Jan 12 2009
Remember the Dixie Chicks?
My Ninth Rule of Media Relations is The adage “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” is true. Either be strictly an entertainer or be an artist-activist. However, accept that other people will make choices based on your decisions.
A few years ago, the Dixie Chicks were the hottest country-music act in America. You may recall their first hit single, Wide Open Spaces.
Their song, Goodbye Earl, was controversial because it was about an abused woman who–with a friend’s help–kills her husband. They’re able to dispose of the body and get away with the crime since no one liked or missed Earl.
There were some protests over the song’s subject matter but that situation was small compared to the group’s decision to denounce George W. Bush during a concert in London shortly after 9-11. The band was generally derided for being unpatriotic while in a foreign country.
Album sales slumped and haven’t recovered to 9-11 levels. The Dixie Chicks gained a foothold with the pop music audience but they remain persona non grata within the country music community.
Here’s the difference between what I call “free speech” and “speech without cost.” The Dixie Chicks exercised their First Amendment rights of speech and expression. They weren’t imprisoned. Their families weren’t killed. They weren’t tarred and feathered in a public square. Congress didn’t pass a law banning their music.
However, a lot of their former fans decided they didn’t want to associate with them any more. They have suffered a lot of status and money as a result of being outspoken.
Some people would say that’s a violation of their free speech. Those people would be wrong. They advocate speech without cost, where one can say anything he wants without losing anything. No risk of damaging employment, relationships or reputation. That’s not in the First Amendment or anywhere else in the Constitution.
Basically, celebrities have the right to do and say what they want and the rest of us have the right to denounce it if we choose. The Golden Globe Awards were held Sunday and a lot of television and film stars attended. Yet, the four-hour pregame show and awards broadcast drew fewer viewers to NBC than CBS’s typical Sunday program lineup garnered.
I was surprised but maybe I shouldn’t have been. Seems the public is getting a bit tired of celebrities using award shows to spout political views.
I completely agree about what you said about speech without cost. There will always be a price to standing by what you believe no matter what it may be. But, I personally wish that more entertainers would do what the Dixie Chicks did, rather than prancing down red carpets bragging about Prada dresses and Gucci shoes. At least they took a stand about something that matters.
The reason that Senator McCain said this was a part of an “erosion of the First Amendment” is that radio bans were not local responses to listener demands, but a coperate descision far away from the areas covered by those stations.
I have always listened to country music and was a huge fan of the dixie chicks before all this happened. And I still love their music. It has nothing to do with what they said, so it shouldn’t have any effect on the popularity of their music.