An advertisement by the online women’s rights group, Ultraviolet, that was set to air during the Fox Business Show “After the Bell” was rejected by the network. The ad called for commentators Lou Dobbs, Erick Erickson, and Juan Williams to be fired for their negative comments made on the network last week regarding women who pursue successful careers.
The trio’s comments included complaints that the rise of successful women could “undermine our [America’s] social order.” Ultraviolet compiled the rejected advertisement using footage from the original interview of the Fox News commentators’ interview.
“Lou Dobbs has a problem. Women are winning the bread. Even his own network isn’t safe from this source of lady breadwinners. Tell Fox to retire Lou Dobbs, Erick Erickson, and Juan Williams and spare them the pain of equality,” says a voice-over featured in the advertisement.
The network cited copyright reasons for the ad’s rejection. However, the members of Ultraviolet seem to think otherwise.
“It appears the men at Fox News have lost their minds,” said co-founder of Ultraviolet, Nita Chaudhary, to the Huffington Post. “The fact that they won’t air this ad shows that the company is standing by Dobbs and Erickson and Williams and everyone else. The biggest statement it sends is, ‘We’re okay with the backward thinking of the sexist, misogynist men leading our programming.’
Traditionally, Fox News has had a hard time taking criticism. In 2012, Tom Rick, author of “The Generals” and a former newspaper reporter, was cut short during his interview with Fox News after he began criticizing the network of “operating as a wing of the Republican Party.” If they keep this up, it’s only a matter of time before they start ignoring subjects altogether.
Krysta Loera is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire.
