In light of recent political violence, unrest in American media has grown. One of the most prominent firings involved television host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel has been live for over 22 years, but his time on the television came to a pause.
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission swiftly pulled Kimmel’s show off the air. Axing Kimmel’s program, because of his political comments, was seen as an infringement of his first amendment rights. Even though Kimmel has the right to free speech, the company he works under has the final say in what happens to him. This is what the public disagreed with.
Pleasant Valley High School students voiced opinions on the situation. “I think it’s outrageous that he was taken off his own show for using his own rights,” stated senior Juha Kim.
While Kimmel’s comments faced backlash from right-leaning corporations and committees, the public saw to boycott the people who brought Kimmel down. One of the most popular companies involved was Disney. The Walt Disney Company owns ABC, which is the network that airs “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” This led to thousands of people cancelling their Disney+ subscriptions in an effort to show their displeasure with the situation.
Students saw these events unfold in real time. “Some of my friends’ parents have canceled their Disney and Hulu subscriptions after what happened,” recalled senior Ellie Ziegelbein.
Within a week of Kimmel being off the air, Disney decided to reinstate his show to ABC. Many suspect Disney brought Kimmel back because of business interest instead of simply forgiving him.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned to its normal broadcasting schedule on Tuesday, September 23. However, not all ABC stations brought back the show as they sided with the original decision to suspend the program. Over 6.3 million people tuned into the reinstated show, even though not all cities had access.
This late night show being pushed off the program list showed America how much they value American ideals. “Free speech is a traditional American value, and Trump should protect this value in the mainstream media,” said senior Natalie Brown.
September has proven to be a sensitive time for America, filled with emotional responses to troubling situations. The cancelling of one piece of media is enough to spark thousands into outrage, and the silence of a group could prove to be detrimental to unity.
