# Senate Dems To Disney CEO: Cancel 9/11 Docudrama (or else?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 8, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873 "2006-09-08T03:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/61 "2006-09-08T15:17:56Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] I agree with that sentiment. This would indeed set a dangerous precedent. But I also think that when the network sets out to smear the minority party just prior to an election, that this poses a threat to a two party system. News could be presented in such a way as to ensure Republican majorities in perpetuity, if enough people believe it. ABC is the one crossing the line here. [/QUOTE] Only the minority party? And only if it’s the Democrats? There are reports that part 2 of this movie “smears” Bush, you know. Are you concerned about that as well? Why do you guys keep calling this “news”? It’s a movie. OTOH, the Dan Rather fubar was news. And despite what \*\*DtC \*\*says, the contents of the forged documents were not true. So fess up. Either you want the government to censor the news or you don’t-- you can’t have it both ways. As for the OP, this is a really stupid move for the Democrats. Let the [moveon.org](http://moveon.org) types threaten a boycott or whatever, but Congress should stay out of threats to the networks. If they think the truth has been compromised, then they should make an effort to get what they think is the truth out there. Remember, the antidote to misinformation is not censorship, it’s more and open free speech. ---
**Author:** ![Icemann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Icemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icemann)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/62 "2006-09-08T15:21:26Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] If you don’t like the laws, write your congressman. The federal government has this power whether you like it or not. [/QUOTE] You keep sayin’ that as if it is no problem that the senate wants a particular show off the air. Maybe you even believe it. I’d then go a little further. Maybe the senate majority leader could decide who gets the lead in the next movie of the week, open casting calls in the senate chamber. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/63 "2006-09-08T15:22:15Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Which brings up the point that the evil 'Pubs didn’t make threats against the Dem poster child M. Moore when he released any of HIS gems. […] The POINT though is that, whether it is or not, the 'Pubs didn’t try this heavy handed shit when it came out. Oh, they protested, boycotted, ect ect…but no statements from government officials of a vaguely threatening manner. Read the preceding posts; **Cheesesteak** and **BobLibDem** already addressed this point upthread. As **Bob** noted, the difference is that Michael Moore was not granted access to the public airwaves to show his work. And as **Little Nemo** noted, in a previous case that **was** parallel to this one—when the network CBS was planning in 2003 to air a movie about the Reagans that Republicans considered biased and inaccurate—the 'Pubs **did** complain to the network, and persuaded CBS to drop the show. From **Nemo** ’s link: > [@](#): > > Capping an extraordinary conservative furor over a movie virtually no one has seen, CBS said Tuesday it will not air “The Reagans” and shunt it off to the Showtime cable network instead. […] > > While CBS said it was not bowing to political pressure, critics said that was exactly the case, and worried about the effects of such pre-emptive strikes on future work. […] > > The CBS decision “gives new hope to all of the people who don’t like what they see on entertainment television,” said Robert Thompson, head of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. “All of the special interest groups can say, 'look, we got the Reagan docudrama off the air. What’s next?” Well, here’s what’s next. Like it or not, the government does get to make rules about issues like fairness, accuracy and decency when it comes to broadcasting over the publicly owned airwaves (which is why, as **Dio** noted, they can fine a network for inadvertently showing Janet Jackson’s nipple). So controversial items on network TV can be used as political footballs in ways that aren’t possible for privately produced and distributed works like Michael Moore’s. You may feel that fostering this kind of controversy is counterproductive, and I may agree with you, but don’t pretend that the Republicans don’t do it too. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/64 "2006-09-08T15:25:17Z")
[QUOTE=Renob] Sorry, but this has no basis in fact. Go to [www.opensecrets.org](http://www.opensecrets.org) and look up which candidates received money from people employed by Disney. There are vastly more Democrats than Republicans on that list. [/QUOTE] “Employed by Disney” does not equal “leadership of Disney”, which is what I said; red herring. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/65 "2006-09-08T15:30:15Z")
[QUOTE=Icemann] You keep sayin’ that as if it is no problem that the senate wants a particular show off the air. [/quote] If it’s on publicly owned airwaves, then it’s not a LEGAL problem. You also seem to have missed the fact that I don’t support this effort by the Eems. > [@](#): > > I’d then go a little further. Maybe the senate majority leader could decide who gets the lead in the next movie of the week, open casting calls in the senate chamber. No. The production of a movie does not take place on public airwaves. The feds just regulate what can be aired, not what can be produced. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/66 "2006-09-08T15:36:27Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Only the minority party? And only if it’s the Democrats? There are reports that part 2 of this movie “smears” Bush, you know. Are you concerned about that as well? [/quote] If it’s a lie, then yes. > [@](#): > > Why do you guys keep calling this “news”? It’s a movie. They’re billing it as a “docudrama” and calling it “educational/” They are deliberately trying to create an impression that this is a journalistic presentation of facts rather than a right wing piece of fiction. > [@](#): > > OTOH, the Dan Rather fubar was news. And despite what \*\*DtC \*\*says, the contents of the forged documents were not true. Yes they were, it just wasn’t the original doocument. So fess up. Either you want the government to censor the news or you don’t-- you can’t have it both ways. [/quote] It’s not about censoring news, it’s about regulating what can be CALLED news over public airways. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/67 "2006-09-08T15:38:25Z")
A disclaimer would fix everything, by the way. All ABC has to do is run some bumpers during the broadcast admitting that it’s fiction and there won’t be any problem. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/68 "2006-09-08T15:39:36Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] There are reports that part 2 of this movie “smears” Bush, you know. Are you concerned about that as well? [/quote] From [This Review](http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-ftr-elf08.html) (which is extremely critical of the show, FWIW) > [@](#): > > Scene: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Bush officials are shown taking no action at pivotal moments when terrorists may have been stopped. > > Reaction: Bush officials have not complained to ABC. > [@](#): > > Why do you guys keep calling this “news”? It’s a movie. That’s what I thought. You see docudramas all the time “based on a true story” or “based on actual events” that are just as inaccurate as this thing is. Oliver Stone’s “JFK” is pretty batshit crazy, yet ABC could air it commercial free and not be called for innacurate news reporting. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/69 "2006-09-08T15:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Only the minority party? And only if it’s the Democrats? There are reports that part 2 of this movie “smears” Bush, you know. Are you concerned about that as well? [/QUOTE] An ABC insider [sent this to a right wing blogger.](http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/06/abc-assures-bloggers) > [@](#): > > There are 900 screeners out there. When this airs this weekend, there will be a number of people who will spend their free evenings looking for these changes and will be hard pressed to identify them. They are that minor. > > - The average viewer would not be able to tell the difference between the two versions. > - The message of the Clinton Admin failures remains fully intact. I admit the cite is not exactly impartial, but it seems the fakeumentary has a message and that message is Clinton Administration failures. [QUOTE=John Mace] Why do you guys keep calling this “news”? It’s a movie. [/QUOTE] Not when they bill it as based on a government report and offer it up as “educational”. The public has come to expect documentaries near anniversaries of historic events, the timing of its showing was meant to play on that expectation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/70 "2006-09-08T15:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] A disclaimer would fix everything, by the way. All ABC has to do is run some bumpers during the broadcast admitting that it’s fiction and there won’t be any problem. [/QUOTE] They’re not going to do that, you know. I’m sure they will place a disclaimer on it, but it will probably say that it’s based on true events although some scenes have been altered for dramtic effect. Or something along those lines. Just because the thing has a few questionable scenes doesn’t make it “fiction”, btw. You’re acting as if the entire movie were made up. Frankly, just marketing it as a movie as opposed to a documentary should be enough. No movie ever gets all the facts right. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/71 "2006-09-08T15:55:11Z")
> [@DiogenestheCynic](#): > > It can also intervene in whatever it considers to be a “misuse” of public airwaves. and > [@Kimstu](#): > > Like it or not, the government does get to make rules about issues like fairness, accuracy and decency when it comes to broadcasting over the publicly owned airwaves I know the FCC has the authority to regulate indency. However, please show me a statute or regulation that says it can police misuse (with a definition of “misuse”), fairness, or accuracy. I don’t think they can do so. > [@DerTrihs](#): > > “Employed by Disney” does not equal “leadership of Disney”, which is what I said; red herring. The only contribution I can find by Eisner is one to Arlen Specter, who is barely a Republican. I looked through the list and saw who was listed as an executive, and most other Disney executives listed by [opensecrets.org](http://opensecrets.org) gave to Democrats. > [@DiogenestheCynic](#): > > It’s not about censoring news, it’s about regulating what can be CALLED news over public airways. When the government regulates what is called news, that means it censors it. When you have government approving or penalizing a station due to the content of its news stories or dramatic programming, that’s censorship. There’s nothing else to call it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/72 "2006-09-08T15:57:02Z")
There is material in the movie which is blatantly false and defamatory. It’s NOT based on “true events,” and it’s not based on findings of the 911 Commission despite the false claim that it is. There needs to be a disclaimer that some “facts” have been invented or else you can welcome a world of politically produced fake news on public airwaves. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/73 "2006-09-08T16:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Renob] When the government regulates what is called news, that means it censors it. When you have government approving or penalizing a station due to the content of its news stories or dramatic programming, that’s censorship. There’s nothing else to call it. [/QUOTE] What the government can regulate is _where_ this material is broadcast, not _what_ it is. ABC can still show their little piece of shit, drunken, right wing, jerk-off fantasy on the Disney Channel if it wants to. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/74 "2006-09-08T16:04:39Z")
It’s not news. Nowhere do I see it claimed that it is news, except for you guys right here. Did ABC News produce it? No? Then it’s not news, any more than a drama about Jon-Benet Ramsey or Terri Schaivo or any other noteworthy person or event would be news. The ABC entertainment division produced what will probably be a piece of crap, but it is allowed to broadcast it, and the argument that it is news is disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/75 "2006-09-08T16:05:38Z")
Again, Diogenes, please give me a statute or a regulation that backs up your claim that the government can force a broadcast channel to alter or prevent it from broadcasting a news/drama that has factual inaccuracies. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/76 "2006-09-08T16:08:06Z")
[Take a look at how the show is being marketed overseas](http://cosmosweb09.bcst.re2.yahoo.com/scp_v3/viewer/index.php?pid=16469&rn=240896&cl=793700&ch=717424) and tell me that they are selling this as fiction. Somehow calling it the true story of what really happened and how one decision (spoken as the fictitious event about not authorizing binLaden’s killing unfolds) changed history and LATER in the US, saying “it’s only fiction” doesn’t ring true does it? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/77 "2006-09-08T16:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] There is material in the movie which is blatantly false and defamatory. It’s NOT based on “true events,” and it’s not based on findings of the 911 Commission despite the false claim that it is. There needs to be a disclaimer that some “facts” have been invented or else you can welcome a world of politically produced fake news on public airwaves. [/QUOTE] I’m sure it is based upon the 9/11 report, in the same way that a movie like _Invincible_ is based upon its source, or _Friday Night Lights_, or any number of movies that take a few things and alter the rest. So yes, it is undoubtedly “based on true events”. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/78 "2006-09-08T16:11:43Z")
If they’re claiming it’s an “educational docudrama” based on fact, they’re creating an impression that the claims made within it will be factually accurate. All they have to do is run a disclaimer that it’s NOT factually accurate, that some facts have been invented or altered to serve a partisan, ideological agenda, there will be no problem. They also need to quit saying it’s “educational,” because that’s just a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/79 "2006-09-08T16:12:00Z")
The Democrats are attempting a form of prior restraint. While it’s not, in the strictest sense, prior restraint, it is members of the government trying to use their access to governmental power to prevent something they don’t like from being aired. As a Democrat, I’m ashamed. But, as a Democrat, I’m getting used to that. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873/80 "2006-09-08T16:19:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] The Democrats are attempting a form of prior restraint. While it’s not, in the strictest sense, prior restraint, it is members of the government trying to use their access to governmental power to prevent something they don’t like from being aired. As a Democrat, I’m ashamed. But, as a Democrat, I’m getting used to that. [/QUOTE] What you say here is exactly right (in your first paragraph…can’t speak to the second! 🙂 ) I don’t know exactly what in this movie the Democrats believe will be so damaging to them, or why they believe they will come off looking worse than the current administration. But, I think their leadership should stop and ask themselves whether the action they have taken so far is going to be more damaging to them in the long run than this silly movie ever could be. Let’s face it, as is evidenced in this thread, people are going to believe it or not believe it along party lines anyway. Certainly, if the Dems want to be known as the party of free speech, and hold up the Republicans as the oppressors, this is not the approach I would recommend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-dems-to-disney-ceo-cancel-9-11-docudrama-or-else/371873.md?page=5)