Pursuits
How Cable TV's Ascendancy Explains the Duck Dynasty Culture War
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It’s a great time to be in the flush cable-TV industry—at least until you start suspending your talent. Then the business gets uncomfortable fast.
Over the past year, backlashes surrounding the suspension or firing of cable-TV talent over controversial remarks—ranging from Food Network’s dismissal of Paula Deen to MSNBC’s axing of Alec Baldwin—have moved to the front and center of America’s culture wars. This week’s frenzy surrounding A&E’s suspension of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson over anti-gay remarks he made in GQ magazine has taken TV’s human resource wars to new heights.