So what did the New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences have to do with cable television monolith Comcast's to fire former tabloid television host Barry Nolan from his hosting gig on its CN8 variety network, in response to his bitter and very personal campaign to stop the group from giving a special Emmy award to Bill O’Reilly?Barry’s attack was not only on O’Reilly but on the wisdom of the local Emmy group’s decision to honor Barry’s former tabloid television rival and current cable news superstar. Though Barry did not speak up during the awards ceremony on May 10th, according to the Boston Herald he apparently disrupt the event by putting fliers on tables containing "quotes from O’Reilly as well as three pages from the sexual harassment lawsuit O’Reilly settled.
“Security approached Nolan and told him he couldn’t distribute information at the event.”
He'd also waged an email campaign asking Academy members to challenge the chapter's decision.
We asked Tim Egan, the president of the New England chapter of NATAS if his group, or the incident at the awards ceremony had anything to do with Barry’s firing.
He replied:
“The National Academy of Television Arts & Science does not comment on station operations.”
What a brave guy.
ReplyDeletePutting himself squarely in front of the right-wing hate machine.
Impressive strength of character... I hope God notices.
Reminds me of that guy in China that stood in front of that tank during the The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
The shutting up of opposition is critical to running a county in a undemocratic way.
^ The employer's response is just as much an expression of free speech as was the protest by Nolan. (Although I wouldn't remotely compare this with global protest or any political event.)
ReplyDeleteIt was simply an award being handed out to a journalist, which brought extreme disapproval from another journalist. His opinions were fine. Disrupting the event and handing out flyers?? Totally inappropriate. Worthy of firing.
He wasn't fired for a simple blog posting or newspaper article.