My neighbour told us of an experience he had with the local McDonalds. He was sitting in one having breakfast and found himself offended by a debate playing out on the television, that included racial slurs.
So he went up to the counter and asked if they could change the channel but was told "no". Apparently, they were not allowed to do that, so instead he asked if they could just shut it off, but again "no". Not allowed.
The following week, he avoided that particular place and went to a different McDonalds, but was surprised to find the same right-wing station, airing the same offensive dialogue. Again, he tried to get the staff to change the channel or shut it off, and was told the same thing. They were not allowed.
I asked him if it was Fox News or Sun TV. He wasn't sure, since they are both pretty much the same.
My neighbour is not a political activist. He is a retired educator and former military officer. He wrote a letter to McDonalds, he said, the fist time he had ever felt compelled to do something like that.
I thought that maybe the local owner of the franchise was right-wing, and that it was he who decided what was being played, so I googled McDonalds/Fox News. What popped up was a recent posting on Daily KOS, Is McDonald's in bed with Fox News?, citing a similar experience.
I asked a manager why one only had Fox News all the time, and she said they were told they had to leave it on that station at all times and were unable to change the channel. When I asked if customers had requested it, she said no, "Nobody likes Fox, we get a lot of complaints about it."
I thought to myself, I don't work there, so maybe I could change it. But fiddling with the channel buttons had no effect. That single channel was hard-wired into the set; like Big Brother on the telescreen in "1984," it is impossible to watch anything else. When I asked if it was a corporate mandate to have the TV on Fox News, the manager nodded yes. Apparently they were free to switch between various sports networks on the other set, depending on what sporting events were currently happening, but the Fox News TV was permanently set to only that station. "Nobody likes Fox," she had said, but yet that's the only choice McDonald's was giving us, whether we liked it or not.When my friend complained, in both incidents, several customers backed him up.
McDonalds is supposed to be a "family restaurant", but Fox News, on both sides of the border, is hardly family entertainment. Fox and Sun like to boast about their viewing numbers, but how many of those "viewers" are being force fed this right-wing propaganda?
It is hate porn. The only sensual experience many of their viewers and commentators have. I swear every time Ezra Levant goes into one of his "white people" rants, he closes his eyes and smokes a cigarette.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else, who has noticed Fox/Sun as a McWatch. I certainly wouldn't take children into that restaurant. They need to post a warning on the door: "Television content not suitable for the majority of viewers".
