"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed
posted by Rhaomi on Sep 11, 2009 - 69 comments

The Emmy nominations are out and the news nominations go to the biggest story, September 11. No surprises there. PBS has 41 nominations and Fox has 0. No surprises there either. Does this say something about the news industry and it's ability to discern serious news from chaff? Is Bill Moyers a national treasure? Do you think perhaps Murdoch should rethink the direction of his media empire?
posted by nofundy on Jul 31, 2002 - 19 comments

Variety reports (subscription temporarily not required due to the attacks) on changes in upcoming television programming due to perceived (and probably real) audience sensitivity. While we've seen some of this before (like concern over the plane exploding in the premiere of "24"), I see at least one change I'd feared: "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson," (episode 4F22, originally aired four years ago today as the season premiere) where Homer's car is booted at One World Trade Plaza and Homer climbs both towers looking for a bathroom, has been pulled from syndication and, unless Twentieth Television changes its mind, will not be aired again.

Also, Showtime has indefinitely postponed its airing of the well-received indie film "The Believer," about a "self-hating Jew who becomes an anti-semitic skinhead." Overly-senstive reactions or justified changes for a mourning nation?
posted by mdeatherage on Sep 24, 2001 - 29 comments

God bless Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, back for their first show after the attack. It's not completely new, but God knows I needed to see it. New York may be OK after all. (Comedy Central will repeat the show several times before Monday, so don't despair if you thought it would be a rerun and missed it.)
posted by mdeatherage on Sep 20, 2001 - 24 comments