Soccer Dad: Fahrenheit vs. the path

September 7, 2007

Fahrenheit vs. the path

An Editorial from Today's New York Times entitled "Disney's Craven Behavior"

Give the Walt Disney Company a gold medal for cowardice for blocking the distribution of a DVD that criticizes President Clinton and is likely to be embarrass his wife, presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton. A company that ought to be championing free expression has instead chosen to censor a mini-series that clearly falls within the bounds of acceptable political commentary.
The mini-series was produced by Cyrus Nowrasteh, a respected Hollywood writer who based his story on the public record. As described by Johm Miller last year in the National Review, the mini-series, "The Path to 9/11," shows the Clinton administration failing to act decisively against the growing terror threat. It describes the fecklessness of Mr. Clinton's appointees in their failure to stem the threats that led to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The mini-series was shown last year on ABC and a DVD was expected a few months later.

Well actually that isn't what's in today's editorials in the NY Times. There wasn't a single item addressing the charge that Disney refused to release the DVD. The LA Times reported

Nowrasteh, also one of the miniseries' many producers, said he was told by a top executive at ABC Studios that "if Hillary weren't running for president, this wouldn't be a problem."

(h/t Seraphic Secret)

Three years ago, the NY Times wasn't so shy. When Michael Moore charged that MiraMax wouldn't distribute his film "Fahrenheit 9/11" the Times chimed in with Disney's Craven Behavior

Give the Walt Disney Company a gold medal for cowardice for blocking its Miramax division from distributing a film that criticizes President Bush and his family. A company that ought to be championing free expression has instead chosen to censor a documentary that clearly falls within the bounds of acceptable political commentary.
The documentary was prepared by Michael Moore, a controversial filmmaker who likes to skewer the rich and powerful. As described by Jim Rutenberg yesterday in The Times, the film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," links the Bush family with prominent Saudis, including the family of Osama bin Laden. It describes financial ties that go back three decades and explores the role of the government in evacuating relatives of Mr. bin Laden from the United States shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The film was financed by Miramax and was expected to be released this summer.

The problem was that Moore never had a distribution deal with MiraMax. Moore was simply and dishonestly raising publicity for his movie. Except Moore himself admitted that he never had a distribution deal with Disney; so there was no censorship involved.

I wrote to the public editors of both the New York Times and Baltimore Sun asking them to retract the editorial since it was based on a false accusation. Neither newspaper acknowledged my e-mail and neither repudiated its dishonest editorial.

So now when the shoe's on the other foot and a Disney official reportedly admits to restricting distribution of a DVD for political purposes. the Times is silent. I can't say that I'm surprised. On the Times editorial page partisanship usually trumps the truth. But rarely is that reality so obvious.

9/11, new york times, media bias.