Dear John,

You’ve heard me talk about this before, but it bears repeating: Fox “News” has been profiting from their election lies, and if you’re a cable subscriber, like it or not, you have been footing the bill!

That’s because, unlike almost all other channels, Fox charges all the major cable companies a “carriage fee” to carry their network’s propaganda. This includes the three biggest companies: Xfinity/Comcast, Spectrum/Charter, and Cox Communications.

To be clear, it’s not just a partisan complaint to accuse Fox of lying. As you no doubt recall, Fox came to a $787 million settlement -- over three-quarters of a billion dollars -- with Dominion Voting Services to settle their defamation lawsuit earlier this year.

These lies harmed more than a particular supplier of voting machines. Make no mistake, the target of these lies was the very institution of voting itself -- the most basic element of our democratic process.

It’s time to stop letting Fox undermine American democracy on our dime! Cable companies must say no to the “Fox Fee.” Sign the petition to each of the major cable companies now.

Now, since Donald Trump’s latest indictments, Fox knows their exposure is greater than ever. They know they’re guilty of spreading the same dangerous conspiracy theories that Trump used to fuel the deadly January 6th insurrection -- and still maintains to this day in his continued efforts to regain power.

Yet, it appears the only change Fox made as a result of the significant nine-figure settlement was to fire Tucker Carlson. That’s a start of course, but they haven’t changed a thing about their content. They’re still peddling lie after lie in furtherance of their mission to re-enforce and spread Republican propaganda.

And as a reminder from my previous messages, this “Fox Fee” is ultimately paid by all cable subscribers, regardless of whether you ever actually watch the network. Every time your cable company goes to renew its contract, Fox News demands to be paid even more.

The good news is, when it comes to holding right-wing misinformation cable channels accountable, cable companies have been responsive to public pressure before. Verizon and DirecTV, for example, both stopped streaming One America News in response to a similar campaign last year.

Our friends at Common Cause will be delivering this petition directly to each of the big three cable streamers in media events designed to escalate the pressure. That means when you add your name today, you’ll be helping to accelerate this critical campaign with on-the-ground direct action.

So please don’t wait. Add your name now.

Thank you for taking action today.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action