There are more and more efforts out there to lobby the companies that advertise on right-wing talk shows to get them to pull their ads. This is an approach that I have advocated for some time based on the fact that this is how groups like the NRA and moral majority have been so successful in dictating the national dialogue. Their constant lobbying not just of politicians but of businesses and advertisers mean that they get listened to and we don’t. I am urging you to join me and an increasingly large coalition of leftists to fight back and use your consumer and investor muscle to pressure companies to avoid right wing talk shows when they are considering where to spend their advertising dollars.
Bill O’Reilly is one of the most odious right-wing fanatics on TV and radio. He is s loud-mouthed boor who insults, threatens and bullies.
O’Reilly actually THREATENS listeners (from Media Matters) with “visits” from Fox News security:
From the March 2 broadcast of Westwood One’s The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:
O’REILLY: Orlando, Florida, Mike, go.
CALLER: Hey Bill, I appreciate you taking my call.
O’REILLY: Sure.
CALLER: I like to listen to you during the day, I think Keith Olbermann’s show —
O’REILLY: There ya go, Mike is — he’s a gone guy. You know, we have his — we have your phone numbers, by the way. So, if you’re listening, Mike, we have your phone number, and we’re going to turn it over to Fox security, and you’ll be getting a little visit.
HILL: Maybe Mike is from the mothership.
O’REILLY: No, Maybe Mike is going to get into big trouble, because we’re not going to play around. When you call us, ladies and gentleman, just so you know, we do have your phone number, and if you say anything untoward, obscene, or anything like that, Fox security then will contact your local authorities, and you will be held accountable. Fair?
HILL: That’s fair.
O’REILLY: So, just — all you guys who do this kind of a thing, you know, I know some shock jocks. Whatever. You will be held accountable. Believe it.
We’ll be right back.
O’Reilly advocates terrorist attacks on San Francisco:
From the November 8 broadcast of Fox News’ The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:
O’REILLY: Hey, you know, if you want to ban military recruiting, fine, but I’m not going to give you another nickel of federal money. You know, if I’m the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, “Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you’re not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead.”
And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.
And he insults Jewish listeners who object to public Christmas displays:
From the December 3 broadcast of the nationally syndicated The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:
CALLER: I agree with what you’ve been saying recently — you’re concerned about the secularization of Christmas and — I’m concerned about the secularization of Jews and about the — and Christmas going into schools.
When I was growing up — I’m Jewish, but I was not in a very Jewish area. There were some Jews there but, I was kind of — grew up with a resentment because I felt that people were trying to convert me to Christianity —
…
O’REILLY: All right. Well, what I’m tellin’ you, [caller], is I think you’re takin’ it too seriously. You have a predominantly Christian nation. You have a federal holiday based on the philosopher Jesus. And you don’t wanna hear about it? Come on, [caller] — if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel then.
And MUCH more. You can read more about O’Reilly’s idiocy on Media Matters.
There is a movement afoot to pressure advertisers to pull out from O’Reilly’s show. One version of this is thanks to Ad Nasuea.org. They have chosen as their first target Insure.com. From the Ad Nausea website:
Please join us by contacting INSURE.COM and let them know how you feel about their advertising on Mr. O’Reilly’s website and their support of such a host:
INSURE.COM
Corporate Profile:
Management Team Email addresses:
Eric Bergquist
Chief Information Officer
ebergquist@insure.comRobert S. Bland, CLU
Chairman and Founder
(and, to give him credit, the man who answered my emails)
bob@insure.comPhillip Perillo
Chief Financial Officer
pperillo@insure.comWilliam V. Thoms
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Director
bthoms@insure.comInsure.com, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quotesmith.com, Inc.
Originally founded in 1984 as Quotesmith Corporation, Quotesmith.com owns and operates Insure.com, a comprehensive online consumer insurance information service that caters to the needs of self-directed insurance shoppers. Insure.com provides a comprehensive array of comparative auto, life and health quotes, including a vast library of originally authored insurance articles and decision-making tools that are not available from any other single source. Entirely devoid of advertisers or commercial “sponsorships,” Insure.com is dedicated to providing impartial insurance information to consumers.
I want to share with you some of what I have learned through contacting the Insure.com people. First off, not many people have yet contacted them–they tell me they have only received 5 letters regarding O’Reilly. In all honesty, if that is the best we can muster, well, they have NO REASON to listen to us.
Now, the thing about Insure.com is that they are not just passive advertisers of O’Reilly’s show. They are out and out worshippers. In their response to my email, they quite simply gushed praise and smarm for O’Reilly. To be fair, they were MUCH more polite than O’Reilly can ever be. I am not saying to bombard Insure.com with nasty emails. They are polite…but they also are vocal defenders of a man who threatens violence and advocates terrorism and insults more than half of America on a regular basis.
Folks, as I have written elsewhere, boycotts and threatened boycotts work well more often than many leftists would like to admit. Ad Nausea will be posting more O’Reilly advertisers we can lobby. But for now, Insure.com, as an avid defender of O’Reilly’s hate-mongering, is a legitimate target for an all out boycott. Five letters is lame. Can we make it 500? Or 5000? If we do, then I can assure you that even ideologues like the Quotesmith folks will take notice. I remember how Coors, owned by some of the most fanatical and racist right wingers, changed many of their policies because of boycotts. I am sure they did not change their personal beliefs. But they did change some of their corporate policies, becoming outright good corporate citizens in an effort to change their image. Can we force Insure.com/Quotesmith to do the same? Well, we won’t know until we try. So please write Insure.com (see above addresses) and tell them that their sponsorship and defense of O’Reilly will cost them your business. And please spread the word. As O’Reilly’s ratings plummet, these advertisers will be less and less willing to stick with him.
And if anyone has other O’Reilly advertisers to target please let me know.
For other right wing talk show hosts, see Ad Nasuea.org’s campaign against Hannity, and THIS SITE to target Chris Matthews. In terms of this latter, anti-Matthews campaign, I found Bayer most interested in my complaints and hence an ideal target for gentle, polite pressure. Verizon, having in the past given in to right wing nut cases complaining about anti-male bias, should be another major target of our efforts.
Please participate! I have talked with many politicians and businessmen. Letters from consumers to businesses are MORE EFFECTIVE than letters to congress. By far! So please target O’Reilly, Hannity and Matthews. The right wing is giving their opinion all the time. It is time we shouted back.