Fox Ignores NFL Players Kneeling During National Anthem During Live Broadcast
Source: Mediaite
by Colby Hall | 9:50 am, October 1st, 2017
Given the ongoing rhetorical debate between President Donald Trump and NFL players who are kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality, all eyes were on the pregame festivities at this mornings first NFL game played at Londons Wembley Stadium between the Dolphins and Saints.
The controversy has been a remarkably effective wedge issue for the Trump administration, who seem to have successfully made this a debate about patriotism (and to a lesser extent free speech), ignoring the stated reasons that Colin Kaepernick and others that have followed gave for kneeling: oppression of people of color in the United States.
Given the billion dollar relationship between the NFL and its broadcast partners (which include every major television broadcaster CBS, Disney/ABC/ESPN and Fox Broadcasting), one can reasonably wonder what discussions went on behind the scenes in trying to take some air out of this controversy, which many see puts the NFL in a tough position (which is ostensibly the hallmark of any effective protest, by the way).
So what happened? As you can see in the video above, Fox opened their broadcast of the national anthem showing arm-linked Saints kneeling, then standing for the national anthem. This appears to be confirmed in the following tweet from SB Nation:
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https://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-ignores-nfl-players-kneeling-during-national-anthem-during-live-broadcast/