Why a concerted Black Out protest would work.

"I have a novel idea. I'm gonna start a one man "Black Out" Protest and turn off my TV for 30 seconds every time the "extreme" ad comes on..."

I've tried that. What actually happens is that about 80% of the time I find something more interesting on another channel and stay there. Broadcasters know this, and a significant number of listeners or viewers threaten to do that it will definitely cool their enthusiasm for the spot.

Another thing to note is that, even if the NC GOP never plays the commercial, Limbaugh and Hannity, and probably half of the cable "news" channels are saturating the airwaves with it . Hannity has literally been playing it every five minutes throughout his radio show. If viewers and listeners all over the country call or email their local TV or radio station telling them they plan to do this each time it is played in any format it will get their attention. I think this would actually have a more chilling effect than the threat to "never listen to you again."

It is time, and this is likely the only way to stop the swift boat fiasco from playing out again. After all, there are as many hard-core progressives out there as hard-core Bush/McCain whatevers, and among the rest of the population the ratio is shifting our way daily. We should have some significant clout.

by Stephen Hart (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 23 comments) on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 5:17:17 PM