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Twitter Reacts to the Demise of Sun News Network

by | Feb 17, 2015 | Uncategorized

Two months shy of its fourth birthday, the Sun News Network went dark on Friday the 13th of February.

Regardless of whether you saw the network as right-wing vitriol or clear-sighted truth — or if you saw it perhaps as most of us did, which was very rarely or not at all ━ its closure inspired the multitudes to take to Twitter and spout some truth of their own.

First there was the expected gloating (and “gloating” is the perfect word) from what can only be assumed to be the Left:

And, of course, the equally expected retort from the other side:

But beyond the jabs and counters which so often characterize issues on Twitter, there were a variety of explanations of why the network failed in tweeted links to long-form pieces from outlets such as Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, The Walrus, and iPolitics, among several others. These pieces likewise weren’t immune to gloating, especially The Tyee, which said Sun News “proved Canadians to be much smarter than it predicted”. John Doyle’s contribution in The Globe called Sun News “cheap, cheesy, terrible television.”

And like the trench battles between would-be pundits, the big names also came out on Twitter to respond to articles like the above. Four days after the closure, Sun News personalities Ezra Levant and David Akin had their counter-points promoted on Twitter either by themselves or others:

 

But while both sides were busy duking it out with each other over the merits — or lack thereof — of Sun News, by far the greatest driver of the conversation was the loss of media jobs. People of all stripes took to Twitter to lament the fact that, regardless of one’s politics, the failure of Sun News Network meant that 200 people would soon be unemployed.

Two takeaways from this: 1) Sun News Network is definitely dead, and; 2) Whatever your take, you can always be sure that Twitter users will have a decidedly strong opinion.

Marcus Kaulback
Marcus is a content creator and marketer with a focus on branding and communications.

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