Letter to Disney and ABC: Heal Thyself
David Brock of Media Matters writes a great letter to ABC and Disney. First, he lists the film's major errors:
In fact, the miniseries was so rife with errors that even some conservatives spoke out against it. The first part of the film not only misrepresents some Clinton administration officials but also provides false depictions of others, including, reportedly, former FBI counterterrorism expert John O'Neill, who died on September 11, 2001, in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, where he was head of security.
The second half of the miniseries, which aired on September 11, also contained scenes that were factually inaccurate, this time showing President Bush taking aggressive action there is no indication he ever took. For example, in the film, Vice President Dick Cheney, after conversing with Bush over the phone immediately following the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, announced: "The president has just given the shoot-down order." Vanity Fair published an analysis of the recordings from the control room at NORAD's Northeast headquarters from September 11, 2001, indicating that Bush did not actually give the order to shoot down the hijacked airplanes; he authorized military commanders to make the decision themselves, and he did not grant that authorization until 41 minutes after Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon.
Next, is Brock's demand for an explanation of why they aired it.
He finishes with a renewed offer to help prevent such missteps in the future.
Americans need to trust that ABC/Disney will not inject thinly veiled conservative propaganda into their homes. That trust has been severely compromised after the overtly partisan choices that were made in the creation and airing of this production.
At the outset of this controversy, Media Matters tried to help ABC and Disney dispel any controversy surrounding this film by offering to review and evaluate its accuracy prior to its scheduled air date. That offer received no response.
We are once again offering to work with ABC and Disney in the aftermath of this controversy in order to ensure that these types of mistakes and misjudgments do not happen again. I hope that this can be the beginning of an important dialogue between Media Matters and ABC.
Here's why ABC and Disney should accept Brock's offer:
Working together, we can ensure that Americans are once again able to trust that the major TV networks, who are allowed to use the public's airwaves free of charge, are not propagandizing or rewriting history to favor one political party or another.
Media Matters has been rocking lately. If you don't read them every day, you're really missing out.
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