September 11 is a national tragedy, it should not be a subject for dishonest political propaganda.
hiding the film from the leftOn September 1, it became evident that ABC had offered previews of "The Path to 9/11" to right-wing bloggers and media personalities, like Rush Limbaugh, and to mainstream media outlets. When it was confirmed that no advance information had been sent to progressive and liberal bloggers and media, an effort was launched to discover how and why this had happened. We have since discovered that President Clinton himself was denied an advance copy of the film. Here is a chronological list of posts and stories to date that reflect the combined efforts of the blogs affiliated with this project. We will be updating this list as we learn of new posts.
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What's this all about?
ABC/Disney plans to memorialize the fifth anniversary of 9/11 with a fictional docudrama called "The Path to 9/11". Written by an avowed right-wing activist, this work of fiction directly contradicts the accepted record of the 9/11 Commission Report. President Clinton and former administration officials were denied an advance copy; Rush Limbaugh and obscure right-wing bloggers saw it last week. ABC plans to distribute this docudrama to 100,000 educators across the country. We've set up this site to encourage ABC to change its strategy.
READ MORE.Wednesday, September 06, 2006Did Scholastic Inc. Drop Its 9/11 Propaganda?
Scholastic Inc is the educational distribution partner for ABC, pushing out the docudrama-related educational materials throughout the country. Richard Cranium points out that the materials are no longer linked from the Scholastic Inc. website. Media Matters has background on the materials, which are pretty awful. If Scholastic did decide to drop their distribution plans, good for them.
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BackgroundFrequently Asked QuestionsDisney's History of Caving to the Right ABC Denies Press Access to Liberals ABC Plans to Distribute to Schools Nationwide ABC Pulls the Path to 9/11 Blog ABC Busted on Pulling Blog, Puts It Back Up On the Right-wing Only Marketing Campaign Clinton, 9/11, and the Facts On Tom Kean What the Movie Is Actually Based On The 9/11 Commission Report Blogs that Link to This Site This is a clearinghouse site for content created all across the blogs. Please send tips, new actions, blog posts, and news articles that you think are relevant to openlettertoabc at gmail.com. The Film's FabricationsSandy Berger FabricationWashington Post Fabrication Madeleine Albright Fabrication |
14 Comments:
Looking for an address for scholastic, so I can chastise and praise...
LOVE THE BLOG!
"Richard Cranium points out that the materials are no longer linked from the Scholastic Inc. website."
no way... this is too much.
His name is Dick Head?
Brainwashing the children--a pathetic attempt to raise voters of the future.
If Scholastic were to go through with it, the children would be very pissed off when they figured things out.
[I'm dropping my letter to an ABC affil into a few spots--sorry for the overlap--thought it might be helpful]
my (too lengthy) letter to my ABC affil...
Dear [abc affil-not o&o--general manager],
I just saw a segment on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" which presented several clips from ABC's upcoming miniseries "The Path to 9/11." From what I saw of the series and from the comments of an NSC adviser and a 9/11 commission member, I am convinced that your miniseries is a blatantly inaccurate depiction of events leading up to the attack on America. I'd like you to reconsider airing the program.
"The Path to 9/11" appears to be a hit-piece on America, an attempt to re-write history and influence the upcoming elections. Is that what you signed on for? Dramatic license is one thing, but this miniseries seems intent on distorting the political debate by specifically portraying the Democrats as soft on terror, unable to make decisions, preoccupied with legalisms. The actual scenes in the miniseries that I have seen present such views with all of the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But this sort of "docudrama" is simply false--the facts run counter to the drama, and they are especially disingenuous given the astounding failures of the Bush administration to capture Bin Laden over these last five years.
I am not surprised that a conservative media conglomerate like Disney would prefer a Republican Congress that will support their push for endless copyright protection and a relaxation of media regulations--but you have the choice of taking your station in a different direction.
I understand that you won't be receiving any advertising revenue during the airing, though I'm sure that Disney is compensating you for this loss. I will, however, be contacting a few of your regular advertisers, the one's who normally pay into your Sunday and Monday primetime slots, and will be letting them know that their brands will suffer. I'm not going to support these kinds of attacks on my country.
Best regards,
Pardon me, because this comment is off-topic, but I don't see a better place to put it.
Do we have a list of ABC advertisers? I know there's no advertising during this program, but how about top advertisers on ABC in general? It seems like it would be a useful effort to make a nice, public list of the companies that make ABC's propagandistic ambitions financially possible. Put it on this page, and maybe it'd get a nice quote on a front-page diary on Daily Kos as well. All those companies, seeing their names on one of the most heavily trafficked site on the web. I'm just saying, it could be helpful.
I'm not quite sure how to go about compiling such a thing, although I haven't thought very hard about it. Anyone have any ideas?
Scholastic is continuing to link to the film...You may wish to POLITELY inform Scholastic of your objections to their continued link to this outrageous film with an email to "news at scholastic.com"
This is a letter from a Scholastic exec explaining how 'fair and balanced' their student guide to the film "Path to 9/11" will be (although it is based on the outrageously fraudulent "Path to 9/11" film):
Your email regarding the 9/11 Classroom Discussion Guide created by Scholastic was forwarded to me, and I am pleased to respond to your concerns. Once the materials are posted online, you will be able to access the complete discussion guide at www.scholastic.com/pathto911, and I hope you will take time to review the content for yourself.
Scholastic does not take a position regarding the ABC miniseries, "The Path to 911." What we have done is to create a Classroom Discussion Guide for high school teachers with content that is balanced, fair and open-ended. Two of the key objectives of the guide are "to engage critical-thinking and critical-viewing skills" and "to remind students to view what they absorb from the media with a critical eye." We trust that teachers will take the information we provide and encourage their students to evaluate the content of the miniseries against these facts and other resources and research that are available to them. These materials are provided free of charge to teachers in grades 9 to 12 who can choose whether or not to utilize the lessons in their classrooms.
Scholastic appreciates hearing from teachers, parents, and others who use or evaluate our services. Your comments will be shared with our editorial staff who continue to seek to improve the quality of the materials we create for use in schools and homes. Please review the content of the 9/11 classroom guide when it is posted online and consider the opportunity it offers for developing critical thinking and relevant, timely discussion among high school students who have grown up in the post-9/11 era.
Sincerely
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Media Relations
Scholastic Inc.
news at scholastic.com
Is it even legal to be using public schools to promote a partisan agenda? What about that geography teacher who was fired recently for displaying foreign flags in the classroom fercrissake? I'm watching the trainwreck you are experiencing from up in Canada, and can't believe that the world's only remaining superpower and the so-called flagship of democracy can succumb so readily to a band of sociopathic pirates. You have my deepest sympathies and warmest support. I am blogging steadily about this myself, as I consider it the biggest story going on today. Bigger even than Ann Coulter's Adam's apple! lol
Hi Sad...
My fingers are crossed that you all will learn enough from observing the disaster down here to prevent it from happening up there. Your right wingers sound as insane as ours, and they now have their man, Harper, in the top post. I like to think that as a more liberal society, it can't happen to Canada. But I also used to think it could never happen here.
Good luck!
Here is my response to the spin I got from Scholastic Corp. - same letter as anonymous posted at 10:27.
To Kyle at Scholastic:
"Study Guide" implies that you are providing an authoritative resource with which to evaluate student perceptions of the film and the actual events of 9/11. However, if your materials perpetuate the falsehoods that are in the movie, then I'd like to know just exactly how the students are supposed to recognize that they cannot trust either your materials or the movie to be honest? They are hardly likely to get much help from the corporate media. Should we hope that they all read the several hundred pages long 9/11 commission report?
And what kind of message are you sending to these children by encouraging them to learn from something that is clearly a work of fiction? Do you pose any questions asking them to spot the lies in the film? That would certainly be educational. Or do you, instead, simply use the film as a tool for them to learn the facts of 9/11--facts that they will be unable to discern are false?
Your response reeks of PR and spin. Perhaps if you and the rest of the management at Scholastic Corp. had been better trained in "critical thinking" and "critical viewing", you might recognize that what you are doing is helping to perpetuate falsehoods. I can already see what lies ahead -- more idiots calling the radio shows I listen to claiming that 9/11 was all Clinton's fault, and that Saddam helped plan 9/11, and that Iraq is a part of the war on terror. And now not only can we thank the corporate news media for their failures of the last 6 years, we can also thank ABC and Scholastic Corp.
What you are doing is not just wrong, but harmful to the future of this nation.
It appears that the producers/creators of the ABC/Disney miniseries are based in an evangelical group. Go read this
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/7/02114/57497
Are Evangelicals conning Scholastic, or is Scholastic complicit? Irks me, because Scholastic really has a market share on our public schools.
URGENT: Someone needs to develop quick talking points for kids 9-12 against the Scholastic materials and the miniseries, and then let's encourage our children to disseminate these talking points through their social networks (MySpace, IM, etc). Also, point them to this site.
This may be the best defense against the BushCo propaganda.
That's exactly what my teenage son was doing last night (IM'ing friends to tell them about this) as I was explaining to him this farse.
Let the network of networks do the job. Things spread like wildfire in these networks.
Short answer: no, they did not drop them. Keep the pressure up.
CTpatriot, thanks for your supportive response. Yes, I agree, the theme music to current events should be Frank Zappa's 'They Said It Couldn't Happen Here.' Canada is no less vulnerable to a takeover by multinational corporate interests than anywhere. Those interests are collectively more powerful than any nation, even the US, and one could argue that they control the US government to a far greater degree than do the electorate. But that's a different topic for another forum.
What about a local response to this targeting school boards and departments of education? If these materials can be kept out of half the schools to begin with, that would be a major step in the right direction, and seems to me to be something do-able on the grassroots level. Hopefully some of the people involved in this issue are on PTAs, and would have the required contact information.
Here are the major ABC contributors:
AT&T
Cingular
Ford
Toyota
Procter & Gamble
Unilever Suave
Universal Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
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