My Thoughts On The New “Right Network”
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Media, Republicans, Video
An entire channel dedicated to pushing Republican talking points? Don’t we already have that?
Still, I’m willing to give Right Network a chance if they provide some genuine debate about the issues. But their mission statement doesn’t give me much hope…
RIGHTNETWORK, an independently-owned media company, launches on television, web and mobile in 2010. Our mission is clear: to entertain, engage, and enlighten Americans who are looking for content that reflects and reinforces their perspective and worldview. RIGHTNETWORK will consistently impact the political and cultural discussions of Americans.
Also, this promo makes me cringe…
Things that aren’t right about this Right Network’s promo:
- Hyperbole
- Purposeful grouping of seemingly “gay” things with liberal things. (Grape Vodka? Male tickle fights? Group hugs? Come on Kelsey…)
- Attacking penguins. They can’t help that they can’t fly!!!
- Suggesting that trillion dollar deficits weren’t ushered in by the 20 years of Republican rule when Reagan, Bush and Bush again exploded the deficits.
- Claiming your network isn’t about partisan politics…when it’s called the Right Network.
However, I did like the pot shot at both Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh. Well done. (golf clap)
Still, I’m happy to be proven wrong by the Right Network, but, again, this promo doesn’t give me much hope.
But here are some others, just so you don’t think I’m cherry picking and giving them the short shrift…
Another network promo that feels centrist…
Tea Party Rap Video, with a cameo by birther Victoria Jackson…
Running, a series about Repubs running for Congress…
Politics & Poker, which makes many cracks about liberals…
Please share your thoughts…
PS – I shared this post on the Right Network’s Facebook Page with this question, ” I’d like to know if your network is dedicated to finding the best answers to the questions of our times or is it interested in mostly reinforcing preconceived perceptions.” We’ll see what they have to say.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 and is filed under Media, Republicans, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 21st, 2010 at 11:36 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Justin Gardner, Donklephant. Donklephant said: DONKLEPHANT: My Thoughts On The New “Right Network” http://ow.ly/178yme [...]
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:40 am
I can’t see how this will end well.
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:18 am
I believe the right has perhaps three talking points, so I expect extreme repetition. That’s how brains are washed.
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:38 am
Time will tell if this Network provides just one sided coverage or not. I would be surprised if it were balanced because there is more money to be made in partisan politics. No doubt there is someone is working on a business plan of “not being like those liberals at Fox”.
If I was Radio Shack, I would get my legal department involved in looking closely at their logo.
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:46 am
Believe it or not,this isn’t really about politics per se. It’s about money. It’s about capturing some of Fox News’ giant share of conservative eyeballs.So naturally the marketing will involve pandering more blatantly. And probably incessant invitations to viewers to join/subscribe to various clubby conservative lifestyle things.
The end result will of course be political and effect politics by providing more powerful echo chambers. Sadly there’s a lot of money in selling anger, alienation, and self-righteousness as blurry infotainment.
The only question is, how much blatant schtickiness and pandering will the target audience faithfully swallow? I think one can liken the current iteration of schticky pandering to the hair metal bands of the 80s. Over-the-top clownishness. What conservatism needs is a grunge antidote to the Motley Crue and Poison of Beck and Coulter.
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:02 am
I’ve suddenly lost all respect for Kelsey Grammer.
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:54 am
Fox News is not right wing, its just not left like all the others. I mean O”Reily is a populist center-left type (who bashes big oil, big pharma, big IT etc etc) & Geraldo is certainly not right-wing either. There are people on Fox that are right of center but they reflect only one type of right of center that tends to be more religious for instance. Just like the left, the right is not only type.
Quite frankly except for Special Report, I watch v. little Fox as it bores me. Its egos, with some news, and a lot of pretentious prattle (Hannity, Beck).
It will be nice to see “Right to Laugh” and see comedians who are 1. actually funny 2. realise that Bush is long gone and no longer funny.
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:01 am
Conservaporn, first and foremost.
“Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.”
–George S. Patton
“Television to brainwash us all and Internet to eliminate any last resistance.”
–Paul Carvel
i.e. “with ‘real’ birth certificates”
“talking points”
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
~Joseph Goebbels
“If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon.”
–George Aiken
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Ditto what Trescml says about the logo. Radio Shack should send a cease and desist by the day’s end.
Agnostick
[email protected]
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:01 am
Comedy Gold!
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 am
On the bright side, they’re not calling themselves “Right News Network”… so they don’t have to worry about trashing journalism standards. They won’t have any to begin with. Probably won’t have any other standards, either, except money and eyeballs.
Andrew Ian Dodge, I never thought George W. Bush was all that funny; then again, I’ve never felt good about laughing at emotional cripples. He was merely sad and pathetic in his good-natured, slackster, “Golly gee, lookit where I am now! Thanks, Daddy!”
Looks like my other post has been tossed into the holding corral, for some reason. Oh well, better Saturday than never.
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:20 am
Didn’t Al Gore try something like this?
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Are you thinking of Current, the cable channel, Jimmy? That’s still on and my wife and I watch Rotten Tomatoes, the movie review show, and InfoMania. Both are funny. Neither is especially political, though the humor has some overlap in tone The Daily Show and Colbert and probably appeals to their audiences if we’re any evidence. There’s some pretty decent doc news on there in the Vanguard segments as well, but it would only be considered *political* by people who get offended at coverage of environmental, immigration, poverty and *global* (read: not the U.S.) issues, because of course, caring about those things makes you a Capital L Liberal. ;-)
Captcha does it again: Interest goalies!
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Hysterically funny, but preposterous.
I’ll even stipulate for the sake of argument that there is a noticeable slant towards the left in political coverage with most major media. But that doesn’t make Fox not right wing. Ask 100 people who consider themselves independent and centrist regularly displeased by partisanship on both sides, and most of them will tell you that Fox is probably a bit more right on center than the rest of the media is left of center.
The Right Network is definitely not aiming itself at an under-served niche, they are looking to steal market share from the audience that fox news has built.
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:54 am
Fox News wouldn’t know a “fair and balanced” report if it slapped them in the face. And honestly, I don’t mind Fox being the Right Wingnut News channel, I just wish they would stop with the false advertising.
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:37 am
Well, given who’s doing it just remember “An American Carol”.
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Now there’s an analogy I can relate to! I just wonder what the conservative grunge would be. Maybe they can clone Barry Goldwater with some old DNA.
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Unfortunately, too smart to jump into the media fray.
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I think you’re right, Agnostick.