Media Matters: Numerous Reviews of "Path" Failed To Note Controversy

[Hissyspit]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200609120002

Numerous reviews of ABC miniseries failed to note controversy surrounding its factual accuracy

Summary: Numerous newspapers ran positive reviews of the ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11 -- calling it "factual," "meticulous," and "completely true" -- failing to inform readers that it has been sharply criticized as inaccurate and even defamatory.
In recent days, numerous newspapers across the country ran positive reviews of the ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11 -- calling it "factual," "meticulous," and "completely true" -- failing completely to inform readers that it has been sharply criticized as inaccurate and even defamatory. In several other cases, the reviews noted that Democrats have assailed select scenes in the movie, but omitted the actual substance of their criticism.

While various parties have sharply criticized the film, the principal controversy lies with several scenes that depict Clinton administration officials undermining efforts to capture Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the years prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In one such scene, former national security adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger decides at the last minute to abort a 1998 CIA mission to capture bin Laden. But as Media Matters for America and numerous others have noted, this account is contradicted by the 9-11 Commission report -- which ABC originally cited as the film's basis. Berger has complained that the scene is a "total fabrication," and even conservative critics of the Clinton administration -- such as author and journalist Richard Miniter -- have criticized the scene in question as "based on an Internet myth" and having "no factual basis."

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Following are those reviews that presented the film as "factual" and "completely true," while ignoring altogether that Democrats and others have criticized key scenes as fabrications:

• A September 10 review in the Chicago Tribune, supplied by the TV listings service Zap2it, warned of the film: "This should not be watched casually. Turn off the computer and forget about doing housework while watching. Gather the family; eventually, you will want to discuss it." The Tribune described the miniseries as "tell the most difficult parts: the why and how" and quoted actor Stephen Root saying of his experience working on the film, "This educated me tremendously." Moreover, a caption that appeared below an accompanying photo in the print edition referred to the film as a "factual mini-series that points fingers and names names."
  
  
• A September 8 Newsday review reported that the filmmakers "compress" the 9-11 Commission report "into 4 1/2 fierce hours that portray in meticulous detail both the patient planning by the people who pulled off the hijack-murder plot and the many missed opportunities of those who might have headed off the day's death and destruction." The review later described the miniseries as "more like bang-up drama than fact-filled documentary," but then claimed that the underlying "facts pass informative muster."
  
  
• A September 10 Orlando Sentinel review claimed that ABC "is performing a public service by examining progress in the fight against terrorism." The Sentinel went on to inform viewers that the film's "showmanship has been tempered by meticulous attention to accuracy." (The author, television critic Hal Boedecker, subsequently amended his review on his OrlandoSentinel.com blog. He admitted that he had based his assessment of the film's accuracy solely on former New Jersey Gov. and 9-11 Commission member Tom Kean's statement to him that "the spirit of this is absolutely correct. This is the story of how it happened." Boedecker conceded, "I regret praising its accuracy -- praise this miniseries doesn't deserve." He added, however, "Beyond the Clinton officials' complaints, the miniseries should come with a warning: It is hugely difficult television that challenges the audience. Berger wants to write it off. I don't think you can.")
  A September 10 review in The Providence Journal reported that the miniseries is "compelling and confounding, gripping and disturbing. And it's all completely true. ... All the details are documented."

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1. kick

we need media reform and election reform. Until then we are a fascist country.