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Conservatives push back against CMT decision to pull Jason Aldean music video (2023)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
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Conservatives have pushed back against Country Music Television’s (CMT) decision to pull the music video for Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town.” But, according to Forbes, the network may not have had a choice, given what the article calls the ESG goals of its parent company—Paramount Global:
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When CMT pulled Jason Aldean’s music video for “Try That In A Small Town”, conservatives responded with outrage and threats of a boycott. However, the decision aligns with the stated environmental, social, and governance goals of Paramount Global, the parent company of CMT. Aldean’s song was originally released on May 22 with little attention and quickly fell out of the top of the Billboard charts. The lyrics open “sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk, carjack an old lady at a red light, pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store. Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like. Cuss out a cop, spit in his face, stomp on the flag and light it up. Yeah, ya think you're tough. Well, try that in a small town.” To conservatives, it echoed their frustrations with acts of violence they feel have become normalized in society. It wasn’t until the music video was released mid-July that the left took notice. The video featured news clips of violence at protests. Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, called out Aldean for the video claiming it promoted gun violence. CMT pulled it from rotation. … This decision by CMT, while controversial, aligns with the ESG goals of Paramount Global. Paramount Global is a publicly traded media conglomerate that owns multiple media organizations including Paramount Pictures, the CBS Media Group, and Paramount Media Networks, which controls CMT. The ESG report for Paramount Global governs all subsidiaries. … The Paramount Global ESG Report 2021-2022 is divided into three categories: workforce & culture, sustainable production & operations, and on-screen content and social impact. It is the later which is the most relevant. The question as to if ESG influences the content decisions of Paramount Global is clearly answered under the on-screen content section. “[T]he stories, characters, and messages of that content are a key component of our ESG strategy.” This is a diversion from some media companies who focus primarily on internal policies in their ESG report, separating programming decisions from ESG policy. However, Paramount Global does not shy away from the influence of ESG on their programming, stating: “Our responsibility to our audiences and the world we all share informs our approach to creating the content we produce through our studios, networks, and streaming services. Through conscious policies, deep research, and a creative community that is willing to learn and grow together, we strive to create content that reflects and shapes culture. We work to drive awareness of important issues and to offer stories and insights that encourage new perspectives and engagement on issues shaping our society.” “We recognize that our work – including news and public affairs programming, sports, movies, scripted and unscripted television series, live events, and more – has the power to address important social issues as well as deeply personal ones for our viewers, with possibly profound influence on the ways those issues are understood.”[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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