The Unseen Side of Cancel Culture
Persuasion | Ted Balaker
Cancel culture is not limited to shutting down people publicly; it’s about the untold number of unseen and unheard cancellations along the way explains Ted Balaker, filmmaker and former network news producer. “The greatest impact often falls on those far removed from the original scene of the outrage.” The impact, he argues, runs deep— “Even when cancel culture’s most obvious side doesn’t show itself, those involved still feel its chill… Each impact may be small, but imagine them multiplying.” In other words, when it becomes systemic.
Balaker gives many real-world examples, one of which involves FAIR advisors— “A producer at a top nonpartisan news organization…was working on a television special about race in America, which would feature black experts. He hoped for some viewpoint diversity, and I provided a shortlist… [that] included entrepreneur and podcaster Kmele Foster, Columbia professor John McWhorter, and George Mason University economist Walter Williams. My friend responded quickly—his bosses declared them all too extreme… Kmele Foster, John McWhorter, and Walter Williams weren’t disinvited from the television special—they were simply rejected at an earlier stage.”
