"Remember the Dixie Chicks controversy? It wasn't the larger general
public that called in to radio stations and burned CDs, it "
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 8:05
PM
Subject: [Sndbox] For discussion
A Sad Day for Artistic
Freedom
Posted on
November 4, 2003
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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