History Network pulls plug on Kennedy miniseries
By Joe Flint at Los Angeles Times
The Kennedys may have no one left serving on Capitol Hill, but the family still has enough clout to keep a miniseries about their political dynasty from airing in the United States.
In a statement, the History Channel said it has decided not air “The Kennedys,” an eight-part miniseries about the family that starred Greg Kinnear as President John F. Kennedy, Katie Holmes as his wife Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy and Barry Pepper as his brother Bobby Kennedy.
“While the film is produced and acted with the highest quality, after viewing the final product in its totality, we have concluded this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand,” the network said in a statement.
The History Channel had not set a date for the miniseries to air. It was expected to run later this spring, and is scheduled to premiere in March in Canada.
The concern from both the Kennedy family and their associates about this miniseries from Joel Surnow, a creator of the Fox action show “24,” was no secret. Heavy lobbying by the family and friends of the family played a key role in getting the project yanked, people close to the situation said.
People close to the Kennedys got their hands on an early script for the program and immediately blasted it. The late Theodore Sorensen, a senior advisor to President Kennedy, called the draft he saw a “one-sided right-wing script” that was “vindictive” and “malicious” in a short film about the project made by Robert Greenwald, a documentary filmmaker. Some people even managed to see the first few episodes of the completed program.
History Channel yanks ‘Kennedys’ miniseries
By Cinthia Littleton at Variety
Joel Surnow and the rest of the creative team involved with History’s eight-part miniseries “The Kennedys” are absorbing the shock of the news that the cabler has tabled plans to run the starry production starting in spring.
Move comes as a big surprise to the TV world as History has been touting the project starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes as a tentpole for the fast-growing channel. History reportedly had set aside $20 million in marketing coin to tubthump the mini.
In a sign of how surprised “The Kennedy’s” producers were by the news, Muse Entertainment and Asylum Entertainment retained Crisis PR firm Sitrick and Co. to distribute a statement:
“We are proud of the work all of our talent put into the making of “The Kennedys” and the painstaking efforts that went into creating a drama that is compelling while rich in historic detail. Although we regret this does not fit into the History Channel’s plans, we are confident that television viewers in the United States will join viewers from around the world in having an opportunity to watch this series in the near future.”
“The Kennedys” had already drawn major scrutiny because of Surnow’s unabashedly conservative leanings and criticism from some that the script was skewed to be highly critical of Kennedy’s legacy and his liberal ideology.
Fox Slammed by L.A. Times — ‘Shouldn’t Call Itself a News Organization’
By Joshua Holland at Alternet
On Friday, the Los Angeles Times broke a taboo of sorts among mainstream news organizations by urging Fox News to “crack down on… partisanship in its news ranks” or ”stop pretending to be an objective news source.”
The editorial was prompted by the leak of an internal Fox News memo ordering its “reporters” to “refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question.” The memo was sent by Bill Sammon, Fox News’ Washington managing editor, in 2009 and released by Media Matters last week.
The Times noted that “such data aren’t in serious dispute among climate scientists.”
The way the data are interpreted can vary; it’s legitimate for climate skeptics to reach conclusions that contradict mainstream theories. But only a crank would deny the underlying temperature data that show the Earth getting warmer — records compiled by independent stations around the world, combined with satellite measurements and confirmed by observations of rising sea levels, vanishing glaciers and other inputs — because to do so is to deny material and measurable facts. Instructing reporters to treat such facts as controversial is like telling them to question the laws of gravity when discussing plane crashes. The only reason for doing it is to further a partisan agenda, in this case an attempt to cast doubt on climate science in order to fend off government efforts to limit greenhouse gases.
New Video Exposes Fiorina as a Jobs Killer
By California Chronicle
A new two-minute video has surfaced on the Internet showing Tea Party candidate Carly Fiorina speaking to news media about her record of exporting American jobs overseas. The video is called Carly Fiorina is a Job Killer and begins with Fox News Reporter Chris Wallace interviewing Fiorina whom he tells, “The facts are that you laid off more than 30,000 American workers and many of those jobs went to India and China.”
Fiorina is running for U.S. Senate in California and has spent about $6.5 million of her own money to try to win the seat against Senator Barbara Boxer, who holds a 7-point lead over Fiorina. Tea Party candidate Meg Whitman has spent over $140 of her own money to win the Governor´s race against Jerry Brown. Whitman is trailing brown by over 10 points in the final days of the election.
New Site Says ‘Lieberman Must Go’
From Susan Davis at The Wall Street Journal
A new Web video and online petition is calling for the ousting of Sen. Joe Lieberman from the Senate’s Democratic Caucus because of his support of the war in Iraq and his endorsement of expected Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
“We CANNOT tolerate a leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus who supports George Bush and McCain’s War in Iraq. We CANNOT tolerate a Democratic chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee who endorses and stumps for McCain,” states www.LiebermanMustGo.com.
The Video features a mash-up of cable news talking heads and Lieberman himself discussing his support for the war and McCain. Since his unsuccessful 2000 bid on Al Gore’s presidential ticket, the Connecticut senator has increasingly parted ways with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Lieberman lost the 2006 Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, but ultimately won the general election running as an Independent. He still caucuses with Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who hold a narrow 51-49 majority with the help of Lieberman and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also an Independent.
Lieberman’s support of McCain has been vexing to many Democrats, including Obama at times. The Illinois senator had a widely reported exchange with Lieberman on the Senate floor earlier this month, shortly after Obama secured the party’s nomination. At the same time, Lieberman was criticizing Obama for his statements on Iran.
So far over 32,000 people have signed the online petition. The video, produced by Los Angeles-based Brave New Films, has already been viewed about 100,000 times, according to their Web traffic. The left-leaning outfit has also produced Web videos critical of McCain, including one in late May that has been viewed over 2.5 million times. “Americans are tired of this type of old petty partisan politics. Sen. Lieberman will continue to put the country’s interests before partisan interests,” said Marshall Wittmann, Lieberman’s spokesman, in response to the site.
More Incoming Fire for Meg: “Not for Sale”
By Ted Johnson at Variety
Via his Brave New Films, Robert Greenwald already has produced web vids targeting Carly Fiorina, and now he is turning to Meg Whitman and the money she has spent running for governor. It’s actually kind of tough … and angry.
Read more: http://www.wilshireandwashington.com/2010/10/more-incoming-fire-for-meg-not-for-sale.html#ixzz137pQCwcH
Visit Variety.com to become a Variety subscriber.
Via his Brave New Films, Robert Greenwald already has produced web vids targeting Carly Fiorina, and now he is turning to Meg Whitman and the money she has spent running for governor. It’s actually kind of tough … and angry.
Carly Fiorina is a Job killer
By Peter Rothberg at the Nation
This morning, Carly Fiorina, a Tea Party–backed political neophyte running against California Senator Barbara Boxer, a three-term Democratic incumbent, released two new ads with the same message: her opponent represents the failures in Washington and she represents change.
What’s left unsaid is what Fiorina’s disastrous tenure running Hewlett-Packard represents. The company’s stock price dropped by 50 percent during her reign , only to rally 10 percent on the announcement of her firing. And despite touting her business experience, as company CEO she laid off 30,000 employees and shipped their jobs overseas. But now she claims that, as a senator, she’ll be a catalyst for creating jobs!
Watch this new video from Brave New Films for a detailed report on Fiorina’s record as CEO of Hewlett-Packard and meet some of the people who worked for her.
New Video Blasts Fiorina’s Business Decisions
By John North at ABC7 Online
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The November general election is just three weeks away, and attacks picked up Tuesday against Carly Fiorina, the Republican challenger for U.S. Senate.
Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer got one vote Tuesday as she cast her ballot. Boxer’s allies accused her Republican opponent, Carly Fiorina, of being reckless and insensitive when she headed Hewlett-Packard. They’re doing it with people Fiorina laid off at HP, and by posting a cutting video on the Internet.
They’re doing it with people Fiorina laid off at HP and by posting a cutting video on the Internet.
The video is supplied by Brave New Films, a production company that in the past has targeted Republican John McCain, as well as retail giant Walmart.
Fiorina, who got millions from HP when she was fired, laid off more than 30,000 people.
Fiorina and the layoffs were the targets at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has endorsed Boxer.
Two of the people fired by Fiorina were in attendance at a news conference held by Boxer supporters.
Susan Walsh was an executive administrative assistant at HP.
“I’m one of 30,000 and I’m struggling, and I’m on unemployment,” Wash said. “And let me tell you, it’s not pretty in my household.”
Mike Angles was a manager with 21 years at HP. He was within 18 months of retirement.
“I’m really frightened by the potential damage that she can do in the future,” Angles said. “But not at a company level — now at a national level.”
Before campaigning in Northern California on Tuesday, Fiorina was in Orange County on Monday and was asked about laying off all those people. She turned the subject to her opponent.