Reports are circulating that Netflix has paid for lavish trips and gifts for reviewers from top outlets ahead of the Critics Choice Awards, set to air on the CW Network. The trips were to help nab wins for Netflix nominated flicks such as The Irishman from Martin Scorcese and My Name Is Dolemite.
Stuff syndicated the story from the Washington Post, who reported that under anonymity, they discovered that journalists working at some of the top entertainment and movie review outlets had all-expenses paid trips to The Four Seasons, Beverly Hilton, and the JW Marriott Essex House in New York.
As noted in the article…
“One [Critics Choice Award] member who accepted a trip for The Two Popes said it included airfare to Los Angeles, a breakfast with filmmakers, tickets to a premiere at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre and a stay at the Beverly Hilton, the hotel where the Golden Globes take place. About 40 such people were on the trip, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the person did not want to be known as having taken it.
“The member said the trip did not affect the person’s Critics Choice vote.”
The Golden Globes and Oscars have more strict rules regarding consorting between nominees and judges. The article points out that it’s verboten for the two streams to cross paths. However, the Critics Choice Awards doesn’t have those rules in place, and so Netflix is doing everything in their power to pay for the privilege of being featured front and center as a multi-award carrying powerhouse out of the Critics Choice Awards, which is set to air on January 12th, 2020.
YellowFlash did a video about the bribery, pointing out how corrupt the industry has become.
The Washington Post also revealed that this has become a standard among the Silicon Valley elite, and that the Critics Choice Awards trips and gifts was just one of many lavish prizes awarded to reviewers and journalists who cover the entertainment medium…
“ The Post has learned of at least four such trips this year. All of them included stays at high-end hotels and private encounters with filmmakers and stars, according to three people who attended or are familiar with the events but were not authorized to speak about them publicly.
“Interviews with 10 studio executives, award consultants and experts – many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity – suggest that the trips for the Critics Choice Association members have become a flashpoint for an industry recently beset by deep-pocketed Silicon Valley players”
E-sports journalist Richard Lewis called out these outlets for their unethical behavior, noting that their lack of disclosure and the bribery is what gamers had been warning the larger public about since 2014.
Netflix sent 400 critics on expensive trips to encourage positive reviews and votes for awards. And you wonder why journalists have spent the past 5 years telling you that asking about “ethics in journalism” is a dogwhistle for something more sinister. pic.twitter.com/cmIW4M0yDi
— Richard Lewis (@RLewisReports) December 15, 2019
It’s especially frustrating because events like #GamerGate are still consistently misrepresented in the media, such as its appearance in Plague Inc.‘s fake news scenario.
But as confirmed to the Washington Post by Kathleen Culver, the director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, people don’t trust the media anymore because they are fake news…
“You’re seeing it across so many spheres where trust in journalism is going down. I mean, 60% of Americans think journalists are paid by their sources,” she said, citing a recent CJR study.
“If a critic is getting jetted out to L.A. and staying at the Four Seasons it makes consumers wonder if they’ve become a promotional tool of the industry. When you’re a critic you’d being paid for your opinion, and what the audience needs is for your opinion to be trustworthy. And if a reviewer is giving an opinion on ‘Marriage Story’ and they’re getting lavish gifts from Netflix, the audience is going to find it less trustworthy.”
It would be great if this led directly to a Get Woke, Go Broke moment, but Netflix is still a little too big for even this scandal to do any damage.
However, if people continue to bail on their subscription and flee to less perverse waters, as reported by the New York Times, then eventually Netflix’s woke antics will lead to them becoming financially broke… and at that point, we can finally add them to their much deserved spot on the Get Woke, Go Broke Master List.
(Thanks for the news tip Wondy Bergers)
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