Saturday, October 28, 2006
Dixie Chicks Say NBC, CW Rejected Ad - free speech issues?
NBC and the CW networks have reportedly recently refused to accept commercial spots for the new Dixie Chicks documentary which opens in theaters today. Natalie Maines' (of the Dixie Chicks) public criticism of President George W. Bush on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq led to considerable controversy for the group.
IMO: It seems that Ian Hislop got sacked from some US Network (possibly NBC) because he had wanted to state the obvious, that the then President, (Reagan) was an "asshole". Hislop has done quite well (with editing 'Private Eye' and TV work) in the UK since then. I do not know if it is cause and effect. The two situations on examination (Hislop and the Dixie Chicks) do not seem quite the same, but the high level of real censorship in the US in a perverse and effectively covert way, as compared to the stated US tolerance of free speech, is quite striking.
IMO: It seems that Ian Hislop got sacked from some US Network (possibly NBC) because he had wanted to state the obvious, that the then President, (Reagan) was an "asshole". Hislop has done quite well (with editing 'Private Eye' and TV work) in the UK since then. I do not know if it is cause and effect. The two situations on examination (Hislop and the Dixie Chicks) do not seem quite the same, but the high level of real censorship in the US in a perverse and effectively covert way, as compared to the stated US tolerance of free speech, is quite striking.
# posted by uv : 10:23 PM
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