The corporate media placed themselves on the side of the sexualization of our children in schools and in opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, referring to the statute not by its name but by the term coined by the rainbow mafia- “Don’t Say Gay”. They then fawned over Disney’s decision to sue the state over revocation of its exclusive government entity. But only Telemundo reported in prime time that the tables turned and Disney tapped out, effectively ending the lawsuit.
Here is Telemundo’s report in its entirety, as aired on Wednesday, March 27th, 2024:
ARANTXA LOIZAGA: In other news, Florida and Disney came to terms in order to put an end to a nearly 2-year old legal dispute over control of the district that governs the Disney World theme park. Via the agreement, both parties accepted to withdraw their lawsuits and committed to work together towards development of the area. Governor DeSantis’ offensive against the company began after (Disney) expressed its opposition to the controversial law known by its critics as “Don’t Say Gay”.
Of course, the report is flawed inasmuch as it also refers to the Parental Rights in Education Act by its derisive activist moniker. Nonetheless, Telemundo showed up. Not a peep from ABC, CBS, NBC, or even Univision. And this stands in stark contrast to how the networks covered the initial filing of the lawsuit.
Per CNBC’s report, with significantly more context than Telemundo’s tiny brief:
Disney agreed Wednesday to end litigation in state court involving a Florida special tourism district that the entertainment giant effectively controlled for more than five decades until last year after Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to revoke that status.
The settlement lifts a significant barrier to the continued development of Walt Disney World in the Orlando area and provides for the potential resolution of a related federal case.
The state lawsuit was originally filed in Orange County by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to void agreements the old district board had signed with Disney right before it was dissolved at DeSantis’ behest after Disney opposed Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill backed by the governor.
Disney in turn had asked the court to rule that the agreements, which benefited the company, were valid.
As part of the settlement of that case Wednesday, Disney agreed not to challenge the CFTOD’s determination that the prior agreements with the old Reedy Creek Improvement District were null and void.
Reedy Creek got gone, and stays gone as part of the agreement. That is huge. That is an enormous L for Disney- an admission that its exclusive taxing district is gone forever. Surely there was time to cover such a significant business story. But, alas, that was not the case.
Which makes the networks’ coverage at the time even more egregious. As our friend Curtis Houck noted, the networks cheered “Heavy economic hitter” Disney, and eagerly quoted Republicans critical of DeSantis for both standing up for parents’ rights and standing up to Disney. Breathlessly, and with extensive quotes. During prime time and in the morning shows. No opportunity was wasted to try to make DeSantis look bad. Even Nikki Haley’s goofy proposal to take Disney to South Carolina garnered gleeful attention. All in service of the sexualization of children in schools.
Now that Disney’s efforts to change the law fizzled in state court, not a peep. The networks were as quiet as Main Street right before a hurricane.
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