ABC's 9/11 propaganda film

I didn't have the time today to write about the growing controversy over ABC's 9/11 propaganda film, a controversy exposed almost exclusively by superb reporting and analysis from bloggers. Digby has done some excellent reporting on this issue concerning who is behind the project and what seems to be motivating Disney, and this Digby post in particular explains perfectly what is so disturbing about ABC's bizarre conduct here. I recommend it highly.

Jennifer Nix adds some important observations, and Think Progress documents some of the outright factual inaccuracies in the film here, here and here. This is a very important story with regard to how our media works -- ABC airing, for free, two months before a critical election, a false and politically-biased propaganda film, written and directed by two right-wing activists, about the political causes of the 9/11 attacks which has the Rush Limbaughs and Hugh Hewitts of the world falling all over themselves with glee. As Digby says:

There is obviously nothing wrong with these conservative activists making films. . . . But it is more than a little bit odd that ABC chose this particular creative duo to develop and film a hugely expensive six hour mini-series about the political culpability for 9/11.

You'd think they could have found some people who were less politically invested in a particular point of view than these two. It's even more odd that they have gone such great lengths to advertise it as being based upon the bipartisan 9/11 Commission Report when, in fact, they optioned two other books as sources for the film, one of
which is widely touted on the right. Therefore, the series is quite obviously a compilation of several sources and the product of the worldview of its rightwing creative team. In other words it is a work of fiction.

To advertise it as being "based" on the 9/11 Commission Report is a fraud on the public. And now they have announced that they will not show advertising on this big 40 million dollar investment and will distribute it for free to 100,000 educators around the country and on i-tunes. It's basically a gift to the Republican party and the conservative movement.

I agree with all of that completely, and I hope to write more about this tomorrow.