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If you follow me on Instagram – which you should – you will see that I am getting lit on fire right now by conservatives for debunking Newsmax’s claim that DirecTV dropped them over their conservative values. This claim is simply not true. Newsmax wanted DirecTV to pay them and DirecTV said they did not have enough subscribers to warrant it. Despite DirecTV currently having Fox News and The First, Newsmax fabricated a conspiracy of censorship and plenty of conservatives are buying it.
Similarly, there is a national egg shortage that has no shortage of theories explaining it. Some popular conservative commentators are claiming COVID vaccines are responsible while others say a government conspiracy is afoot to starve the population.
I am lately perpetually disappointed in a conservative movement that claims to value truth while buying into conspiracies aimed at flaming their preconceived notions. If truth still matters, it should matter all the time. Here’s what I mean…
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Without knowing the details of the negotiations between Newsmax and DirecTV, it’s not possible to say that it was simply a financial decision to drop Newsmax. Contract renegotiation with a major carrier is a fraught time for any channel, but it seems surprising that good faith negotiations could not come to some reasonable payment for carrying Newsmax. It’s hard to imagine that Newsmax would be so intransigent in negotiations that it would walk away from its major carrier. It’s also suspicious that DirecTV dropped OANN in April 2022.
I worked for a stint as a finance director for a cable TV company, so I know of what I speak.