White House summons biz chieftains

November 7, 2001 4:35 PM

White House summons biz chieftains The industry's top leaders, including Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone and News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, will assemble in Beverly Hills Sunday morning with Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, to hammer out a specific agenda for the entertainment industry to aid the fight on terrorism. They say it's not about propaganda, it's to identify strategies and agree on practical ideas, which may involve films as well as TV messages. Huh? That sounds like propaganda to me.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet (15 comments total)

It's not foo, it's dictionary definition of foo!

Sheesh. That's pretty brazen.
posted by Potsy at 4:37 PM on November 7, 2001

Wow...I wonder if we'll see Bugs Bunny handing anvils to cartoon Saudi "ragheads" to a Charlie Daniels soundtrack.
posted by tpoh.org at 4:43 PM on November 7, 2001

I wonder if we'll see John Milius update Frank Capra's Why We Fight.
posted by MrBaliHai at 4:57 PM on November 7, 2001

This is basically about squeezing the Hollywood industry for money, and probably has very little to do with discussing specific agenda for the entertainment industry to aid the fight on terrorism. It's basically, 'Hey, you guys are enjoying/about to enjoy major tax breaks, so you're going to pay us back for it. And don't go against us, because we've got 90% popularity right now, understand!' Basically, an offer the 'biz' chieftains can't refuse.
posted by Rastafari at 5:03 PM on November 7, 2001

> This is basically about squeezing the Hollywood industry for money ...

So you think it is just simple extortion? Who gets the money? Bush personally? The GOP? The Treasury?
posted by sylloge at 5:22 PM on November 7, 2001

I'm not at all surprised by this. If the federal gov't is not above giving media corporations "attaboy" tax credits for injecting anti-drug messages into their TV shows, it's certainly not above enlisting these conglomerates in the current War Against The People Who Hate Freedom. I predict tax credits will follow soon, as these businessmen will expect to be well paid for their patriotism.

We're in a very different situation in regards to mass media than we were during WWII, though, obviously. There are a lot more outlets for dissenting opinions, though about 75% (conservatively) of mainstream media is controlled by the same five or six companies.

Veddy interesting...
posted by Ty Webb at 7:00 PM on November 7, 2001

Metafilter MUST live.
posted by rushmc at 8:04 PM on November 7, 2001

Metafilter MUST live.

I agree! We cannot let Metafilter die. We need it as much as we need The War Against Terrorism (TWAT). TWAT is an essential part of what makes America and the rest of the free world great. We exist because TWAT is an ongoing, vital part of life. If it wasn't for TWAT we would be living in an oppressive, uncaring hell hole.

Long live TWAT!
posted by Neale at 8:18 PM on November 7, 2001

I wonder if we'll see Bugs Bunny handing anvils to cartoon Saudi "ragheads" to a Charlie Daniels soundtrack

Propaganda is really quite sophisticated, and you've been getting it for years.
posted by chaz at 8:59 PM on November 7, 2001

So you think it is just simple extortion? Who gets the money? Bush personally? The GOP? The Treasury?

Have you never heard of political fundraising? If you read the article, it says that the meeting was presided over by Karl Rove et al, whose main function it is to raise money for Bushes' re-election campaign or for for the Republican party in general. How hard of a concept is THAT to grasp?
posted by Rastafari at 10:38 PM on November 7, 2001

Yeah, after 8 years of the Bloodworth-Tomasons practically living in the Lincoln bedroom it's so scancalous to hear about an official meeting between the White House and entertainment companies...

Then again perhaps America just has ADD on a massive scale. A bit like Democrats whining that Bloomberg bought the NYC elections, when Jon Corzine did the exact same thing last year... but then again that was a completely different thing, right?
posted by clevershark at 11:23 PM on November 7, 2001

> Have you never heard of political fundraising? ... How hard of a concept is THAT to grasp?

Of course I've heard of it. It's not that I don't understand, it's that I think you're wrong.

The entertainment industry already has plenty of lobbyists, and the GOP plenty of fundraisers. I'm sure the twain have met, and will continue to meet on a regular basis. I'm sure that lots of money changes hands and an unfortunate amount of that money buys things other than a smooth-rolling political process.

However, I don't think this meeting has anything to do with GOP fundraising. CEOs don't all get together for stuff like that -- it gets delegated and done behind closed doors. And most of the money will go to individual influential members of the house and senate, not to the exec branch.

I think it's facile to assume that any contact is a shakedown, especially since you end up effectively ignoring what's actually disturbing about this: the white house dictating what the moronic masses get to watch on TV and in the cinema for the purposes of getting them to continue to support a policy decision.
posted by sylloge at 2:11 AM on November 8, 2001

Bush was on the board of Silver Screen Management Co. from 1983 to 1993--this isn't his first link-up with Hollywood. The firm raised money from tens of thousands of investors and helped finance many successful movies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the R-rated hits "Good Morning, Vietnam" and "Pretty Woman" and the PG-rated "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Dead Poets Society." Silver Screen also financed Walt Disney's first R-rated film, "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," as well as two of Disney's most successful G-rated movies, "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid."
posted by Carol Anne at 4:52 AM on November 8, 2001

The War Against Terrorism (TWAT)

::: has always wondered if people really did spew liquids through their noses while reading MeFi, as so often claimed...now knows (and nose) :::

You know, though, you're going to offend certain people again with this negative characterization of their genitalia. ;)
posted by rushmc at 6:34 AM on November 8, 2001

three ring circus sideshow
posted by clavdivs at 7:07 AM on November 8, 2001