Local Stations Around The Country Ignored Network Blackout And Televised Obama Speech

Local television stations around the country ignored the corporate networks’ attempt to blackout President Obama’s immigration speech by broadcasting the president’s remarks live on their own.

According to The Hill,

Many local television stations across the country carried President Obama’s primetime immigration address live Thursday even as major networks said they would stick with regular programming.

Reports on social media showed that Obama’s speech aired live on all or most local television stations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Raleigh and Washington, D.C., among other cities.

Major networks including ABC, CBS and FOX confirmed that Obama’s speech would not be aired on their networks, while cable news and Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo would.

The local stations did their duty and placed informing the public ahead of November sweeps. The president’s speech was only fourteen minutes long. It would not have been a major disruption to the primetime lineup. The decision by the networks was especially hypocritical when viewed in the context that these same networks routinely delay their programming by 30-60 minutes when NFL or live sporting event telecasts run long.

It is heartening to see that some station managers still understand their duty to inform the public. The broadcast networks abandoned their responsibility to cover the news. The answer to why the American voter is uninformed can be found in the corporate owned media’s decision to de-emphasize information in their programming. Some stations still understand their civic duty, but the corporate assault on the public’s right to know will continue until the American people speak out.