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A recent opinion piece details how former President Trump being re-elected could be disastrous for American news-media, and Disney is a part of this.
It’s no surprise that events and occurrences in the larger world impact the environment in which companies and businesses like The Walt Disney Company live and operate. The last two years following Disney news have proven this in no uncertain terms with Disney’s battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Disney’s contentious legal battle with the Florida Governor resulted in a significant consequence for the Walt Disney World Resort. The high-stakes clash ultimately led to the loss of the resort’s cherished special self-governing status, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing saga between the entertainment giant and state authorities.
Disney CEO Bob Iger with former Disney CEO Bob Chapek at the Walt Disney World Resort / Credit: Disney
The roots of this saga can be traced back to the outspoken stance taken by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek against the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, known more formally as the Parental Rights in Education Act.
This clash of ideologies and legal wrangling has not only captured headlines but also underscored the complexities of navigating the intersection between politics, corporate responsibility, and social issues in today’s media landscape.
The repercussions of this clash reverberated far beyond the confines of the resort, sparking debates and discussions regarding the role of influential corporations in shaping public policy and societal norms.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis / Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
With the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District as it once existed, Disney World has begun a new era. It is working with the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board to bring to life the Disney Park experience fans have known and loved for decades.
The intersection of the world of Disney with the realms of politics and media unveils a profound truth – as much as we may wish for the fictional realm of Mickey Mouse to exist in isolation from the complexities of the real world, the vitality of the iconic company is intricately tied to fostering constructive partnerships with both local and national authorities.
This symbiotic relationship underscores the importance of navigating the intricate landscape where entertainment, governance, and public perception converge.
Cinderella Castle, Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World / Credit: Greg Park, Unsplash
In fact, after former Disney CEO Bob Chapek was unceremoniously ousted from his position, and his successor (and uniquely, predecessor as well) Disney CEO Bob Iger came back to the helm, the latter made clear that Disney had perhaps taken one too many firm stances on political agendas that they shouldn’t have been involved with in the first place.
As Bob Iger has been going about reworking Disney’s internal strategy and setting the company back on track to win back shareholders’ trust, he has also been distancing The Walt Disney Company from the political battles it’s been fighting, be that in the Sunshine State or elsewhere.
The truth is, political battles don’t necessarily have to involve the state. Even producing content that is considered to be more political in nature is involvement in itself. To that end, Disney has been accused of “pandering to a woke audience” because of its increased diversity and inclusion of various ethnicities and sexualities in its television programs.
This is to say that, whether we like it or not, Disney is inextricably linked with pop culture and present-day news media. Whether it’s because of the headlines it’s responsible for or because Disney owns ABC News, any event that affects the news media and media companies at large also inevitably affects Disney.
And for this reason, an opinion piece for The Washington Post’s recent assertion that the possible re-election of former President of the United States could negatively impact the state of news media in the United States of America, can also end up affecting the Mouse House.
Former President Donald Trump / Credit: Disney/ Flickr @gageskidmore
The piece explains,
Trump’s Justice Department increased leak investigations and prosecutions of journalists’ sources of classified information, including secret seizures of phone records of reporters at The Post, the Times and CNN. “We only learned how invasive these probes were many months into the Biden presidency,” said Bruce D. Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Not only this, the article also explains how “U.S. Customs and Border Protection aggressively screened and questioned reporters at some border crossings and recorded their movements in a secret database.”
According to Paul Steiger, ProPublica’s founding editor-in-chief, news-media fact-checkers noted thousands of false statements from the President while he was in office as well, and “.
So, looking to the future, what could this mean for Disney?
Former President of ABC News, Kim Godwin / Credit: Kim Godwin, Instagram
Bruce D. Brown explained that,
He is also concerned about more Trump-inspired libel suits against the news media, IRS reviews of the tax-exempt status of nonprofit news organizations, a return of Justice Department investigations of reporters and news sources, and federal regulatory pressure whenever there is a major change in media ownership.
While these worries and concerns are purely speculative at present, according to these experts and journalists the former President’s past actions give them suitable cause for concern.
However, it’s worth noting that nothing is set in stone, and The Walt Disney Company, under Bob Iger’s new strategy, might successfully evade any negative repercussions if, in fact, Mr. Trump is re-elected. Only time will tell what the future will bring.
Stay tuned to Disney Dining for the latest Disney news.
