You don’t need a journalism degree to spot the partisan bent of most entertainment sites.
Watch how Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and The Wrap frame breaking news. Or, better yet, notice which important stories they ignore. It’s clear they see headlines through a progressive lens, although they don’t admit that up front.
This site says it aloud in its tag line, “The Right Take on Entertainment.” HiT’s mission exists, in large part, because the vast majority of Hollywood news has a robust, left-of-center, bent.
Which brings us to Screen Rant.
The geek culture site once assumed a more neutral position with its content. Now, the site leans to the Left while embracing woke ideology. It explains why it’s aghast that Netflix, the stumbling streaming site, released a manifesto earlier this month extolling free speech.
Netflix’s unorthodox move came in delayed response to the uproar over its 2021 comedy special, The Closer.
That Dave Chappelle original shared jokes tied to the trans community, offending select progressives. A small group of Netflix employees marched against Chappelle, but Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos refused to censor or erase the special.
Instead, he re-hired Chappelle for more comedy projects and released this statement earlier this month.
Not everyone will like — or agree with — everything on our service. While every title is different, we approach them based on the same set of principles: we support the artistic expression of the creators we choose to work with; we program for a diversity of audiences and tastes; and we let viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices. As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.
The original Screen Rant story buries its disgust over Netflix’s decision deep in the story. The site’s Facebook page, however, states it upfront.
A pretty harsh policy, if real.
That sparked a huge backlash among its Facebook followers. For them, ideological diversity and free speech actually matter. Here’s a sampling of the responses:
- I think the staff needs to realize that it’s a streaming service company, which means it has ALL types of content. (top fan)
- They can’t be beholden to the squeaky minority who work for them.
- Might want to consult a better dictionary for the definition of ‘harsh.’
- Yeah asking people to act like adults is really harsh
- I love this! More companies should adopt this policy. Dry your tears and go back to work snow flakes
- Yeah cause Disney’s response to the “Patental rights bill” has gone great for them….
- Good for Netflix. Just like content creators shouldn’t bow to Christian evangelicals, they shouldn’t bow to wokist ones either
- Harsh? That’s not harsh, if real, any job gives you that choice… To NOT allow you to quit would be harsh.. If you don’t like your job, then you don’t have to be there.. What kind of of job caters to everyone’s feelings? If you can’t or refuse to do your job, then leave.
A few commenters vaguely supported Screen Rant’s position. They were in the extreme minority.
[Cross-posted from Hollywood in Toto]
