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ABC Affiliates: Remember Your Responsibilities (Ethical and Legal) to Your Communities


The following is a letter to my local ABC affiliate, KATU in Portland, OR, regarding the broadcast of “The Path to 9/11″:

Editor:

Please forward the following to your programming department:

What responsibility does a broadcaster have to it viewers? How about its responsibility to the community it purports to serve that it may be supported in kind?

It is for the sake of that community to hope that KATU will have such a moment of introspection as it prepares to carry the ABC network broadcast of “The Path to 9/11″ as our country marks the fifth anniversary of one of the most tragic and socio-politically traumatic events in our country’s history, a day that we are duty bound to remember but would much rather forget.

There have been many criticisms of late, in terms of the accuracy of some of the dramatizations depicted in this film, from some who have seen the preview materials. ABC has stated that the film is not a documentary and will include a disclaimer that the film contains “fictionalized scenes.” This claim is directly contradicted by executive producer Marc Platt who states that the film “…portrays the essence of truth of these events.” One scene in reportedly has our National Security Advisor refusing to green light a CIA operative in the field who is in position to “take out” Osama Bin Laden. The concern is not the depiction of what the National Security Advisor was wearing or in what room he was where he hangs up on the CIA agent; the concern lies with the fact that no such opportunity to eliminate Bin Laden ever existed and therefore no such request to eliminate Bin Laden was denied by the White House. Why take such creative license with a film that was billed as being based on the 9/11 commission report? What purpose could possibly be served by historically inaccurate content in what is being ostensibly presented as a historical account of events? The cynical presumption is that perhaps the film is being sensationalized–sexed up, if you will–in order to maximize ratings and therefore profits. If reports are true that this film will aired over two evenings without commercial interruption then it would appear that the motive is in fact not based in profit but rather in propaganda which is infinitely worse for a society which depends on an independent and diligent media to make informed decisions with respect to maintaining our system of open government of, for, and by The People. How will The People who watch this miniseries be able to discern those portions which are historically accurate from those which are writer’s embellishments or created from whole cloth altogether?

It is encouraging to hear that ABC has since announced (under significant public pressure) editing the film to address some of the specific complaints regarding blatant inaccuracies contained in the preview. Whatever the final content may take it is the broadcasters over our public airwaves which bear the ultimate responsibility. What is KATU prepared to do, as an accountable member of the community and under legal obligations of FCC license, to accept this responsibility? Please do not take this responsibility lightly.

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This entry was written by FOIA Gras and posted on September 8, 2006 at 5:47 pm and filed under Free speech, Media, War on terror. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

8 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

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  1. Nice.
    You have a way with words, Mr. FOIA.

    [Reply]

    1. Above comment written by RichNo Gravatar on September 9th, 2006 at 11:34 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

  2. FOIA stands for Freedom of Information Act, by the way. Not sure what Gras is about.

    [Reply]

    2. Above comment written by bushtoolNo Gravatar on September 9th, 2006 at 11:42 am Digg Flickr Reddit Twitter (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

  3. I was just thinking about what an upsurge of people that will be requesting their FBI files after we restore democracy to this country. I’ll be either disappointed or grateful if mine isn’t at least an inch thick.

    [Reply]

    3. Above comment written by RichNo Gravatar on September 9th, 2006 at 11:46 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

  4. When do you think democracy will be restored? I expect and hope not that all the big elections from now on will continue to be corrupted to favor the fascists. :(My cynicism is at an all time high.

    [Reply]

    4. Above comment written by bushtoolNo Gravatar on September 9th, 2006 at 11:49 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

  5. I am far from being an optimist in all things, but am firmly entrenched in the belief that evolution is a one way street, and that humanity will continue to become less hierarchical and more egaletairian over time, throwbacks notwithstanding. I don’t think anyone questioned peace and justice issues as broadly as we do now. And we’re now questioning race, nationality and sexual chauvinism almost universally.
    I think all these changes have made tribal-brained people bristle up and get active (Neocons, Islamic and Christian fundamentalists, corporatists, etc…).
    It’s the thrashing of the dying dinosaurs…
    …Doesn’t mean we won’t get bitten though.
    The fact that they have to lay down such a thick layer of deception can be seen as a measure of our power.

    [Reply]

    5. Above comment written by RichNo Gravatar on September 9th, 2006 at 1:05 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

  6. [quote post="83"]The fact that they have to lay down such a thick layer of deception can be seen as a measure of our power.[/quote]

    Well said. I will cling to your optimism as I fill out my ballot today. Just because the light at the end of the tunnel is very dim right now is no reason to deny that there is a light there.

    I agree that there is more discussion and more facts out in the open about everything that is going on in the world than ever before. The internet has provided much reason to be hopeful that true community can restore itself and mankind can pull together to surmount all obstacles.

    But we still don’t have a clue what the leader of this country is doing. The most secret administration in history at a time of utmost transparency (I know, this isn’t a sentence). And as FOIA Gras points out above, we have a huge corporate machine filling the masses with pure BS. Maybe it is because the facts are mostly out there for everyone to see that we now have this thriving, massive misinformation campaign by the media? We don’t need a Walter Cronkite to tell us what’s true anymore.

    Oh, the irony of it all.

    [Reply]

    6. Above comment written by bushtoolNo Gravatar on September 9th, 2006 at 1:39 pm Digg Flickr Reddit Twitter (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

  7. TELL THE F.E.C. TO PROSECUTE ABC/DISNEY FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW VIOLATIONS

    The perverse obstinance of ABC/Disney in plowing ahead with their political hit piece on the Democratic party, “The Path to 9/11″, will likely not only subject them to defamation suits from Bill Clinton himself, and from his cabinet officials that they smeared, they deserve to be prosecuted by the Federal Election Commission (F.E.C.) for campaign finance law violations. And if enough of us raise our voices, we can make it happen.

    Although it was previewed only to hard core right wing ideologues (even Clinton was refused a request for an advance copy), enough has leaked out about its gross distortions of fact and malicious bias for there to be a mounting groundswell of condemnation of the planned broadcast, and demands that it be pulled entirely. Especially suspicious is the fact that the production, with a reported cost of $40 million dollars, is to be aired without commercials. And if that weren’t bad enough, they are coordinating with the White House to let Bush give a speech right in the middle of the second installment.

    In other words, ABC/Disney is providing to their extreme right wing pals a free, prime time, negative campaign commercial of 6 hours intended to influence the upcoming general election with less than 60 days to go. There could not be a more blatant or gross violation of campaign advertising law. The production is so riddled with deliberate partisan bias, it cannot be repaired or redeemed. And most despicably of all, ABC/Disney is promoting their conflation of heinous lies as “the official true story”.

    ACTION PAGE: http://www.charleswsanders.org/petitions/pnum495.php

    Please submit the action page above to send your personal message of complaint to the F.E.C., and all your members of Congress as well. And then if you want to do more, you can file an INDIVIDUAL formal written complaint against ABC/Disney following the instructions at the following link.

    http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/complain.shtml

    Mandatory compliance laws regulate every action of all federal candidates seeking membership to the United States House or Senate. Congressional and Senatorial campaigns can be shut down entirely if any improprieties are evidenced through any filing discrepancies. Acquiescence by the Federal Elections Commission with ABC’s after the fact coup d’etat on the Clinton Administration can only be overcome by our voices. Let us flood the F.E.C. with complaints, and let THAT be the story.

    Take action today to declare that the F.E.C. must not be allowed to play favorites with secret, big dollar contributors. As a United States Congressman, I will not ignore such tactics by broadcasters to perpetuate such contemptible and flagrant violations of law which serve to promote under-handed agendas to be foisted on the American public.

    ACTION PAGE: http://www.charleswsanders.org/petitions/pnum495.php

    This alert is brought to you through the activism of Charles W. Sanders, running for Congress from the 3rd district of OH, where there will be a special primary election this FRIDAY, September 15. Please consider making a contribution to his campaign if you have not done so already, so he can get his courageous call to action TV commercial as much exposure as possible.

    VIDEO PAGE: http://www.charleswsanders.org/donations4a.php

    When we find a representative brave enough to take strong stands we like on the critical issues of our time, shall we do everything we can to support him or not? Our only real chance to influence what our choices will be in the general election is by backing the best candidate in the primary process. Please encourage Charles to continue to stand up and fight for us any way you can.

    [Reply]

    7. Above comment written by bushtoolNo Gravatar on September 10th, 2006 at 12:44 pm Digg Flickr Reddit Twitter (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).
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