Disney Tries to Airbrush 9-11

On September 9 and 10, local ABC stations nationwide plan to broadcast a two part mini-series that is riddled with falsehoods and political bias about events that lead to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Stations have been instructed by the Walt Disney Company — the massive media conglomerate that owns ABC — to air “The Path to 9/11” without commercials. ABC claims that the six-hour “docudrama” is based on the 9/11 Commission’s findings, despite the fact that it blatantly distorts the bi-partisan report and replaces history with propaganda.

Once again, a large media conglomerate is abusing its stewardship of the public airwaves to spread untruths and push its political agenda. Local broadcasters must serve our interests first and not those of ABC and its owners at Disney:

Don’t Let Disney Airbrush History

“The Path to 9/11″ reportedly features a series of fictionalized scenes, written by a right-wing activist, that are in direct conflict with the bi-partisan 9-11 Commission’s report. Now, Disney is forcing local broadcasters to air these falsehoods in our communities.

Disney knowingly got the facts about September 11 wrong. Now, it’s forcing local broadcasters to air these falsehoods in a bid for higher ratings and political gain.

Tell the FCC to Stop Big Media’s Abuse of the Airwaves

No matter your politics, we must all embrace the public’s right to have a strong voice in broadcasters use our airwaves. Sadly, the local station owners that are most responsive to our interests are being pushed around by conglomerates like Disney.

And it could get a lot worse. The Federal Communications Commission is poised to permit giant media companies to buy up even more of our local stations. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has asked the public to comment on his plans to let conglomerates like Disney become even more powerful. Tell Disney and the Chairman Martin that enough is enough:

You now have an opportunity to do just that. In June, Chairman Martin to convene a series of public hearings on consolidated media ownership. To date he hasn’t convened a single such forum.

Without full public engagement in the issue, massive media conglomerates like Disney will continue to abuse our airwaves and mislead the public with impunity. The FCC needs to hear us out and act against efforts by companies like Disney to spread its influence over more local media outlets.

Disney Plays Politics:

Fiction over Fact: In a July 5 press release, ABC claimed that the film “absolutely … get[s] it right” in its “historic” portrayal of events prior to 9-11, marketing “Path to 9/11″ as an accurate retelling of the 9-11 Commission. But on September 7 it shifted gears, claiming in a realease: “for dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, and time compression.” (more)

The Land of Make Believe: It’s so rife with falsehoods that an FBI agent who was brought in to consult on the docudrama quit because, he said, “they were making things up.” (more)

Ad-Lib History: The docudrama’s scriptwriter– a noted conservative – admits that the film’s most controversial scene – where a Clinton administration official passes up an opportunity to kill Osama Bin Ladin — was based on nothing at all, telling a right-wing radio station that the scene was “improvised.” (more)

Re-Education: ABC/Disney also planned to distribute the historically false “Path to 9/11″ to tens of thousands of American classrooms, via lesson plans created by Scholastic – the world’s largest publisher of children’s books – with whom Disney has lucrative content sharing deals. The study guide suggested that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Yesterday, Scholastic cancelled distribution after thousands wrote the company to complain. (more)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.