After a campaign of disinformation over the Georgia voter bill that helped pressure Major League Baseball (MLB) to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, Colorado, Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News stumbled onto the truth once they poisoned the well, which was the decision will have a negative economic impact on Atlanta businesses and especially Black-owned establishments.
Anchor Lester Holt stated the obvious in an opening tease that there was “unintended fallout from the MLB moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta on local businesses.”
Holt later said before correspondent Blayne Alexander’s report that the “decision to move the All-Star Game to protest Georgia's new voting law has many small business owners facing a new hit.”
If Holt weren’t so busy living his new life as an openly-biased journalist, perhaps he could have focused more on this. But when the left has a narrative to push, they’re willing to accept collateral damage.
Alexander started with the fall-out for one Black-owned restaurant named Harold’s Chicken that’s next to the ballpark (click “expand”):
ALEXANDER: After months of seeing his sales stunted by the pandemic, Shawn Cooper thought all-star weekend was his chance to make up ground.
SHAWN COOPER: Just in one weekend over 20,000.
ALEXANDER: 20,000?
COOPER: Yeah.
ALEXANDER: That's more than double what you normally see on a weekend.
COOPER: Yes. Way more than double.
ALEXANDER: His restaurant sits in the shadow of Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves and until last week, home of this year's All-Star Game. Now, he's among dozens of disappointed businesses facing financial loss with MLB moving the game out of Georgia, taking a stand over the state's new voting law and taking tens of millions of dollars in tourist revenue.
COOPER: I understand why they're doing it, but it's still frustrating as far as a small business, black-owned business owner. It's kind of hard to try to maintain and bring customers in because of the pandemic.
As many have pointed out in the days since the game’s move to the Centennial State, Alexander acknowledged that “critics point out to a city with a very different demographic” with “Black people compris[ing] more than half of Atlanta's population” while they make up “less than ten percent” of the population in Colorado’s capital.
With this segment coming after the left achieved their objective, Alexander brought in MSNBC host and NBC correspondent Stephanie Ruhle to admit that “the unintended consequence of taking a stand” and “draw[ing] more eyes and attention to the conversation” about voting was that “businesses...desperate for more revenue” would be sinking further into ruin.
Alexander ended her segment with an update on the case State Representative Park Cannon (D), but not before more commiserations about how the MLB decision was “another crushing blow” for black-owned business amid a coronavirus pandemic that’s “already taken a disproportional toll on” them:
COBB COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRWOMAN LISA CUPID: It's unfortunate to know that those who may be hurt by the legislation would also continue to be hurt by us not supporting our economy here.
ALEXANDER: Brian Maloof, who owns a restaurant near downtown Atlanta, is worried about the lasting impact.
BRIAN MALOOF: It's a trickle-down effect. We're just trying to get back to a normal sense of business here.
This refusal to admit that their activism has hurt Black-owned businesses was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Liberty Mutual and TD Ameritrade. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from April 7, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
April 7, 2021
7:01 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; All-Star Move Fallout]
LESTER HOLT: The unintended fallout from the MLB moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta on local businesses.
(....)
7:12 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Unintended Business Backlash]
HOLT: In Atlanta, the MLB's decision to move the All-Star Game to protest Georgia's new voting law has many small business owners facing a new hit. Let's get more on that from Blayne Alexander.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; MLB All-Star Move Hits Local Atlanta Businesses]
BLAYNE ALEXANDER: After months of seeing his sales stunted by the pandemic, Shawn Cooper thought all-star weekend was his chance to make up ground.
SHAWN COOPER: Just in one weekend over 20,000.
ALEXANDER: 20,000?
COOPER: Yeah.
ALEXANDER: That's more than double what you normally see on a weekend.
COOPER: Yes. Way more than double.
ALEXANDER: His restaurant sits in the shadow of Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves and until last week, home of this year's All-Star Game. Now, he's among dozens of disappointed businesses facing financial loss with MLB moving the game out of Georgia, taking a stand over the state's new voting law and taking tens of millions of dollars in tourist revenue.
COOPER: I understand why they're doing it, but it's still frustrating as far as a small business, black-owned business owner. It's kind of hard to try to maintain and bring customers in because of the pandemic.
ALEXANDER: The game is now headed west to Denver and critics point out to a city with a very different demographic. Black people comprise more than half of Atlanta's population. In Denver, it's less than 10 percent.
STEPHANIE RUHLE: It's the unintended consequence of taking a stand. It draws more eyes and attention to the conversation but the trade-off, what gets lost in the shuffle are these businesses who are desperate for more revenue.
ALEXANDER: The pandemic has already taken a disproportionate toll on black businesses. Now, for many, this is another crushing blow.
COBBY COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRWOMAN LISA CUPID: It's unfortunate to know that those who may be hurt by the legislation would also continue to be hurt by us not supporting our economy here.
ALEXANDER: Brian Maloof, who owns a restaurant near downtown Atlanta, is worried about the lasting impact.
BRIAN MALOOF: It's a trickle-down effect. We're just trying to get back to a normal sense of business here.
HOLT: Blayne, you also have an update about that state lawmaker arrested when that voting bill was signed.
ALEXANDER: That's right, Lester. Representative Park Cannon was arrested and taken out of the Capitol when she knocked on the governor's door as he was signing that bill. Today the DA announced that she is not pursuing any charges and she's closing the case. Lester?
HOLT: Alright, Blayne, thank you.
