Opinion: Cutting Voices That Challenge Power Is a Dangerous Precedent

CBS’s recent decision to cancel its late-night programming wasn’t just a business move. It was a quiet act of censorship. Beneath the buzzwords about “ratings” and “streamlining” lies a deeper, more troubling truth: the removal of platforms that champion minority voices, advocate for LGBTQ rights, and call out the moral failures of political leaders. This isn’t about business. It’s about silencing perspectives that dare to challenge entrenched power. And we should all be alarmed — because this wasn’t about poor performance. It was about power. And we should all be paying attention.

Maybe you’re asking yourself why this matters. Maybe, like me, you’re wondering why this headline made you so angry. Maybe my dissection of that emotion and where it comes from will offer you the same clarity it gave me. Hopefully, it leads you to examine your own instincts and empowers you to challenge what’s been handed to you without question.

As I sat with this feeling, I landed on three conclusions.

First: this decision to silence opposition isn’t about “balance.” It’s about control. Like everything else in this administration.

To be clear, this isn’t a matter of left vs. right, or comedy vs. news. It’s about whether the media will continue to serve as a mouthpiece for corporate interests and political alliances, or whether it will fulfill its true role — as a mirror, reflecting back the full truth of our society. Removing a platform that challenges power is not a neutral act. It’s a form of oppression. And that should terrify everyone.

Second: minority voices push society forward. They always have. They are the first to challenge injustice, often at great personal cost. Haven’t we learned this already?

Voices from the margins have always spoken truth to power. That’s precisely why institutions invested in the status quo work so hard to suppress them. A late-night show that sides with the voiceless, that refuses to cozy up to corrupt politicians, that calls out cruelty even when it’s politically inconvenient — that’s not just entertainment. That’s public service. And CBS chose to end it.

As a country, we forget too quickly. LGBTQ advocates led the charge during the AIDS crisis when the federal government turned its back. Black organizers built movements for voting rights and police reform long before those demands were accepted by polite society. Today, immigrant communities are keeping the issue of humane border policy alive, holding the line against apathy and erasure.

Third: the public deserves better. Better citizens. Better neighbors. Better people.

CBS made its decision. Now the rest of us have a choice. We get to decide what kind of culture we will tolerate — and what kind we’re willing to fight for. If we still believe in the America we were taught to believe in — a place of free expression, democracy, and actual progress — then we have to stop pretending media censorship is just a business decision.

We must demand media that challenges power, not just flatters it. The media doesn’t just curate content. It curates culture. It curates our values. We need to support the platforms that elevate the voices too often erased or dismissed — not just because it’s fair, but because it makes us better. If we don’t use our voices now, we are quietly consenting to have them taken from us. Until there’s nothing left but noise.

And I won’t sit still and wait for that noise.

Kate Gray is a culture analyst and lives in the New York City area.