I wrote about this in a couple of comments yesterday and someone suggested I diary it in order to draw a little more attention.
Two FCC Commissioners were on Wisconsin Public Radio yesterday discussing the problems of media consolidation, its affect on our political discourse, etc. They seemed like thoughtful gentlemen and like they would be open to hearing our point of view regarding the upcoming ABC mockery called "The Path to 9/11."
Well, they will be at a town hall meeting tonight in Milwaukee! I live in the Madison area and can't make it to Milwaukee. If you live in the Milwaukee area, please consider going and bringing up the ABC "docu-drama."
Link to town meeting page here.
They might be interested to hear that ABC is running this series
commercial free. The project is reported to have cost between
30 and 40 million dollars. Where is the money coming from? Preview copies of the video were only given to right-wing bloggers and pundits, and it has been strongly criticized by President Clinton, Richard Clark, Madeleine Albright, Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, and a Democratic member of the 9/11 commission, among others. This is all evidence that the film is highly partisan.
So then, doesn't the financing of the series represent a 30 to 40 million dollar in-kind contribution to the Republican Party? Isn't this a violation of campaign finance laws and possibly FCC licensing rules?
If you live in the Milwaukee area, please also consider contacting your school board members to let them know your displeasure with Scholastic Books' plans to support this project. Their email addresses were not listed on the website that I could find, but their names and phone numbers are here:
Milwaukee School Board
Joseph Dannecker, Board President, District 8, (414) 486-9358
Barbara Horton, Board Vice President, District 1, Ph: (414) 354-3369, Fax: (414) 354-0888
Kenneth L. Johnson, District 3, Phone (414) 475-8284
Jeff Spence, District 2, (414) 475-8284
Charlene Hardin, District 4, (414) 265-8182
Jennifer Morales, District 5, (414) 475-8284
Peter Thomas Blewett, District 6, (414) 475-8284
Danny Goldberg, District 7, (414) 475-8284
For those in the Madison area, please send an email to the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board Members. Their email addresses are here:
Madison School Board
ccarstensen@madison.k12.wi.us, lmathiak@madison.k12.wi.us,
rrobarts@madison.k12.wi.us,
asilveira@madison.k12.wi.us,
svang7@madison.k12.wi.us,
blehman@madison.k12.wi.us
And cc: the following Scholastic addresses:
Scholastic email addresses
rrobinson@scholastic.com, investor_relations@scholastic.com, news@scholastic.com
Here is the letter I sent to the MMSD and Deforest Area School District (DASD) board members:
Subject: Scholastic Books is supporting false ABC "docu-drama"
Dear Members of the MMSD and DASD Boards of Education:
It has recently come to my attention that Scholastic Books is providing online study guides and other educational materials in support of the ABC miniseries "The Path to 9/11," which is scheduled to be aired this coming Sunday and Monday, September 10 and 11, 2006. The miniseries contains numerous errors and is highly partisan in its overall characterization of events.
The definition of "propaganda" is as follows:
1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
This film and the timing of its airing are propaganda for a particular political view point. As a proud American, Wisconsinite, and independent voter, I find this highly disturbing. I am especially concerned that this false portrayal of history, a history that is important to ALL Americans, might be taught to our children.
Please do not allow the use of these materials from Scholastic Books in Madison and DeForest area schools. Please strongly request that Scholastic Books reconsider its support of this gross misrepresentation of history. Please advocate dropping all support and purchases from Scholastic Books should they choose to continue with this project.
For more information regarding the ABC miniseries and surrounding controversy, see the following links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
http://mediamatters.org/...
I would very much appreciate a reply letting me know how you plan to respond to Scholastic Books. Thanks very much for your time and consideration.
Very Sincerely,
If you have contact information for board members of other Milwaukee area school districts, please add them in the comments!