Mediaboss Marketing

By the Editorial Board

Corporate America has been in uncharted territory for a while now as it tries to navigate todays increasingly heated culture wars. Nowhere has that fact been driven home more shockingly than with Bud Lights recent dethroning as Americas No.1-selling beer.

Its certainly not the first iconic company to get entangled in these political thickets witness Disney, Target, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A but Bud Lights dilemma may be the most instructive example yet of just how thoroughly todays political polarization has impacted every facet of the culture.

The controversy began in April, when the company provided transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney with a can of Bud Light with an image of her face on it, which she displayed on social media as she endorsed the beer.

Its important to note because this part of the story has been grossly misrepresented during the entire debate that this wasnt part of any formal ad campaign by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Dylan Mulvaney cans werent for sale anywhere. It was one face on one can, displayed on one individuals social media accounts.

Which makes the storm that followed even more bizarre, if thats possible. Conservative activists and politicians seized on it as an example of a big company rubbing our faces in LGBTQ culture, in the ever-tolerant words of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Which is ironic, considering it was actually conservatives who have promoted the Mulvaney endorsement (again: one can) out of its progressive social-media niche and onto the cultural front lines.

Kid Rock famously, or infamously, shot up cases of Bud Light to express the ire of the right. A group of female Republican governors released a wince-inducing video about real women of politics, which confirmed that outright bigotry is still considered funny in some circles. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, never one to miss an opportunity to demagogue, declared on Twitter that woke globalists are ruining a great company.

The other shoe dropped last week, when monthly sales figures confirmed that Bud Light in May lost the top-in-the-nation sales crown that it has worn for more than two decades. As the Post-Dispatchs Daniel Neman reported, Bud Light remains the top-selling beer for the year to date on the strength of its pre-controversy sales. But that only matters if the company can pull the nose up on the current sales plunge going forward.

Theres little doubt the beer maker largely brought this storm down on itself by badly misreading its own customer base. One of its own vice presidents tried to explain the Mulvaney endorsement as an attempt to update traditional Bud Light branding that has been kind of a fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor confirming that the company understood how poorly its core customers would receive such an endorsement even as it insulted them again.

In short, you dont have to buy into the intolerant narrative of the Bud Light boycott to marvel at how supremely the brewer screwed up here. Not by displaying tolerance for a transgender personality, but thinking it could do it under the radar and thus have it both ways keeping its old customers while wooing new ones from the other side of the cultural fence.

Unfortunately, America today isnt a country where liberals and conservatives can just agree to disagree on much of anything. Even beer.

Anheuser-Buschs announcement last week that it will offer financial assistance to its distributors and others affected by the boycott is the responsible thing to do, and a good example of corporate level-headedness in a crisis. And the companys quick retreat from the culture-war battlefield We hear you, A-B CEO Brendan Whitworth wrote to customers in vowing to just get back to the business of beer is about the only move it could have made at this point.

If that retreat has angered the LGBTQ community and its supporters (reportedly it has), that begs the question of just what they thought they were getting from a company that, like virtually every company, is ultimately interested only in the bottom line. As Slate noted recently, rainbow-washed corporations are fair-weather allies.

Other examples of that phenomenon include Targets apparent decision to deemphasize its annual June rainbow-themed merchandise in the wake of a truly despicable harassment campaign by right-wing bigots against its employees. Starbucks has been accused of similarly wavering in its traditional support for the LGBTQ community by removing rainbow decorations from stores (the company denies it).

What does it look like when a big corporation actually stays the course on these turbulent seas? It looks like, of all things, Disney. The companys epic legal and cultural fight with DeSantis over Floridas law muzzling classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues isnt for show. They mean it.

But there are some important differences there. The company is under intense pressure from its own massive workforce not to back down. Also, theres no discernible public boycott movement afoot to, say, stop visiting Disney World. Unlike getting on the wrong side of half the country, confronting one blustery bully of a politician could actually be good for Disneys image.

What lesson should the LGBTQ community and its supporters take from all of this? Only that businesses are in business to make money. Yes, their employment practices should reflect the growing acceptance that America celebrates during Pride month every June. But the real (and remaining) work of mainstreaming that acceptance has to come from citizens, not corporations. Love is love, as they say and ultimately, beer is just beer.

Views from the editorial board, opinions from guest and national columnists plus the latest letters from our readers.

More:
Editorial: Love is love and beer is just beer - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Tennessee passed a law that bans drag performances anywhere minors might attend. Happily, a federal judge stopped it. Very happily, the judge is a conservative, reminding all that some conservatives value principle over politics.

The assumption underlying the law is that a performance in which a man wears a dress or a woman pastes on a mustache is by definition obscene. Therefore, it must be outlawed.

In his 70-page ruling, Judge Thomas Parker called the law unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad. He writes, If Tennessee wishes to exercise its police power in restricting speech it considers obscene, it must do so within the constraints and framework of the United States Constitution.

Not an original thought but one that needs repeating these days.

The Trump appointee was not defending obscenity, but trying to stop the right wing from defining it downwards. Parker wrote that no majority of the (U.S.) Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit but not obscene speech receives less protection than political, artistic or scientific speech.

As an example, Parker raised the specter of a female performer who wore an Elvis Presley costume and imitated the King. Under the recently passed law, she could be considered a male impersonator. (Imagine how the jails would fill on Halloween.)

Over the course of my sheltered life, I have seen a few drag shows. They came off as funny and not remotely obscene. I dont doubt that they could be, but so could the routines performed by high school cheerleaders or contestants on Dancing With the Stars.

Meanwhile, anyone who doesnt want to see crossdressing at the Memphis Pride Festival would be well advised to not attend the Memphis Pride Festival. Thats how grown-ups handle it.

Over in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is trying to replace grown-ups with government and portraying drag performances as a dagger at the heart of American greatness. He sent out the apparatus of state government to revoke the Hyatt Regency Miamis alcohol license over a holiday show that featured stars from RuPauls Drag Race. Set aside a private companys right to run its business as it sees fit, the hotel required that anyone under the age of 18 had to be accompanied by an adult. So where was the problem? Parental control works both ways, you know.

One related thought: If the politicians really want to shield youth from obscenity, they should take away their cellphones.

Elsewhere in DeSantis Florida, a schoolteacher was fired for showing sixth-graders a picture of Michelangelos statue of David. As the chair of the school board tried to explain, the issue was not with the marble masterpiece but the egregious failure to warn parents that their children would see the potentially controversial work of art.

Teachers are the experts? the chairman asked bitterly, Teachers have all the knowledge? Are you kidding me? Well, teachers arent perfect, but their judgement on educational matters might be superior to that of a mom repeating right-wing talking points in a grammatically challenged email.

What is controversial about David? Hes naked and, if truth be told, hes also well-endowed. At the same time, a giant copy of the statue stands outside a palazzo in Florence for anyone to see. Seven-year-olds live in Florence.

Heaven knows the left fringe has its share of ludicrous dictates. The difference between the far left and the far right, though, is that the former tend to lose national or statewide elections, whereas the right-wing crazies more often prevail.

Passing a law that would penalize a girl who sings at a bar dressed as Captain Hook? Lets see how they can cook up new ways to waste everyones time. Its impossible to embarrass these guys.

Froma Harrop is a Creators Syndicate writer.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

See the article here:
Culture wars rage, but conservative judge stands up for free speech - Lock Haven Express

Oklahoma state employees learned that their retirement plans will take a $9.7 million hit due to a state law passed last year banning the state from investing in companies perceived to be adversarial to the fossil fuel industry.

The federal government put a hold on a $4.5 million family planning grant to the state because Oklahoma laws may not allow women to know all their reproductive options, including that Kansas is the nearest state for abortion services.

Dr. Chris McNeil joins the podcast this week to explain that, in his opinion, because of a poor medical recruiting system, we are losing lives, talent and time. McNeil is the only Black male resident emergency physician in Tulsa, and starting July 1, he'll be the only one in the state. He has ideas on how and why that needs to change.

A lawsuit is coming against the Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Board, which willingly ignored the Oklahoma Constitution, the state charter school law and the nations laws by approving a Catholic Church request to pay for its new religious school. One new board member who cast a vote may not have been eligible to do so.

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond advised against approval, saying the fallout will be costly for Oklahoma.

The approval is meant to provide a test case, meaning Oklahoma gets to be someone elses guinea pig in a lawsuit.

Last summer, a development officer with the Tulsa Regional Chamber told Tulsa city councilors that the states anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion laws and rhetoric are making it harder to recruit businesses to the state.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters accused public schools of distributing pornography and indoctrinating children, called teachers unions terrorists and released a propaganda-laced video using racist tropes, all of which contribute to the states already severe educator shortage. His firing of workers for sharing memos, which are open records, has drawn lawsuits.

The state needs at least 4,100 more certified teachers. Feeling respected by the states top education official and other state leaders would help in recruitment.

Oklahomas new culture wars are just starting, and theyre going to get expensive.

Frustratingly, these divisive public policies arent originating from Oklahomans but rather are imported from national ideologues who are hellbent on creating their version of a utopia in their likeness.

The culture wars dont reflect actual challenges facing Oklahomans. They dont embrace the states diversity. They dont improve anything.

Culture wars have been around for decades. Nothing is new in the age-old struggle for dominance over ideas. But recent years have seen it ramped it up and brought it into public governance.

Floridas Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, became a presidential hopeful after his masterful use of a complacent supermajority Legislature to push his political dogma, creating a model for right-wing conservatives. He picked on Disney for supporting LGBTQ+ people, feuded with the College Board over the content of its AP African American studies course, restricted discussion of race, gender or sexuality in schools, and popularized the overuse of the word woke.

As of December, his moral crusades have cost Florida taxpayers at least $17 million in attorney and legal costs, according to a Miami Herald investigation. That number is rising.

Texas instituted laws on Sept. 1, 2021, forbidding municipalities from contracting with banks that restrict funding of firearms companies or the oil and gas industry through ESG environmental, social and governance policies. In the first eight months, Texans paid between $300 million and $500 million more in interest on government bonds.

In January, a study published by the nonprofit Sunrise Project found that such anti-ESG laws in the the 18 states, including Oklahoma, that have enacted them could cost taxpayers more than $708 million. Oklahomas share of that is estimated to be at least $49 million.

Typically, boycotts launched by activists played out as individuals or organizations tried to change a system or business. The most famous was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.-led Birmingham bus boycott, which successfully challenged racial segregation.

Now more elected leaders and people in power are turning boycotts into public policies.

Lawmakers enjoying supermajorities are using their power over taxes and laws to codify their political leanings and in some cases their financial interests. Its a hammer the majority uses to beat down those with different ideas, opinions and ways of life.

The only people benefiting are attorneys, who happily prosper in a litigation-based society.

Oklahoma cannot afford to go down this road. The states population and gross domestic product ($191 billion) are significantly less than other red states that are taking a chance with these cultural battles. The state has three Fortune 500 companies, compared to 17 in Florida and 55 in Texas.

A bigger population provides a broader well of resources to push wedge issues. Oklahoma topped 4 million residents last year, but thats small compared to Floridas 22 million or the 30 million in Texas.

When Texas ($1.9 trillion GPD) or Florida ($1 trillion GDP) loses out on recruiting a major company or adds millions to its bond or investment costs, it can survive. For Oklahoma, that can be a major setback.

Oklahoma operates on a slimmer margin, and missteps have bigger consequences.

Thats just the financial bill; there is also a human toll.

Recently, Oklahoma parents of transgender children have been on social media usually only within their close network raising money and making plans to get health care out of state. If a bill had passed that would have prosecuted parents for obtaining such care, that would have forced them to move away from Oklahoma.

Those who dont care for these families and want them gone are cruel and dangerous. Our laws shouldnt harm people.

Yet some wedge issues are costing lives.

Gun safety has only worsened as the number of firearms grows. Guns are the No. 1 killer of U.S. children, and the regularity of mass shootings is a national and international embarrassment. Nothing changes.

Consensus shows Americans want and need more access to mental health care. But extremists have taken aim at social-emotional learning, which gets at the heart of healthy mental health development. People in mental health distress still get their hands on firearms.

Abortion positions, for and against, are a political litmus test. But some anti-abortion laws may be putting pregnant women and rape victims into deadly situations.

Even vaccines are politicized, not just those for COVID-19 but of generations-old inoculations that have all but eradicated diseases such as polio, measles, rubella and whooping cough. Lawmakers are making it easier to ignore immunizations.

A states actions budget priorities, laws, policies reflect upon its residents. Those who do not live here will make judgments based on words our leaders say and the decisions they make.

As a lifelong Oklahoman with five generations of roots here, I know this state has unique selling points. Tulsa and Oklahoma City have transformed themselves into dynamic cities with distinctive personalities. Rural areas have vast natural resources and playgrounds.

All of that can quickly be undermined by battles waged by ideologues who are more interested in a national profile than local progress. Oklahoma cannot afford a culture war.

Users can customize the app so you see the stories most important to you. You can also sign up for personalized notifications so you don't miss any important news.

If you're on your phone, download it here now: Apple Storeor Google Play

Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!

Read the original here:
Ginnie Graham: Cost of the culture war too high and unnecessary for ... - Tulsa World

Summer is upon us, and parents, children and teachers are winding down from what has been an exhausting and fully operational school yearthe first since the devastating pandemic. The long-lasting impact of COVID-19 has affected our students and families well-being and ignited the politics surrounding public schools. All signs point to the coming school year unfolding with the same sound and fury, and if extremist culture warriors have their way, being even more divisive and stressful.

The cause? The far rights assault on public education, which theyre waging by attacking teachers and their students and trying to pit parents against us. Legislators in 45 states have proposed hundreds of laws to ban books in classrooms and school librariesfrom the illustrated adaption of Anne Franks The Diary of a Young Girl to Amanda Gormans poem The Hill We Climb, restrict what can be taught about our countrys history, and promote school vouchers that drain money from public schools. This agenda does nothing to support kids learning. It does nothing to address learning loss, rein in social media and bullying, stop gun violence, or support the record number of children struggling with mental health challenges. In Florida, for example, the latest state budget takes $4 billion in funding away from these efforts and funnels it into a voucher program.

But it turns out, book banning, educational censorship and defunding public schools are wildly unpopular. While extremists say their effort is about parents rights, national polling shows theyve overreached, because voters, including parents, say they do not want to see their kids teachers attacked and their schools politicized. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found that most Americans (65 percent), including Republicans, oppose book bans; a majority (80 percent) support teaching race as part of our history; and 70 percent approve of their local public school teachers. Another recent poll done by the parents group Moms Rising found even higher support among moms, with 94 percent of mothers supporting teaching honest history and 78 percent opposing book bans.

Most parents want what we all want: for our children to do well in the basics like reading, math and science. They want to ensure all children, regardless of background, develop critical-thinking and practical life skills and are prepared to succeed in the future. And by an 80 percent to 20 percent margin, voters and parents want legislators to focus on improving education in public schools rather than promoting divisive political issues or expanding school choice programs that take resources out of public school classrooms.

Educators want that toobigtime. Its why we are expanding community schools that are built on partnerships to make schools hubs for providing needed services, from academic supports to legal aid to nutrition and health, helping students focus on learning.

And its why were investing in experiential learning, which helps students develop lifelong skills, using their minds and hands to learn everything from welding and auto repair to nursing, graphic design, computer science, culinary skills and plumbing.

Its also why were focusing on literacy and creating joyful, confident readers with the AFTs Reading Opens the World program, which has handed out more than 1.5 million books to students and their families and helps teachers access reading instruction support.

These foundational approaches change lives and, developed in close partnership with parents, will equip our kids with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need for college, career and life. Culture wars do the opposite.

If our extremist opponents think their attacks will slow down Americas educators or disrupt our efforts to organize and improve the lives of workers, theyre mistaken. Good things continue to happen in schools, and parents, workers and communities continue to come together to support our pro-student, pro-family, pro-worker agenda.

For example, United Teachers Los Angeles negotiated an innovative contract that provides an additional $250,000 for each community school and lets educators partner on a virtual learning platform that keeps students connected to their classrooms. The United Federation of Teachers in New York City also broke ground with its new contract, securing retention bonuses to keep teachers in their jobs and expandinga pilot remote learning projectthat allowed small schools to offer virtual coursessuch as Advanced Placement Chemistrythat they otherwise couldnt because of staffing issues. The Florida Education Association has signed up 5,000 new members despite Gov. Ron DeSantis anti-education and anti-union policies. And the Chicago Teachers Union helped elect one of their own, Brandon Johnson, as mayor, despite the money spent by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her cronies to defeat him.

So, the other side can keep waging their political attacks. And we will keep problem-solving. We are bringing communities together and strengthening and improving public education. Our opponents should never underestimate the creativity or commitment of teachers, and all those who work in schools, when it comes to improving the lives of the kids we teach and their families.

Enjoy your summer, and Happy Fathers Day.

View post:
Smears vs. solutions - American Federation of Teachers

UNITED STATES

It is no secret that the United States has grown increasingly partisan over the past few years as the political landscape has become more fraught. Institutions of higher education tend to mirror the broader political landscape in the country. In other words, as states (through local policy) become more categorised into blue versus red, so too do the institutions in those states.

Historically, higher education institutions have navigated more liberal leanings within the complicated campus culture wars, and critics of higher education argue that liberal biases indoctrinate students. The effects of political interference in higher education trickle down to students, impacting their college experiences and even their decisions on where to study.

For the future of our countrys democracy, we must work to break the vicious cycle of partisan influence in higher education and encourage students to engage in healthy political discourse in the classroom and on campus.

The power of perceptions

Generally speaking, Republicans and Democrats differ in their perception of the value of higher education. For example, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, over three quarters (79%) of Republicans, compared to 17% of Democrats, say that a major reason higher education is going in the wrong direction is due to professors bringing their political and social views into the classroom. This is often referred to as the liberal bias in higher education.

Conservative media outlets and politicians argue that higher education is overrun by liberals who force their political agenda onto students.

However, this is not the full picture. College represents a time for students to explore their political ideology and affiliation. Out of the 47% of students who changed their political leanings during college, 17% said they became more conservative.

Therefore, it is important to note that perceptions can differ from reality, but they matter nonetheless, as public opinion influences the way government operates.

Increased polarisation?

The political divide within higher education has implications for students experiences and their considerations in the college admissions process. Regardless of political views, research reveals that, according to students, state politics plays a role in where they decide to go to college. Many worry this impact on the student decision-making process will further the partisan divide and polarisation in the country, which has dangerous implications.

There are ways for institutions to address these challenges by teaching students how to engage with political discourse responsibly. In order to cultivate learning environments that encourage students to openly share their views (regardless of political ideology), faculty must work to foster safety and inclusivity in the classroom.

Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

A recent poll shows 59% of students expressed fear in sharing their political beliefs in class, and 31% of students admitted to having been ridiculed for expressing different political opinions.

Even so, students are not deterred by raising challenging topics, participating in healthy debate and engaging in politics. A survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute reported that 71% of students strongly or somewhat agree that dissent is an important part of the political process.

Todays college students are actually some of the most politically active individuals our country has seen in modern history. In fact, according to findings from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, 66% of college students who were registered to vote cast their ballots in the 2020 election, representing a 14% increase from the 2016 election.

Including students in policy debates

Knowing that todays college students are engaged in politics and willing to have challenging conversations regarding differences in political ideology, why are students often overlooked as stakeholders in higher education policy? Why are students often left out of conversations related to university policies that will ultimately impact their college experiences?

In order to begin to address these issues, higher education faculty and staff should prioritise the students role within shared governance and encourage students to engage in political conversations and debates.

In other words, we must strive to accomplish an environment in higher education institutions in which assumptions are not made regarding students political affiliations and values. Rather, students need to have the agency to decide on their political beliefs and the freedom to learn, grow and potentially change their minds in a safe environment and throughout their college experiences.

There is no denying that students and university leaders are different stakeholders who often have different goals. However, we should strive for an environment in which these two stakeholders are able to come together and discuss policies and sensitive issues.

For example, this could be as simple as inviting student government representatives to board meetings when important decisions are going to be discussed. If the goal of higher education is to foster student development and scholarship, students not only deserve, but are entitled to a seat at the table.

We owe it to our country's future leaders to allow for a world in which disagreement and political discourse are not only allowed, but also encouraged on college campuses. The future of higher education depends on it.

Rachel B Gorosh is a masters student in higher education administration and policy at Northwestern University, USA.

See original here:
Students are entitled to a seat at the governance table - University World News