09.07.06
Open Letter to ABC: Don’t Airbrush 9/11
MyDD’s Matt Stoller and others have developed Open Letter to ABC, a blog that seeks to persuade ABC to admit its $40 million fictional docudrama “The Path to 9/11″ is filled with inaccuracies. The site traces the source material for the mockumentary back to “an avowed right-wing activist” and Bush administration PR flack John Miller, catalogues a number of significant fabrications, and provides links to sites that promote citizen action.
Thursday’s, Washington Post includes a column by Howard Kurtz in which he notes the swiftness of the liberal counterattack:
The assault on “The Path to 9/11″ assumed the trappings of a campaign yesterday. Four senior House Democrats — John Conyers Jr., Jane Harman, John D. Dingell and Louise M. Slaughter — have written Iger to demand that the inaccuracies be corrected. Spurred by the Center for American Progress, which is headed by Clinton chief of staff John D. Podesta, 25,000 people have sent letters of protest to ABC.
The following ABC affiliates in our area currently plan to air this agitprop Sunday and Monday, the fifth anniversary of 9/11. It would be interesting to know whether these local stations are aware that ABC is exploiting the moment to engage in revisionist history, and if they would consider airing rebuttals to the film’s lies. If you get a response, please provide it in a comment to this post. Also, TPM’s Josh Marshall has been asking for feedback from the local affiliates, and would appreciate hearing what you learned.
- KVUE 24; KVUE Television, Inc.; 3201 Steck Avenue; Austin TX 78757; Programming: 512-459-2005; President/GM Patti C. Smith
- KXXV 25; Centex Television Limited Partnership; 1909 South New Road
P.O. Box 2522; Waco TX 76702; Waco studios: 254-754-2525
One technique that has proven quite effective when working with local television stations is to write down the list of local businesses whose advertisements appear in each station’s 10 p.m. newscasts. Next, locate key personnel at each business who are involved in purchasing advertising and make them aware that you are disappointed that their company is associating itself with this offensive programming, and that you intend to encourage everyone you know to take their business elsewhere.
All it takes is one or two advertisers calling their sales contacts at the station, and soon you have an affiliate willing to provide a few minutes of rebuttal or a refusal to air this insult.
UPDATE: The list of advertisements featured on KVUE’s 10 PM newscast on 9/7/2006 is below the fold.
KVUE-TV News, Thursday, September 7, 2006
10:07 PM
texastomorrowfunds.org
Schlotsky’s
Star Furniture
Classic Toyota (classicrr.com)
Adjacency: Greater TX FCU
10:12 PM
Whataburger
Toyota TX
Brake Specialists Plus Total Car Care (split)
Karavel Shoes karavelshoes.com
Adjacency: Louis Shanks
Adjacency (Wx photo contest): Precision Camera & Video
Adjacency (allergens): Austin American Statesman
10:20 PM
Adjacency: Precision Camera & Video
Lacks
TX Chevrolet
Conn’s  conns.com
Time Warner Cable Austin
Ashley Furniture
PSA: Marathon Kids
ABC Promo “Path to 9/11″
10:25 PM
Adjacency (sports highlight): Ford
Ford TX
Time Warner Cable Austin
Dimension Builders (dimensionbuilders.com)
Crestview RVs Austin/Buda
10:29 PM
Maxwell Pontiac GMC
Brake Specialists Plus Total Car Care (split)
YellowWood
Toyota Trucks
McDonald’s
Bart Atencio. D. C. (www.drxreports.com)
10:33 PM
Gov. Rick Perry campaign
Tilson Home Corporation (tilsonland.com)
Nature Sweet Cherub Tomatos
Carole Keeton Strayhorn for Governor