CBS “The Activist”

“Global Citizen Competition Series The Activist Will Inspire Audiences on CBS” is the headliner of a recent synopsis introducing a global competition by CBS (produced by Global Citizen, Live Nation, and Deviants Media) called “The Activist” set to “feature six inspiring activists teamed with three high profile public figures working together to bring meaningful change to one of three vitally important world causes: health, education, and environment” according to CBS. The direct coverage also notes that the “activists [will] go head-to-head in challenges to promote their causes with their success measured via online engagement, social metrics, and hosts’ input”. Public figures Usher, Priyanka Chopra, and Julianne Hough are set to host the CBS competition. The overarching objective for “competitors” is to secure funding at the G20 Summit while generating awareness for their respective causes. Several activists and organizations have referenced the show as the new hunger games for activists. With the unity, impact, and education surrounding activist and social justice work occurring globally, CBS has taken deeply personal and critical individual and collective frontline and revolutionary work and commodified it in a capitalist competition that gives viewers an illusory sense of safety and of being rescued from pressing social issues that can now be digested comfortably at home diminishing personal accountability and collective action at large. “Performative Activism” has escalated to a new level with this televised competition that literally calls on activists to perform for their cause, and promotes activism as a form of entertainment.