Kyle Cave

Staff Writer

On Monday, September 15th, Jimmy Kimmel’s show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” aired, and Kimmel made a statement about Trump’s reaction to the assassination of Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

He poked fun at Trump being asked how he was doing since Kirk’s assassination, and Trump mentioned how well he was doing. He also mentioned the construction of the upcoming White House Ballroom that will be coming in the future. Kimmel poked fun at the fact that Trump was reacting to Kirk’s death in such an unserious manner.

Kimmel said, “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend; this is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.” Kimmel also mentioned that supporters of Trump are trying to gain political points while describing them as the “MAGA Gang.”

Two days after Kimmel made the joke poking fun at Trump, Nexstar ABC affiliates started to pull Kimmel’s show from their local stations. Then ABC made the ultimate decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from the air “Indefinitely”.

ABC’s firing of Kimmel isn’t a shock, especially with how Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” was cancelled from CBS entirely. With suspicions of Paramount’s merger with Skydance, needing to get approval from the Trump Administration is playing a big role. Also, Trump and the administration have been on the offensive, attacking law firms, colleges and major media outlets since the start of his second term.

Just because this isn’t shocking doesn’t make it any less unsettling. America, since its inception in 1776, has stressed the importance of free speech. Defiance is part of this country’s nature. This entire country was established based on defiance and questioning authority. That basis is lost when major media figures are fired because of mere criticism.

All of this is because of two things: fear and retribution. Fear is a big one, fear of losing your broadcasting license, fear of losing your career, fear of saying anything critical of people in power, and fear of legal action.

The second is retribution. If an individual says anything critical of an administration, or if a journalist from a particular media organization reports on anything negative about the administration. That administration can levy hefty lawsuits against you, use insults against you or your organization, or coerce your organization to potentially fire you.

This has the potential of becoming the new normal. It has already happened to the likes of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. The question is, who is inevitably next?

It can be literally anyone; the only way to stop fear and retribution is one word. That word is pushback. Fear can be conquered; we have seen countless examples of fear being conquered in all areas of life.

Retribution, however, can be inevitable from a force that deems you to be a threat to them. Pushback is the only answer to fear and retribution. Pushback sometimes is not only about one single individual; pushback can set a standard of standing up to oppressive forces with other organizations, people and even people you know.

The media is one of the most important aspects of all our lives. It informs us, entertains us, and keeps a country going with a plethora of things. If these institutions want to be preserved as we know them currently, pushback will be the most important word and action needed in the coming future.