Can it be perhaps a TRUE future threat to free speech? This is a dangerous precedent these Democrats are engaging in as Stalinist tactics and it's raising red flags..like this one. 
Posted on 09/09/2006 9:52:32 AM PDT by hipaatwo
Can viewers at least watch the ABC miniseries about 9/11, instead of having someone decide for them whether it's an informative "docudrama" or a partisan hack job?
ABC and its parent company, Disney, shouldn't cave in to critics who want the network to cancel the five-hour movie, The Path to 9/11, scheduled to air tomorrow and Monday nights. These critics include Senate Democratic leaders, who are worried that the miniseries will portray Clinton administration officials unfairly in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. They wrote a heavy-handed letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger, reminding him of his duty "as a beneficiary of the free use of the public airwaves" to promote open, accurate discussions of political ideas.
In other words, in the name of openness, please cancel this dramatic production that we haven't seen. It's the same lame argument that conservatives raised in high dudgeon in 2003 over CBS's unflattering miniseries about Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Unfortunately, in that case, CBS and its commercial sponsors did cower in the face of an orchestrated conservative campaign. The network dumped the miniseries onto cable channel Showtime, where it was seen by a much smaller audience. (But it did at least see the light of day, and the republic is still standing.)
Sight-unseen critics of the 9/11 miniseries should be honest about their motivations. There is an anxious partisan calculation here. That is: If a Democratic administration gets some of the on-screen blame for failing to capture bin Laden, it could hurt Democrats at the polls this November. But if a movie could do that, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 would have defeated Bush in 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Yep .. can't have those little potential voters know what really happen during Clinton's Administration
Scholastic put up a new one, I forget where I read it yesterday, but they advise using the BBC for their news source.
Conservative citizens may have raised a stink about the movie, but none of the Republicans in Congress wrote letters or made phone calls to CBS.
And the movie did air in its entirety, unedited, although on a different channel where fewer viewers watched it.
Other than that (LOL) I'm pleasantly surprised at least one news organizations is coming out against censureship.
Most of the idiots who read the PI... are convinced the Israeli's did it anyway.
Well they had to speak out about the threat on the first amendment
But being lefties .. they can't tell the complete story because it would really hurt the Democrats
I forgot about the Mohammed cartoons. I think they were the only major newspaper to do it. Maybe there was one other.
But I have been baffled at the number of people who claim to be free speech absolutists (mostly self-interested media types) who are not the least bit outraged over this.
Dear Teacher of Social Studies, grades 9-12
As you know, Scholastic has provided to teachers and students information, background, and explanations of current U.S. and world issues since our first Scholastic magazine was published in 1920 by my father, M.R. Robinson, the founder of our company.
Since then, Scholastic has explained the contemporary world in a clear, understandable way that is balanced and free of bias. Our mission is well-captured in our credo and editorial platform which includes the statement: “Good citizens may honestly differ on important public questions. We believe that all sides of the issues of our times should be fairly discussed—with deep respect for facts and logical thinking—in classroom magazines, books and other educational materials used in schools and homes.”
We also strongly believe that students should discuss the important issues of the day in classrooms so that they may gain the critical thinking skills which will help them become participating citizens and voters.
In that context, because the ABC docudrama The Path to 9/11 will be watched by many people in the U.S., including some of your students, we believe we should provide you with teaching ideas and background information on this series which will provide a “teachable moment” for an important issue of our time.
This program is highly controversial because:
The events leading up to 9/11 are important issues of our time. The docudrama, which covers the background of the period 1993-2001, is said to be largely based on the 9/11 Commission Report, and former Governor Tom Kean, Chair of the 9/11 Commission, is an advisor to the series.
We posted a discussion guide on Wednesday, August 23, which we believe was not in keeping with our high standards—and we took down that guide on Wednesday, September 6. We have rewritten this guide to focus more sharply on the issues of the docudrama as well as the background events.
The guide helps teachers to discuss these important questions:
We believe that the rewritten discussion guide presented herewith will help your students interpret the ABC docudrama, The Path to 9/11, and hope that you will find it helpful in understanding the relationship between facts and drama, and the background of the different views about 9/11 in the U.S. and around the world.
Richard Robinson
Chairman, President and CEO
Scholastic
To view the new Media Literacy Discussion Guide go to www.scholastic.com/medialiteracyguide.
http://www.scholastic.com/medialiteracy/
With 8 bids it was sold for $61.
Once again, the Inky omitted the most critical part of this story - that elected Dems threatened retaliation against Disney if they ran this show - and instead tried the Dem moral equivalence trick of comparing this Dem uproar to the conservative uproar over the Reagans (during which no elected pubbies applied pressure to CBS).
If Satullo were so hard-core free-speech, that would have been emphasized instead of omitted. After all, as Orwell noted, omission is the most powerful form of lie.
The DemocRATS say that the viewers are to stupid "to decide." The 'RATS have decided that they are our parents and must protect us from those wascally Wepublicans. We're too stupid to protect ourselves. Without Papa Willie and Mama Hillary, we just a bunch of morons wandering aimlessly across the vast wasteland of America without healthcare.
I suspect ABC has "screwed the pooch".
The should have just done a straight documentary with interviews and
newsreel footage, with a detailed website of footnotes/citations.
When principals like Bubba and Maddie refused to give interviews...
that should be noted.
That speaks louder than anything ABC will do with a "docudrama".
Great ... Then discuss how Democrat US Senators threaten to yank the license from a TV station if they aired this movie
He pretends to be blasting the dims but throws in the part about the RR smear job and equates what the conservative grass movement did with what the dims in the senate did in misusing their power to threaten a TV station with sanctions if ABC airs this program. In other words he is trying to put the dimwits on even footing with the conservatives. In reality he is saying, "See, we are no worse than the pubbies, they protested too!".
Bob Shrum, the adviser for all Democratic candidates,
has the knack for this "loser" strategy. If they
had just kept quiet and rode this out until after it
was shown..then they could pick it apart...No..they have
to violate the constitution by deleting the free speech,
that allows us to burn our flag??? hOW CAN any
intelligent voter pull the lever for a "D"...They are
all losers...so vote in November...Jake
ROFL!!!
Sigh..My dad is fuming about the movie, and why? Because he watched the most inteligent man on t.v.(his words) last night that explained it all to him..OLBERMANN!
"Can viewers at least watch the ABC miniseries about 9/11, instead of having someone decide for them whether it's an informative "docudrama" or a partisan hack job?"
The Clinton thugs certainly don't think so...
Could this all be a sham cooked up to boost ratings for the show and draw viewers away from Bush's 9-11 speech...
Or, is it both...
oh good grief .. Oberman repeats whatever is posted on the Daily Kos
Can it be perhaps a TRUE future threat to free speech? This is a dangerous precedent these Democrats are engaging in as Stalinist tactics and it's raising red flags..like this one.
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