Only Idiots Think ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ is Racist
(Correction: the original article referenced here, appeared in the NY Post, and was then shared by Fox News, both entities are owned by News Corp).
You may have seen the ‘Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Criticized as Racist’ article, circulating on social media over the holidays. Then again, if you don’t follow conservative news channels or sites that specialize in ‘what’s trending’, you may have missed this bit of idiotic, and dishonest, clickbait.
In an expertly crafted (albeit completely fabricated) news story, a clickbait artist at the New York Post wrote about ‘Critics slamming Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ as racist. The only problem was, that there weren’t any real critics complaining about the Peanuts special, (just a couple confused people on twitter) and right wing media made the whole thing up because they knew their base would eat it up on Thanksgiving weekend. It was a ploy to get less than intelligent conservative fans to make fun of ‘libs’ and overly sensitive ‘social justice warriors’, and it worked, the made-up story reached millions over the holiday weekend. It was spread around on Rupert Murdoc’s News Corp, media channels.
http://https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/posts/10157586125291336
The article’s opening line is “You’re a racist man, Charlie Brown!”
When they article states, ‘critics are slamming ABC’s “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” for seating its only black character, Franklin, alone and in a rickety old lawn chair,’ they are referencing a tweet by a random twitter user (not a journalist, critic, or academic) just a guy named Vic from Mississippi, who clearly never watched the special he’s ‘criticizing’:
If you really watched you would know franklin was the special guest giving him a special chair and place so everyone can see him
— SaNaaya??? (@queensanaaya) November 22, 2018
Anyone who actually watched the program would realize that indeed, Franklin, is the guest of honor, the whole point of the 1970’s special is inclusion. This is not some kind of racist episode, and anyone who says it is, is either confused or gas-lighting. The other ‘ciritic’ referenced in the article was someone who was being sarcastic about it, and has since deleted their account. The only journalist that tweeted about it was making a joke, and clearly states he was making a joke.
Just a joke, not a battle. Happy Thanksgiving.
— Terry Big Blue Brown™️ (@TBrown_80) November 22, 2018
There are thousands of comments on the Fox News Facebook post by people on both sides who also did not watch the Peanuts special they are fighting over. But these days, not being informed of the facts doesn’t preclude you from spouting an opinion in the comments. This post is a great example of everything that is wrong with journalism and social media these days. But instead of removing the article, Fox simply removed the author’s credit and linked back to the NY Post main page. Why? Because they don’t want anyone to have to take responsibility for this lie. They just want the clicks, without the accountability. So the ‘Charlie Brown’ article that has now been seen by millions of people, on sites that call themselves ‘news networks’, are left to draw their own conclusions based on completely fabricated information.
As what usually happens, the ‘what’s trending’ sites (who do not employ journalists, but rather employ small armies of marketers) flipped the story so that they could ride the SEO wave (and get their clicks) thus helping spread the lie further and further.
VIDEO: Is “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” RACIST? Scene Goes VIRAL on Social Media
An editor over at Fox must have realized how misleading and poorly sourced the article was, but they did not remove or apologize for content, they left it up. Why? Because it gets clicks, and clicks mean money. The truth is obviously secondary to getting their clicks. Millions of people will now continue to read, comment, and fight over a lie, so that News Corp can make an extra buck.
With every misleading “News Article’ like this, we edge a step closer to the complete collapse the news industry as whole. Happy Holidays America.
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