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Court Rejects FCC Attempt to Rewrite Nation's Media Ownership
Laws
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 Opens Across the Country,
Despite GOP & Disney Attempts to Limit Its Reach
Actor Mike Farrell on Politics and Hollywood: M*A*S*H Couldn't
Be On TV Today
Court Rejects FCC Attempt to Rewrite Nation's Media
Ownership Laws
A US federal appeals court yesterday blocked the implementation
of new FCC rules that would have allowed for greater media
consolidation. In a 2-1 ruling, the court ordered the FCC
to provide detailed justification to support their decision
to lift many caps on cross ownership that limit how many tv
stations and newspapers a single company can own in a geographical
area. We talk to Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project,
which filed the suit.
Today, we are broadcasting from Los Angeles, California as
we continue our Exception to the Rulers Media and Book Tour.
And today our show will focus on Hollywood and the media.
Michael Moore's new film Farenheit 9-11 opens in theaters
nationwide today, as Republican groups try to stop the film's
distribution and the Carlyle Group-with its close ties to
the Bush family-buys out the Loews Theater chains. Later in
the program, we will hear from Michael Moore, as well as actor
Mike Farrell-who was one of the stars of the hit TV series
MASH. But first, we turn to a major court decision yesterday
on the issue of media ownership. Media activists are calling
it a historic victory and a major setback for the Bush administration's
media policy.
More than a year after the Federal Communications Commission
narrowly endorsed a radical rewrite of media ownership laws
that would have allowed fewer media corporations to own more
media outlets, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
in Philadelphia overturned the FCC's attempts to relax media
ownership rules. The Court ordered the commission to revisit
the issue, saying it should focus on protecting, rather than
undermining, the public interest in diverse ownership or local
and national media.
- Pete Tridish, organizer with the Prometheus
Radio Project, a Philadelphia not-for-profit dedicated
to the democratization of the airwaves through the proliferation
of non-commercial, community based, micropower radio stations.
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 Opens Across the
Country, Despite GOP & Disney Attempts to Limit Its Reach
Moore's new film examines President Bush"s actions before
and after the Sept. 11 attacks including his ties to prominent
Saudis including the family of Osama bin Laden.
Michael Moore"s controversial new documentary, "Fahrenheit
9/11" opens in theaters nationwide today.
The film examines President Bush"s actions before and
after the Sept. 11 attacks including his ties to prominent
Saudis including the family of Osama bin Laden. Yesterday,
it broke single-day records at screenings at two theaters
in New York City.
In the months leading up to the debut of "Fahrenheit
9/11", controversy has surrounded the film. In early
May, Disney barred its Miramax division from distributing
the film, saying it didnt want to be "dragged into a
highly charged partisan political battle."
Soon afterwards, "Fahrenheit 9/11" was awarded
the prestigious Palme d"Or, the top prize at the Cannes
film festival. Moore took to the stage and addressed the crowd:
- Michael Moore, speaking at the Cannes film festival
Soon afterward, the rights to "Fahrenheit 9/11"
were sold to Harvey and Bob Weinstein who chose to person
ally distribute the film.
This past Tuesday, Moore and his distributors lost their
appeal to lower the films rating from R to PG-13. Moore said
of the R rating "It is sadly very possible that many
15- and 16-year-olds will be asked and recruited to serve
in Iraq in the next couple of years. If they are old enough
to be recruited and capable of being in combat and risking
their lives, they certainly deserve the right to see what
is going on in Iraq."
But the controversy did not end there. Just before todays
nationwide debut, the defense investment firm Carlyle Group
announced it had purchased a portion of Loews Cinema for $2
billion. Carlyle Group is an investment firm with close ties
to the Bush administration and the Saudi royal family.
In the latest news, a conservative group has asked federal
election officials to investigate whether television ads for
the film violate campaign finance laws prohibiting the use
of corporate money to air ads identifying a presidential candidate
in the 30 days before his party's nominating convention.
Moore called the complaint "a blatant attempt on the
part of a right-wing, Republican-sponsored group to stop people
from seeing my movie."
To talk about Hollywood and politics today we will be joined
by actor Mike Farrell. But first we turn to Michael Moore
in his own words. I spoke with him last October about his
upcoming film and his book "Dude, Where's My Country"
Actor Mike Farrell on Politics and Hollywood: M*A*S*H
Couldn't Be On TV Today
In a special broadcast from the capital of the film world,
we speak to actor and activist Mike Farrell.[includes
transcript]
We now turn to an actor who knows a lot about Hollywood--not
only did he he grow up here but he has been very active with
the Screen Actors Guild. We are joined by Mike Farrell. Perhaps
he is best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt in
the popular TV-series MASH. But Farrell is also known for
his social justice activism. In the lead-up to the Iraq war,
he was one of a number of actors who very publicly called
for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Since 1979, his work
with human rights groups and aid organizations has brought
him to dozens of countries, many of them ravaged by war. In
the 1980s, he began working with the aid organization CONCERN.
He traveled to Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
He has been to the Middle East several times. He was in Bosnia
and Croatia during the war in Yugoslavia and he has been to
many African nations. Over the years, Farrell has worked with
the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, the United Farm Workers, Amnesty
International, among others. He is currently the co-chair
of Human Rights Watch in California and is active with a number
of groups fighting to end the death penalty.
- Mike Farrell, is most famous for his part as Captain
B.J. Hunnicutt in the popular TV-series MASH. Over the years,
he has starred in many TV series, including "Providence."
In 2002 he was elected First Vice President of the Screen
Actors Guild in Los Angeles. He has been very outspoken
on a number of political issues including the war in Iraq,
as well as the death penalty.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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