Why I am Boycotting Discovery Network

Today is a sad day for me. I’ve decided to put my money where my mouth is and boycott Discovery Network and all its channels. This is hard for me; I love Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC. This means saying goodbye to some of my favorite shows—shows like Planet Earth, Cash Cab, and Myth Busters on Discovery; Pit Bulls and Parolees (I know, I know, but I love seeing Bullys gets a break and find good homes) on Animal Planet; and What Not to Wear on TLC. Why am I boycotting these channels? Because Discovery has decided to pay Sarah Palin $1.2 million per episode for “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” To me, this is a grotesque attempt to put a favorable face on a woman who is no friend to Alaska’s environment or wildlife. Why would Discovery give Sarah Palin a show? It boggles the mind, after all they have great programming. Could it have anything to do with COO, Peter Ligouri’s history with—drum roll please—you guessed it, Fox Broadcast Co.

Shame on you Discovery! Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you. As Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin accelerated the cruel aerial wolf-hunting program, wanting to pay a bounty of $150 for each wolf’s forelimb. I’m sure that won’t be part of the show, but it should be, for that is Sarah Palin’s Alaska! Maybe that can be Episode One. Imagine it, up we go in a small plane with Sarah Palin as our guide, over beautiful snow covered mountains. Wait, what’s that? It’s a beautiful gray wolf, and oh, how precious, her cubs.

BLAM!   BLAM!   BLAM!

What the fuck was that? As the plane turns to make another pass we see the red-stained snow and the young wolf cubs running for cover, but hesitantly, not wanting to leave their downed mother. Pan back into the plane, to Sarah with her smoking rifle and “you betcha” smile. Maybe we can even land and watch while Sarah takes the forelimb as a souvenir of her kill.

In Episode Two, maybe we can go with Sarah to Pebble Mine while they dump cyanide and mining waste into streams that empty into Bristol Bay, home to the largest sockeye salmon run in the world. After all, Discovery, you have to know that Sarah made a personal appeal to Alaskan voters to oppose a ballot measure to stop the dumping. Oh and wait, the show gets even better, perhaps in Episode Three we can follow Sarah to polar bear habitats, those that remain, while she explains why the polar bear should NOT be listed on the threatened species list.  You know of course, Discovery, that she actually sued to challenge this listing.

Episode Four would have to be in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Cook Inlet, home to beluga whales. Sarah can hike us in, in her brand new parka and snow shoes, all the while expanding upon how this beautiful setting would make a great backdrop for oil and gas drilling. Can’t you just see the rigs standing out starkly against the pristine snow?  Maybe she’ll even treat us to her infamous catchphrase, “Drill, Baby, Drill.”

It is irreprehensible that Discovery is making Sarah Palin the face of Alaska, in all her glory (Alaska’s, not Sarah’s) and bounty she provides to the people, animals, and eco-systems that make their lives there.  So, instead of just spouting off at the mouth, which I know I can tend to do, I’m putting my money where my mouth is. I will no longer support Discovery Network or any of its channels by watching its programs. And I hope that you will join me.