Big Bird Tweeting About the COVID-19 Vaccine Caused An Uproar From Conservative Politicians

Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of radio, television and film and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the AP story “Big Bird backlash: Vax lands even Muppet in political flap.” Prof. Thompson was also interviewed about pop culture topics on KCBS Radio (San Francisco) and Voice of America.

When Big Bird tweeted last week saying that he received the COVID-19 vaccine, it received flashback from many conservative politicians saying that it was ‘government propaganda.’ Professor Robert Thompson explained, “When you get a mass medium as dominant and powerful as television … that’s always going to be a battleground over what messages get out there.”