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In reply to the discussion: Frontline, "Putin's Way" [View all]jakeXT
(10,575 posts)8. Thank god for the Koch Brothers
..
Then theres the reason why were seeing Citizen Koch in theaters more than a year after its debut. Originally to be titled Citizen Corp and focused on the aftermath of the Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling, which allowed virtually unlimited corporate spending on issue campaigns, Deal and Lessins movie was intended for PBS broadcast. But the independent production company ITVS, which is funded by public broadcasting money and supplies films for PBS Independent Lens series, pulled the plug on this project last year for reasons that remain murky. Or at least for reasons that those involved want to remain murky; as Jane Mayers New Yorker story about the whole affair suggested, if you follow the money it doesnt look all that mysterious.
At some point, Citizen Koch acquired a new title to go along with its focus on the activities of right-wing energy billionaires Charles and David Koch, who bankrolled Walker and a host of other extremist anti-labor Republicans during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. David Koch, interestingly enough, is a major donor to public television, and has given an estimated $23 million to PBS and its affiliates over the years. Hes a trustee of WGBH in Boston, and at the time of the Citizen Koch brouhaha also sat on the board of WNET in New York. (In fairness, Kochs philanthropy is visible all over the place. On the day I wrote this story I walked past a New York subway ad for a performance at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, home to the New York City Ballet.) WNET president Neal Shapiro had already gone to extraordinary lengths to placate David Koch after he was unfavorably portrayed in Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream, a film by Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney that was broadcast in 2012.
Officials at ITVS have insisted that they pulled the funding for Citizen Koch essentially because they didnt like the film, and not because they got leaned on by Shapiro or the Koch brothers or anybody else. Lessin and Deal saw it differently: This wasnt a failed negotiation or a divergence of visions; it was censorship, pure and simple. Its the very thing our film is about public servants bowing to pressures, direct or indirect, from high-dollar donors. PBS ombudsman Michael Getler looked into the whole thing and threw up his hands: Who can know anything for certain amid the informational wilderness of our society? He did admit that what we may be dealing with here may be a form of self-censorship in which officials at ITVS, and maybe at WNET and PBS itself, become wary of the impact of another PBS-distributed film critical of a hugely wealthy and politically active trustee, one who was reportedly contemplating a new, very large gift to public broadcasting. (Emphasis in the original.) He did not pause to inquire what the term public broadcasting means when it depends on the generosity of wealthy private individuals. Reading between the lines, it sounds as if PBS and/or WNET lost a whole bunch of money after the Gibney film, and were anxious to stop the bleeding. (But thats really just a guess.)
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/04/citizen_koch_the_movie_about_our_sick_democracy_pbs_tried_to_kill/
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Hatchet job on Putin only demonstrates the conformist spirit permeating US journalism -OpEd News
newthinking
Feb 2015
#1
I care about false / distorted narratives in the media; especially ones that try to push us to war
newthinking
Feb 2015
#3
Thank you. There is no doubt that some think if they keep putting out the same
snappyturtle
Feb 2015
#4