ABC's "9/11" ad-free, downloadable for free; H.S. teachers get letters

[DeepModem Mom]

Variety: ABC sets ad-free '9/11'
'Path' is clear of commercials to varied outlets
By JOSEF ADALIAN

....After originally announcing its intention to air "The Path to 9/11" with limited commercial interruption, the network now will air both parts of the $30 million Harvey Keitel starrer without any advertising.

What's more, the Alphabet will potentially limit its backend profits by allowing consumers to download the complete miniseries -- for free -- via Apple's iTunes Music Store. Mini also will be streamed for free via ABC.com, and XM Radio has pacted with the network to make an audiocast of the film available to its subscribers....

***

(ABC Entertainment prexy Steve McPherson) said by offering the show for free on iTunes and via streaming video on ABC.com, the net hoped to expose as many people as possible to the findings of the 9/11 Commission...."By giving it this platform and by dramatizing it, we'll get more people to get that information," he said. "We spent $30 million on this and we're putting it on without commercials. How important we think this is speaks for itself."....

***

ABC is sending 100,000 high school educators a letter from 9/11 Commission co-chair Tom Keane informing them of the various platforms on which the mini is available. ABC and Scholastic have pacted to produce an online study guide....

***

ABC News has already prepared a special documentary hosted by Charlie Gibson to air following the end of night two of the mini, just after 10 p.m. on Sept. 11. Alphabet is still finalizing plans for the roughly 10 minutes of airtime left at the conclusion of night one, on Sept. 10.... (NOTE FROM OP: Could it be a ten-minute address by George W. Bush?)

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117949477?categoryid=14&cs=1&s=h&p=0

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Time To Boycott Advertisers

Does anyone know how to get a list of the advertisers that are sponsoring this turd? I think that it's time to list damage these people.

[Oreo]

3. The White House?

The Taxpayers?

[progdonkey]

6. read the first sentence again...

After originally announcing its intention to air "The Path to 9/11" with limited commercial interruption, the network now will air both parts of the $30 million Harvey Keitel starrer without any advertising.

Kinda difficult to boycott advertisers when none exist. :eyes:

[William769]

11. How about Itunes (Apple)

For allowing it to be downloaded for free.

[MannyGoldstein]

14. Go Right After Disney Then

I focused on the download part, overlooked the commercial-free part.

Doesn't Disney own ABC? If so, let's go right after Disney. They pay Hannity's salary, and run Jim Dobson's "Focus on the Family" commentary.

[AndyA]

37. ABC has tons of advertisers. Just because they aren't advertising

during this propaganda piece, doesn't mean you can't boycott them. Watch ABC for a few minutes, then contact the advertisers running ads on other ABC shows. It can be sponsors of ABC News, Good Morning America, or whatever. And tell them you will not buy their products or services because they fund a network that does America a disservice by airing propaganda that presents lies as facts.

If enough people contact the advertisers on ABC, some of them might decide to go elsewhere.

[William769]

10. Start with Apple!

[Oreo]

2. So much for boycotting the sponsors

Propaganda BS

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Why do I suspect that advertisers have backed out of it

Just a smidgen of a suspicion here?

[ccpup]

5. If this is as anti-Clinton

as people suspect it might be, I hope Pres. Clinton gets out there to defend himself and call out the Repugs BY NAME who fought him tooth-and-nail when he was trying to protect the American People from the quickly growing terrorist threat. If the Dems come out swinging with the Truth and do it relentlessly and NAME NAMES, this partisan back rub for the GOP from ABC right before the Election could backfire BIG TIME.

[Benhurst]

7. If Clinton doesn't fight this, he is a pathetic loser. Surely, he'll

stand up to them on this. To hell with Disney and ABC.

[JHB]

13. Actually, Limpbag is claiming he's trying to have it re-edited...

I'm not going to link to him directly, but if you Google "The Path to 9/11" and "controversy" you'll find the Truth Defiler's site in one of the first few, where he makes allegations about Clinton (presumably to help make sure a more accurate re-edit doesn't air).

[Benhurst]

15. God I hope he and our "leadership" fight this tooth and nail. If they

don't, it will be taken as a tacit admission of "guilt" by the public.

[JHB]

16. And if the do: They're just "The Clinton Machine". Read this:

From "The Conservative Voice" (pretty much what you'd expect):

Clinton Machine to Attack 9/11 ABC Special
August 30, 2006 01:39 PM EST

By Sher Zieve - At a pre-screening of the ABC TV Special “The Path to 9/11”, currently due to begin airing on 10 September, former President Clinton operative John Podesta was said to have been visibly angered. Podesta is also reported to have engaged in a verbal assault on one of the mini-series' producers.


The Path to 9/11 explores the security failures behind the 9/11 attacks on the US and is said to place much of the blame on the Clinton Administration’s failure to address Islamic terrorism. Preparations by former Clinton employees for television advertisements that vilify the ABC Special are said to be underway.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/17823.html

[Benhurst]

18. May God damn ABC and Disney.

To hell with them both.

[AX10]

24. I hope that Disney/ABC goes the way on ENRON!

I sincerly do.

[Dinger]

25. What Hasn't Clinton Said A Damn Thing????? (nt)

[VolcanoJen]

40. According to Atrios, Clinton has requested a pre-release copy of the film.

ABC to Clinton: No.

Of course, ABC has no trouble sending advance copies to Rush Limbaugh, and obscure rightwing bloggers.

http://atrios.blogspot.com

[SoCalDem]

8. Too little too late. Anything he says AFTER the airing will be

portrayed as "trying to shift blame".. The time to oppose this crap was when it was being FILMED or being proposed.

This is why our media is so dangerous. They HAVE us...and they know they can manipulate us any way they want.

We GAVE the media giants our airwaves, and THEY decide what we see.. We can reject what they show us, but in the end, once something is on film, it's always there...

The shitty part is that since ABC/Disney MADE it, and ALSO own a network where they have many formats of their own to promote it, there is no escape. It's not like an independent movie that must compete with all the others, and scramble for publicity all over the place. ABC has several "shows" that are hungry for content, and the parent company, Disney, willl be only too happy to feed them as much of this "movie" as they want/need to fill airtime.

The other netowrks will be silent about this, since it's not their project, but they dare not expose the falacies, lest a future project of theirs be offered the same treatment, so they will remain silent.

[newblewtoo]

17. Right you are

At this point it will be spun as "What is he trying to hide". Lose Lose situation once the horse is out of the barn.

[AX10]

23. Clinton helped in making those media giants a reality.

[zbdent]

31. Fired off a LTTE this AM ... covering

all the "Nation's real business" that the Republicans thought was more important than the fights against terrorism that Clinton was doing ...

[bluestateguy]

9. I'm going to Blockbuster that night to rent "The Reagans"

See I have to pay to watch it because CBS cowarded out of showing it.

[aikoaiko]

12. Where can I go to read the contents of this movie?

Everyone hates it, but I don't know where to go to evaluate it for myself.

[Damndifino]

19. Interesting, isn't it?

Everyone hates it, but no-one's apparently seen it.

[bookman]

27. There's enough info to comment on it.

Claims are made that can be refuted. The author of the screenplay is known. Lies are lies.
Why can't someone comment on it?

Conservatives had no problem condemning F 9-11 or An Inconvenient Truth without seeing it.

[never cry wolf]

35. Apparently only the rightys have seen it

The show’s political slant is evident from the fact that Rush Limbaugh is talking up the movie, noting that its screenwriter, Cyrus Nowrasteh, is a personal friend. Several weeks prior to the broadcast, publicists sent out advance DVDs of the film to conservative bloggers, and screenings have been held for conservative pundits like U.S. News & World Report writer Michael Barone. Even relatively obscure right-wing blogs such as Patterico’s Pontifications, written by Los Angeles County attorney Justin Levine, have been favored with advance screenings. Levine reciprocated by declaring that the film is "free of political spin, politically correct whitewashing and partisan wrangling" and "one of the best made-for-televison movies seen in decades. … The Clinton administration will likely go ballistic over this film." In its politically-spin-free way, Patterico pontificates, the film also "lays out viscerally powerful arguments in favor of the Patriot Act and airport profiling."

When challenged to explain why the right-wing blogosphere is abuzz with praise for the film, director David Cunningham responded that "we are also being accused of being a left wing movie that bashes Bush" — a claim for which there is absolutely no evidence. I searched Technorati for mentions of the film and found 260 references, mostly from conservative websites, every single one of which had nothing but praise for the film. And although I found numerous examples of conservative pundits and bloggers who reported seeing pre-broadcast screenings, no leftist pundits or bloggers had been given a chance to see it (unless you count Salon.com’s roundup of several 9/11-themed movies).

http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/09/04/hijacking-911

and....

ABC is clearly feeling some heat over their fictionalized drama, “The Path to 9/11,” set to air on September 10th and 11th. After pulling the public blog from the movie’s web site and stonewalling progressive and liberal bloggers late last week and through the holiday weekend about requests to preview the movie—for which Rush Limbaugh’s been breathlessly cheerleading—ABC flaks seem to be unwilling to allow bloggers onto a conference call scheduled today with Thomas Kean.
snip--------
ABC entertainment prexy Steve McPherson told Variety, "Some things you do for commerce and some things because they are the right thing to do.” McPherson and others have been cloaking this docudrama wolf in non-partisan sheep’s clothing, despite having no Democrats prominently involved with the project, and allowing only right-wing partisan blogs and mainstream media outlets to preview the film—no left-wing or progressive blogs.

http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/09/05/if-only-i-had-an-abc-approved-press-pass/#more-4341

[glitch]

20. Pretty soon they'll be paying people to watch it! nt

:rofl:

[AX10]

21. I don't care if they have sponsors or not. If they air this POS...

I will boycott the network itself! That will be more effective.

[Benhurst]

29. It's even worse if they don't have sponsors. This shows that

ABC and Disney are willing (in a very non-corporate manner) forgo profits to push their radical agenda in an attempt to influence the elections. Both should be put out of business.

[DeepModem Mom]

30. And this is a $30 million production. nt

[AX10]

32. I'd love to see DISNEY/ABC collapse like ENRON.

[Supersedeas]

22. full Election Cycle propoganda mode

[Initech]

26. Ah, perfect - is ABC helping to swift-boat the 2006 elections?

After allowing people to download it for free, I would think so. :yoiks:

[The Wielding Truth]

28. Hope they include the little red "BUSH" book!

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/17/213003.shtml

[Nikki Stone 1]

33. No commercials? This really is unadulterated propaganda.

No profit motive.

[DeepModem Mom]

36. Someone suggested to me that ABC "got a call"...

like the network's used to get in the Reagan years.

[Nikki Stone 1]

38. Like the damned mafia, eh?

What the hell is happening?

[DeepModem Mom]

39. This was just a hunch. Apparently, Reagan's people...

made demands on the networks quite often, either to do or not do something. Sometimes, they were rebuffed by a brave exec. If that happened, I'm told that folks got their taxes audited. I think this practice is described in a book, or books, about the TV industry.

[coffeenap]

34. Thanks-just sent a message to our school. nt