From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Charles
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 9:06 PM
To: 'The Sandbox Discussion List'
Subject: [Sndbox] For discussion
| ...Barbra Streisand |
I am deeply disappointed that CBS, the network that in 1964 gave me complete
artistic control in creating television specials, now caved in to right wing
Republican pressure to cancel the network broadcast of the movie The Reagans.
(And I say MOVIE - because this is NOT a documentary - it's a television drama.)
The movie will now be aired on Showtime, where the difference in viewership is
in the millions.
One can only imagine the kind of pressure that would
compel CBS to take such an extraordinary action. This was an organized
Republican spin machine at work. Remember the Dixie Chicks controversy? It
wasn't the larger general public that called in to radio stations and burned
CDs, it was a small group of right wing activists. In fact, now the band is more
popular than ever, with a sold out summer tour.
I don't believe
Democrats often, if ever, try to muscle the First Amendment like this. For
example, in 1983, no one stopped NBC from airing Kennedy, a biopic that
portrayed President Kennedy and other members of his family and administration
as deeply flawed, even though the movie could have potentially been hurtful to
Jackie Kennedy, who was still alive to see it, as well as to her children.
This is censorship, pure and simple. Well, maybe not all that pure.
Censorship never is. Due to their experience with the restrictive English
government, the framers of our constitution specifically included a ban on prior
restraint in the First Amendment, which is an attempt to stop information from
getting out there before the public has a chance to see it at all - exactly what
is going on in this case. Of course, CBS as a company has the legal right to
make decisions about what they do and do not air. However, these important
decisions should be based on artistic integrity rather than an attempt to
appease a small group of vocal dissidents. Indeed, today marks a sad day for
artistic freedom - one of the most important elements of an open and democratic
society.
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