Saturday, March 10, 2007

 

Countering Ann Coulter's Hate Speech: A Citizen's Action Guide

By MARC McDONALD

Are you fed up with Ann Coulter's vile, disgusting hate speech? If so, you're not alone. Thousands of Americans are now taking action against Coulter, who regular poisons our nation's political discourse with her bigoted outbursts.

As is usual in cases like this, if you want to make your voice heard when it comes to the corporate media, you've gotta hit them where it hurts: their wallets. The sort of media outlets that would give the time of day to a disgusting hate spewer like Coulter can only understand one thing: the financial bottom line.

If you want to make these corporate entities see the light, you're wasting your time if you try to appeal to their sense of human decency. On the other hand, if you hit them in the pocketbook, you just might catch their attention, if only for a moment.

As it turns out, Coulter's latest unhinged outburst (referring to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot") has already cost Coulter some sponsors. CNN has reported that at least three major companies have sought to have their ads pulled from Coulter's Web site: Verizon, Sallie Mae and Georgia-based NetBank.

Liberal Web site DailyKos.com pointed out recently that the only remaining major advertiser on Coulter's Web site is Amazon.com. If you'd like to let Amazon.com know how you feel about their sponsorship of Coulter's site, the email address for Amazon.com's Investor Relations is: ir@amazon.com.

As DailyKos.com recently noted:

"One of the best ways to communicate one's distaste for Coulter's repeated incidents of hate speech is to respectfully but firmly let her advertisers know you are deeply troubled by their indirect support of bigotry through their advertising on Coulter's Web site."

Meanwhile, Edwards is fighting back against Coulter's hate speech. The Democratic candidate is aiming to raise $100,000 in "Coulter Cash" this week to keep his campaign "charging ahead and (to) fight back against the politics of bigotry." If you'd like to donate, go here.

Coulter's column is currently syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate to over 100 papers. If you'd like to add your voice to the thousands of Americans who are urging these newspapers to drop Coulter's column, go here. Also, the media watchdog site Media Matters has a list of newspapers that carry Coulter's columns, (as well as the email addresses of those papers' editors).

The various ongoing efforts to stop Coulter's bigotry are already paying dividends. Media Matters reported Friday that seven newspapers have now dropped Coulter's column since her comments about Edwards.

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"Every generation needs a new revolution."
-----Thomas Jefferson