or lower their flags for Charlie Kirk is currently under investigation.” 

And without a hint of irony, it closed by stating “In Oklahoma, we will continue to put students before political indoctrination agendas.”

What’s been revealed in the past week is that the current ruling party sees free will and free speech as indoctrination, but believes compulsory moments of silence for a man most Americans hadn’t heard of until his death to be fair game. As much as Kirk and his supporters try to stress that free-flowing debate is what made his approach to politics great, they’re honoring him by completely shutting it down. But pointing out Republican hypocrisy is a fool’s errand. Shameless people cannot be shamed, and those with an unquenchable thirst for power don’t care how they get their fix.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, another media conglomerate that owns a number of ABC affiliates, also joined the chorus admonishing Kimmel. And for the conservative company that gained notoriety during the first Trump administration for forcing 200 of its stations to read a promotional script warning of “fake news” from other outlets, Kimmel’s suspension was reportedly “not enough.” They called on Kimmel to make an apology to the Kirk family, and to make donations to both the family and to Kirk’s organization Turning Point USA.

That’s the thing about negotiating with fascists: the negotiation is never over. Despite ABC News settling a defamation lawsuit with Trump in December for $15 million, the way they were so quick to react Wednesday showed the level of fear instilled by this president and his FCC. Giving your lunch money to the school bully has never once stopped him from coming back. 

One thing is for certain: The old school, traditional media outlets cannot and will not stick their necks out to protect the people of this country when their bottom line is what matters most. Only by consuming reporting that hasn’t been filtered through a shareholder lens can you be sure that the work is being done in the name of democracy and not solely in service of the project of capitalism. Yes, everyone needs to make a buck, but when our shared humanity is seen as a tolerable cost, the very foundation of American media has been shattered.