The following is the text of an e-mail that I just sent to Sinclair Broadcasting Corporation, owner of local ABC affiliate ABC-45 in Winston-Salem, over their outrageous decision to not air tonight’s “Nightline” broadcast that will read the names of soldiers killed so far in Iraq. The e-mail expresses my feelings just as well as anything I could re-hash in this space.
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As a United States citizen and a resident in the ABC 45 (Winston-Salem, NC) viewing area, I find Sinclair Broadcast Group’s decision not to air tonight’s broadcast of “Nightline” reprehensible, hypocritical, and a gross abuse of your power and privilege as a steward of the public airwaves.
Your statement claims “Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.” It could just as easily be stated that your decision to not air tonight’s “Nightline” episode appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to mute the voices of those who discuss the price this country is paying for our actions in Iraq. Your decision to censor Mr. Koppel smacks of the very political bias of which you accuse him and his program. This is hypocrisy of the highest degree.
Further, who are you to judge what is and what is not a political statement, and therefore what should be shared across our public airwaves? While there are no doubt people whose opposition to the war will increase when they see the names of these casualties read this evening, there are also people whose resolve to support the war will increase to ensure that these men and women did not die in vain.
Who are you to pre-judge the reaction of the public that granted you stewardship of its airways in the first place? We have given you this privilege such that we might share in the free expression of ideas, not so that you can censor communication that does not match with your political ideology. This is the United States of America, not North Korea.
How are we to ever trust in your stewardship of our airwaves after this? What prevents you from blocking our access to broadcasts that discuss gay marriage, healthcare, or any other hot button issue of the day? Will discussion of these topics be deemed as “motivated by a political agenda” as you assert with the “Nightline” broadcast? Where can we count on you to draw the line? The answer is that we can’t. Once you have traversed this slippery slope we can never have faith again in your willingness to uphold the First Amendment. Censoring this broadcast this evening will represent a breach in trust that many others and I will never forgive.
Lastly, your call for us to “first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorist attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001″ makes absolutely no sense. What’s your point? Perhaps Mr. Koppel didn’t read the names of the 9/11 victims because they’ve already been read publicly and broadcast to the nation on the last two anniversaries of the attack. Your affiliates did broadcast these events, right? Or did you also censor these as broadcasts motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine U.S. efforts against terrorism?
The reading of the names of 9/11 victims serves as a reminder to most Americans about the needless loss of life that day. There is little debate about this. There is, however, considerable debate as to whether the lives being lost in Iraq are being lost needlessly or not. “Nightline” is attempting to bring that debate into our homes by describing the loss in terms more detailed than we get simply by watching the nightly news.
Whether Mr. Koppel’s views on this subject are politically motivated or not is not for you to decide. It is for we the American public to decide. Sadly, your irresponsible and repressive censorship of this broadcast will prevent Americans like myself from being able to make that decision.
Shame on your company. I urge you to reverse this decision and fulfill your responsibility to the American people. Your refusal to air this broadcast only serves to erode the freedoms that our men and women in Iraq - whom you claim to support - are fighting for.
Sincerely,
Jamie Gaines
Summerfield, North Carolina
The blizzog has mentioned before that we love ESPN’s “The Sport’s Guy”, Bill Simmons. His article this week that chronicles the NFL draft had this priceless quote that I had to reprint here. On ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s comments about NC State’s Philip Rivers: “I saw a lot of Bernie Kosar in Rivers,” Kiper tells us. Is that a compliment? That’s like saying, “I see a lot of Ian Ziering in the guy who plays Luke on ‘The OC.’ “
That’s just plain old good times right there.
In protest of the travesty that has become American Idol, the blizzog is withholding its review of last night’s show. We will return to our senses when America does and ends the red reign of John Stevens. In the meantime, we will stand here with one fist raised in opposition. Stop the madness, America.
Who needs the Tour de France when we have this?
Three words: Hell. Freakin’. Yeah.
I’ll take Macon to Alpharetta over Liège to Paris Champs-Élysées any day.
If you’re movin’ out and decide to say goodbye to Hollywood because you’re in a New York state of mind, and a big shot stranger offers to give you a ride, don’t wait until your half a mile a way or on 52nd street before you realize who is driving. He may be an innocent man, but make sure it seems he hasn’t had an accident-free driving experience in the longest time. You may think that it’s okay to go with him. You may be right, and I may be crazy. If you have a friend that is thinking of hitching a ride with Joel, you should tell her about it. Don’t ask me why.
Are there no other movies coming out for the rest of the year besides “Van Helsing”? It seems like they have been showing commercials for this thing since the Super Bowl. The 2003 Super Bowl. It would be one thing if this movie looked cool. I might be halfway excited about it. Too bad it doesn’t.
I was reading the other day how Universal is using the movie as a vehicle to revive interest in the three horror characters that formed the foundation of the studio back in the day: Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man. I’m all for that, but wouldn’t it have been a better idea to release three separate movies that delve into the mythology of each character? That way they could’ve connected with hardcore fans of each franchise while bringing new people in.
Instead, they plan to remind us of the golden age of Hollywood by beating us into submission with the Happy Meal age of Hollywood? Good plan. Nothing will get people excited about Frankenstein like a “Van Helsing” lunch box and a crappy-ass Playstation game that will come out 8 months after the film releases. Great thinking, Universal.
Maybe I’m wrong and this move will actually rock. But early indications are that I’m right.
Universal might be smelling a hit, but all I smell is a Godzilla-sized turd coming our way this summer. Watch your step.
The blizzog would like to send the warmest of shout-outs and a hearty Ka Huaka`i Maika`i to Jigga, Mrs. Jigga, Mike, and Hot Manda as they max and relax in Hawaii this week. We’re sorry that we couldn’t be out their with you. Have a great time!
Don’t forget my dancing hula chick for the car. Coconut shells optional. 
A hui hou,
JG
In keeping with last night’s baseball metaphors, the rest of this American Idol season is being played under protest as far as the blizzog is concerned. Tonight’s results show had the most ludicrous bottom 3 I’ve ever seen in any episode of the show in any season. Fantasia, La Toya and especially Jennifer had the three best performances last night. For them to be in the bottom 3 and for Jennifer to go home tells me that either… a.) the voting system for this show has been somehow compromised, or b.) America is just that stupid.
I tend to think there’s a lot more of “b.)” going on than any kind of conspiracy theory. I think you have a bunch of silly teeny-bopper white girls doing the majority of the voting, and they are not connecting for whatever reason with the three ladies that were in the bottom 3 tonight. I can’t even think of a good explanation as to how things came down the way they did tonight.
I’m so disappointed in this I almost don’t care to watch the rest of the season.
Almost…..
Barry Freaking Manilow? At first this was sounding like a bad idea to me all around, despite all of the “Fanilows” in the crowd. (Did anyone see that Will and Grace, btw?) But once I heard him talking about how they re-arranged his songs for the Idol gang to sing, I thought this might be kind of cool.
Diana DeGarmo - Diana is on borrowed time at this point as far as I’m concerned. I’m not quite sure how she is still here. I get how this performance was supposed to be big and powerful, but it came off flat and behind. I’m not quite sure what the judges are loving about this performance. Color me confused.
George Huff - George didn’t have his best performance last week. I’m hoping he can rally back this week, but so far it’s not seeming that way. This song is just all up and down the scale, and it seems like G-Huff is trying to delibrately hit each one along the way. This performancealso is sounding a bit flat to me. The audience is digging it though. Hopefully that will be enough to pull him through. I’m starting to get a bit concerned about George.
Jennifer Hudson - I’m so glad that she’s on the rally. We really like Jennifer personally. She has such a great attitude about this whole thing. Even better news, she’s just killing it this evening. She does a wonderful job of singing “big” without going over the top like so many people do. She has been getting so much better each week. AG thinks that she does better up in the octave where she’s been performing the past few weeks as opposed to the lower range stuff she was trying to do earlier. I definitely agree.
Jasmine Trias - Jasmine has been making some bad song choices lately. She’s swinging for the fences with a voice that is better suited to the seeing-eye single. She did a much better job this week of staying within herself, and the performance benefitted. I think it might be too late for her in the competition, but I was glad to see her do so much better this week.
La Toya London - Keeping with the needless baseball references, La Toya has been doing a good job of batting for average this whole season. She doesn’t really blow me away, but she’s never terrible either. This is yet another good performance from her. For some reason I’m not able to get on the La Toya train though.
John Stevens - I’m simply at a loss on why the hell John is still here. Even newspapers in his home state can’t figure it out. AG compared his performance tonight to a Saturday Night Live skit where one of the performers is imitating someone doing a greatest hits album. His expression tonight was so calculated, almost robotic. I’ll say again that he should be gone tonight. Not that it will do any good, but I’ll say it anyway.
Fantasia Barrino - This is the best performance we’ve seen from Fantasia in a few weeks, though I don’t think she ever really slipped out of the top spot in many minds. This was a really good performance tonight. The energy was great. It was a bit tough to hear her though. The sound mix has been weird for some of the performers the past few weeks, almost drowning them out at times. I could do without the shots of her kid all over the place too.
blizzog bottom 3
1. John Stevens
2. Diana Degarmo
3. Jasmine Trias
Gone: John Stevens
AG bottom 3
1. John Stevens
2. Diana DeGarmo
3. Jasmine Trias
Gone: John Stevens
You know what I think the bottom 3 should be, but choosing what I think America will do is a tough one. I have the sinking feeling that this is one of those shows where one of the really good people (read: George, Fantasia, La Toya, or Jennifer) might slip into the Bottom 3 because stupid little girls are keeping the improbable John Stevens rally going.
Stupid Little Girls’ Bottom 3
1. Jasmine Trias
2. La Toya London
3. John Stevens
Gone: Jasmine Trias
Isn’t it ironic how just a mere month after ribbing my friends about the infrequency of their blog updates I now find myself posting barely twice a week? Ooops.
Isn’t it also ironic how I might be not using “ironic” correctly? Or am I?
