Disney forced ABC to pull story on Disney's Pedophile Problem

[populistdriven]

ABC's Story on Disney's Pedophile Problem Gets the Spike

If David Westin, the president of ABC News, were to ask the magic mirror on the wall who was fairest of them all, the answer would disappoint him just as it did the wicked queen. Westin, a lawyer with no journalistic experience who took over the news division less than six months ago, already has badly tarnished what conservatives used to regard as the fairest of the TV network-news operations.

He is proving that there is some merit to the claims of leftists who maintain that the capitalists who control news-media companies can and do shape the way the news is covered. The leftists' claims were rooted in their ideology, not based on any concrete evidence of management's meddling in the news-rooms. Marxists, knowing how they would dictate to editors and reporters if they were in control, assume that capitalists must do the same thing.

I found out how wrong they were during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The head of the Committee for a Free Afghanistan, knowing that I was on friendly terms with Leonard Goldenson, the chairman of ABC, asked me to inform Goldenson that a story ABC News was planning to air could jeopardize an important channel of aid to the Afghan freedom fighters. I discussed this with Goldenson. He agreed that would be an undesirable outcome. He said he would see what he could do about it, but it turned out that he could do nothing. He agreed with those who told him that it would be improper, even in this case, to violate the rule that management should not try to influence news coverage.

Tom Murphy, Leonard Goldenson's successor, took a similar hands-off approach, even resisting persistent efforts by Accuracy in Media to get him to direct ABC News to correct a serious error. But now Michael Eisner, the chairman of the Walt Disney Co., is the ultimate boss of ABC News. He has shown that he wants David Westin and the ABC newsroom to respect his wishes. One of his wishes is that ABC News refrain from airing stories that are damaging to Disney. He made this clear on Sep. 29, when Eisner said on Fresh Air, a National Public Radio program: "I would prefer ABC not to cover Disney ... ABC News knows that I would prefer them not to cover ." Only days later, a story that was to air on 20/20 exposing Disney's lax attitude toward employing pedophiles at its theme parks was killed by David Westin.

(more)

Disney's Pedophile Problem

(more #2)
Disney's Pedophile Problem

[babylonsister]

1. Did you say DISNEY'S PEDOPHILE PROBLEM?

:evilgrin:

[valerief]

2. Yeah, that's how it reads in the linked article. n/t

[populistdriven]

5. ABC News Bows To Disney

looking for a transcript of the NPR interview

[babylonsister]

14. I know. I was just

typing it 'really loud' so everyone would hear. ;-)

[Selatius]

3. I am guessing the pedophile story hasn't yet seen the light of day, yes?

If so, that's pretty shocking, but unfortunately, there's a lot of shocking things in the US today.

[populistdriven]

4. What is it about Disney that attracts Pedophiles?

Disney's Pedophile Problem

In 1998, Disney-owned ABC News killed a 20/20 segment by Brian Ross, its leading investigative reporter, about Disney World in Florida. Ross was prepared to air charges that Disney was so lax in doing background checks on employees that it had hired pedophiles. Although ABC News claimed the cancellation was due to factors other than pressure from above, the stench of conflict-of-interest could not help but fill the air.

[NYCGirl]

6. On the second page of that article, you see the byline of Reed Irvine —

"Reed Irvine is the chairman of Accuracy in Media, a press watchdog group based in Washington."

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU LINK UP WITH! This is a Scaife-funded wacko organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_in_Media

In 1998, head of AIM, Irvine Reed at the Conservative Political Action Conference, claimed there was a conspiracy within the Republican Party to "suppress investigations of Clinton administration scandals."<2> He noted, "Conspiracy is a word that has been given a very bad connotation -- it's become synonymous with 'kooky,'" he told a Post reporter.<2> "But really it has a very good connotation." In other words, he elaborated, some conspiracy theories are valid. But not Hillary Clinton's notion of a vast right-wing conspiracy. "She's kooky," he said."<2>

AIM has been critical of the United Nations and its coverage by the media. In February 2005, AIM revealed that United Nations correspondents, including a correspondent for The Nation named Ian Williams, had accepted money from the UN while covering it for their publications. AIM also revealed that the United Nations Correspondents Association may have violated immigration laws by employing the wife of Williams. Williams and The Nation denied wrongdoing. <1><2> The charges were also reported by FrontPage Magazine. The allegations concerning Williams receiving UN cash was picked up by Brit Hume and the Fox News Channel. <3>

AIM has also been vigorously defensive of former Senator Joseph McCarthy, referring to his critics as "liars" and "communists," and defending his legacy, claiming that he never once fingered an innocent person in his accusations during the red scare.


Irvine claims that 75 percent of AIM's funding comes from contributors donating $100 (USD) or less. Only three donors of the remainder are given by name: the Allied Educational Foundation, Shelby Cullom Davis, and billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. Scaife gave $2 million to Accuracy in Media since 1977 -1997.<7>

[populistdriven]

7. Disney would still seem to have a Pedophile Problem..

[NYCGirl]

8. On the third one, here's some information about co-author Kincaid:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200512100001

Cliff Kincaid is a right-wing writer and activist who has been a longtime critic of the United Nations and other multinational organizations. He is also a writer and editor at Accuracy in Media (AIM), a right-wing media "watchdog" organization. He has received significant support for his work from foundations controlled by right-wing financier Richard Mellon Scaife, who has funded AIM as as well as Kincaid's own organization, America's Survival. America's Survival is dedicated to "educat the American people and to expos the influence of global institutions, including an International Criminal Court, on their lives." The organization appears to be run from Kincaid's personal residence.

AIM was founded in 1969 by the late right-wing economist Reed Irvine, and it has served as an incubator for unfounded right-wing allegations and conspiracy theories:

* During the 1999 war in Kosovo, Kincaid and Irvine accused the Clinton administration of "demonizing" then-Yugoslavian leader Slobodan Milosevic -- currently on trial at the Hague on charges of genocide and war crimes.
* A February 1, 2005 "AIM Report" repeated misleading allegations that "officials of the United Nations ... started a campaign blaming the U.S. for being 'stingy' and 'slow' to respond to the Asian tsunami disaster." In fact, the U.N. official who made the "stingy" remark, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland, was referring to Western countries as a whole and never singled out the United States.

Much more at the link

[populistdriven]

9. true, there is nothing good in giving AIM any more direct traffic

I pulled the 3rd one

[NYCGirl]

10. The first one is by Reed Irvine, who's even worse than Kincaid. NT

[populistdriven]

11. Found the NPR interview: September 29, 1998

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&prgDate=29-Sep-98

No online audio or transcript though

[DrBlix]

12. Careful who you link up with is right

A little run down on Richard Mellon Scaife
.
http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=434&name=Richard-Mellon-Scaife

[OneBlueSky]

13. if Democrats ever regain power, we need to change the laws . . .

that govern the media to encourage diversity of ownership, outlook, and opinion . . .

capitalism is all well and good, I suppose, but only if it's regulated to protect the public's interests . . .

and having diversity in the media is most certainly in our best interests . . .

in fact, it's essential to a free and just society . . .