(no subject)

[novapsyche]

Despite Clinton having his lawyers send a letter to Disney/ABC urging them to correct their miniseries about 9/11 or not air it, they refuse to take either action. Note also that the miniseries is being aired "without commercial interruption," so there is no way to make any leverage on advertisers to pull their funding.

The only way to protest the airing is to contact your local ABC affiliate as well as ABC directly (their Audience Relations line is 818-460-7477), and also to contact Disney. (There is a petition aimed at Disney's CEO, Robert Iger.)

I called WXYZ here in Detroit and expressed my hope that they would not air it unless it was corrected. (If you're local and would like the number to their programming department, it is 248-827-9302.) I asked the lady who took my call if they had received other calls about it, and apparently they have, but she couldn't tell me how heavy the response has been.

Also note that Disney is pairing with Scholastic (of all companies!) to distribute the miniseries to schools as "teaching tools." This is a miniseries that purports to be based on the report issued by the 9/11 commission, yet ABC admits that it inserts completely fictionalized portions, scenes and segments that give it a very slanted, very biased view that portrays the Clinton administration as "dropping the ball" on terrorism. This will be shown to the next generation of voters. It will be what they remember about the Clinton administration.

Comments

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Are you saying that it's okay for a national broadcast channel to air something that smacks of propaganda weeks before a crucial election that may sway voters?

I wouldn't have a problem with the show airing, if it didn't claim to be based on the 9/11 commission report yet insert highly inaccurate 'dramatizations.' Especially as it's being broadcast on the anniversary of the attacks. If ABC would take steps to correct the film so that it more accurately describes what actually took place historically, then I would withdraw my objections to its airing.

IMO, this would be like encouraging students to watch Birth of a Nation without an explanation as to the obvious biases of the writer and the director. Even when Turner Classic Movies--not a public channel--aired that film earlier this year, the channel took the responsibility to preface and follow the show with an interview with a historian who put the film in its proper cultural and historical context.

Broadcast media, especially television, has a real power to shape not just opinions but perceptions about reality. To knowingly insert false representations of such a major national event into the public consciousness is not just reprehensible, it's also irresponsible as it risks damaging the emerging national discourse on a subject that still warrants examination in order for the populace to heal.

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

I had this argument with my wife.
The whole television industry needs to be revamped.
Will it be? No, not as long as many fundamentalist, and junkfood thought and food corporations control it...
So, like with everything else, one has to watch the fucking thing take place and then do spin control.
We are all toys.