Senate Democratic Leadership Cracks The Whip

The entire Democratic Leadership have lowered the proverbial boom on Disney/ABC President and CEO Robert Iger. In a letter, signed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, and Senators Debbie Stabenow, Charles Schumer, and Byron Dorgan, urges him to cancel the miniseries "The Path to 9-11". The letter takes ABC to task for among other inaccuracies, stating it is based on the official 9/11 Commission report ABC also planned to use the program as a teaching tool through Scholastic Inc., which rightly withdrew its' plans. Mr. Robert A. Iger President and CEO The Walt Disney Company 500 South Buena Vista Street Burbank CA 91521 Dear Mr. Iger, We write with serious concerns about the planned upcoming broadcast of The Path to 9/11 mini-series on September 10 and 11. Countless reports from experts on 9/11 who have viewed the program indicate numerous and serious inaccuracies that will undoubtedly serve to misinform the American people about the tragic events surrounding the terrible attacks of that day. Furthermore, the manner in which this program has been developed, funded, and advertised suggests a partisan bent unbecoming of a major company like Disney and a major and well respected news organization like ABC. We therefore urge you to cancel this broadcast to cease Disney’s plans to use it as a teaching tool in schools across America through Scholastic. Presenting such deeply flawed and factually inaccurate misinformation to the American public and to children would be a gross miscarriage of your corporate and civic responsibility to the law, to your shareholders, and to the nation. It then goes on to remind him in a not so subtle way of the wording of its' license. The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events. [snip] That Disney would seek to broadcast an admittedly and proven false recounting of the events of 9/11 raises serious questions about the motivations of its creators and those who approved the deeply flawed program. Finally, that Disney plans to air commercial-free a program that reportedly cost it $40 million to produce serves to add fuel to these concerns. These concerns are made all the more pressing by the political leaning of and the public statements made by the writer/producer of this miniseries, Mr. Cyrus Nowrasteh, in promoting this miniseries across conservative blogs and talk shows. Considering the fact that the Leadership bluntly reminded them of their responsibilities under The Communications Act of 1934, I would say Disney/ABC will be in a heap full of trouble if they air this blatantly partisan view of what was a tragic day in the history of the United States of America. The entire letter is available at Democratic Senate Leadership Website.