tagged w/ Current TV Italia
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Former US vice-president Al Gore has hit out at Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, accusing it of "an abuse of power" by forcing his liberal TV station off air in Italy because it did not fit in with the media giant's "ideological agenda".
In an interview with the Guardian, Gore said the Current TV news and documentary channel was told unexpectedly three weeks ago that it could no longer be carried by Sky Italia because of its decision to hire a US left-leaning commentator often critical of Murdoch's company.
He added that the decision reflected how News Corporation operated worldwide. "News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch," Gore said.
The decision, he added, was "a complete shock" but Current TV executives were told "off the record that the decision was taken on News Corp instructions from New York". The primary reason, he said, was "because Current is launching Keith Olbermann next month".
Olbermann – who styles himself as a leftwing alternative to the rightwing shock jock journalism of Fox News – worked at rival cable news network MSNBC until he left abruptly in January. This came after he was briefly suspended by MSNBC in November for making donations to three Democratic candidates in the midterm elections without seeking prior approval, in breach of company rules. "Olbermann has often been critical of News Corporation," Gore added.
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Click the link for more.Former US vice-president Al Gore has hit out at Rupert Murdoch's News... more
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Former US vice-president Al Gore has hit out at Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, accusing it of "an abuse of power" by forcing his liberal TV station off air in Italy because it did not fit in with the media giant's "ideological agenda".
In an interview with the Guardian, Gore said the Current TV news and documentary channel was told unexpectedly three weeks ago that it could no longer be carried by Sky Italia because of its decision to hire a US left-leaning commentator often critical of Murdoch's company.
He added that the decision reflected how News Corporation operated worldwide. "News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch," Gore said.
The decision, he added, was "a complete shock" but Current TV executives were told "off the record that the decision was taken on News Corp instructions from New York". The primary reason, he said, was "because Current is launching Keith Olbermann next month".
Olbermann – who styles himself as a leftwing alternative to the rightwing shock jock journalism of Fox News – worked at rival cable news network MSNBC until he left abruptly in January. This came after he was briefly suspended by MSNBC in November for making donations to three Democratic candidates in the midterm elections without seeking prior approval, in breach of company rules. "Olbermann has often been critical of News Corporation," Gore added.
Current TV broadcasts around the world, including the UK, but the channel has been more successful in Italy, where it claims that "one in three" Sky Italia viewers watch at some point during the week. However, Gore said that decision to not renew the channel's existing distribution deal also had implications in the UK – where News Corp's takeover of BSkyB is under review on the grounds of "media plurality".
"I know that News Corp is close to reaching an agreement to buy BSkyB. Now I may not be a party to that debate, but if anybody believes that [News Corp] will remain hands off if there are diverse opinions that do not agree with its ideological agenda then they are fools. This is proof positive of their abuse of power," Gore said.
However, Current TV's existing agreement with BSkyB does not expire until next year, so there is no immediate threat to its UK position on the satellite service in this country.
Gore also said he understood there has been "a rapprochement" in the struggle between News Corp and Silvio Berlusconi's media empire in Italy. Current TV has run several documentaries critical of the Italian premier and his government. "Sky Italia is in the midst of negotiations to enter the digital terrestrial television market and the need Berlusconi's support," he said.
Gore added that he had a "pleasant personal relationship" with Murdoch dating back to the former vice-president's time in the White House, and said that he wasn't sure exactly on whose authority the decision was made to order Current TV off the air in Italy. He said that he didn't want "to make this ad hominem" but added it was clear that Murdoch and News Corp had too much power.
Programming aired by Current TV in Italy has included Citizen Berlusconi, a documentary first produced by the US PBS network, and about the consequences of handing a media mogul formal political power.
"Anglo-American political theory highlights the problem. Too much power in the hands of one person is dangerous, no matter the ideology," Gore said. "The conversation of democracy, which used to happen in newspapers or in other public places now happens on the television screen. But this is a public space in which gatekeepers charge rents."
He cited the example of the 2003 Iraq war, in which News Corp had acted as "an aggressive cheerleader" for the US-led invasion, to the point where "three quarters of the American public got the impression that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attacks of 2001". This journalism, Gore said, "has consequences" and he argued that "our democracy is much better when there are diverse viewpoints" to inform decision-making.
News Corp had not returned a request for comment at time of publication.Former US vice-president Al Gore has hit out at Rupert Murdoch's News... more
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The APAC spy case is dropped while the media terrorizes the public with swine flu hysteria
Here are a sample of what Americans think about federal procescuters dismissing espionage-related charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of disclosing classified U.S. defense information:
sloan.king - "WTF!"
pbm517 - "Israel is a PARASITE on the American taxpayer. We have given them OVER 10 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY since 1948 with no end in sight. We pay for hospitals, libraries , schools etc...in Israel while closing them in America (due to lack of funding). Israel has passed American military secrets (which were stolen) to communist China. It's time to tell our elected officials to put Americas interests before Israels."
JN - "Not surprising. We give Israel billions of dollars in economic and military aide every year, we give them all our best weapons, we shield them from criticism by the international community when it comes to their treatment of the Palestinians, we have dual American-Israeli citizens in political office (like Rahm Emanuel), we invaded and died in Iraq largely for Israel's own protection...so its not surprising we let them steal military secrets and get away with it. Just another example of how this country is RUN by the Israeli lobby. "
RichardF - "These Isreali spies were let off because a democratic member of congress was caught in a pay-for-play scandal on NSA wiretaps. "Rep. Jane Harman talked by phone with a person identified as an "Israeli intelligence agent," and promised to intervene with Nancy Pelosi on behalf of two people arrested in connection with an alleged collaboration between USG personnel and a Israeli government representative." Of course Rep. Harman will escape justice and the rule of law suffers another crushing defeat. "The APAC spy case is dropped while the media terrorizes the public with swine flu... more
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A TRANSVESTITE Mafia boss has been arrested by cops in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world.
Ugo Gabriele, 27, who insisted on being called KITTY, was held by armed officers in a raid which also saw 27 other mobsters arrested.
Cross-dressing Gabriele, who had long blonde hair, ran a sophisticated drugs and prostitution racket in Naples, Italy, and his clan had dozens of members.
But it is also home to the local Mafia, known as the Camorra.
A police spokesman in Naples said: "We have been on Kitty’s trail for several months and it is the first time that we have ever arrested a transsexual Mob boss.
"We think it is also probably the first case of its kind in the world.
"He was born Ugo Gabriele but told everyone to call him Kitty - he is very burly but at the same time you can tell he is trying to be a woman.
"He was a key figure in the Camorra and ran a drugs and prostitution racket out by the airport.
"We had tried to arrest him earlier this week but he escaped. But thanks to good police work we found him and arrested 27 other Camorra members."A TRANSVESTITE Mafia boss has been arrested by cops in what is believed to be the... more
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Actor Joseph Jordon Levitt turned the cameras on the paparazzi that were following him and questions them.
It gets pretty interesting when one of them seems to have a crush on him.Actor Joseph Jordon Levitt turned the cameras on the paparazzi that were following him... more
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As I first reported on Friday, Steven Spielberg has had a longstanding 2% consulting deal with Universal theme parks dating back to the days when Lew Wasserman/Sid Sheinberg controlled the studio. Nowadays, that's worth $50 million a year to the director, according to DreamWorks insiders. But here's the really interesting part: Universal's theme parks relationship with Spielberg is exclusive. Which means he can certainly license his movies for attractions to anyone he wants. But in terms of consulting with theme parks, that has been and will be exclusive for many years to come. So forget any Spielberg/Disney theme parks alliance in the near future.As I first reported on Friday, Steven Spielberg has had a longstanding 2% consulting... more
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A city official in the remote Brazilian Amazon village of Envira told CNN that five members of the Kulina tribe are on the run after being accused of murdering, butchering and eating a farmer in a ritual act of cannibalism.
The village's chief of staff, Maronilton da Silva Clementino, said Kulina tribesmen took the life of Ocelio Alves de Carvalho, 19, last week on the outskirts of Envira, which is in the far western part of Brazil that bumps up against Peru.
Portal Amazonia newspaper reported that the Indians escaped after being held for a few hours in the city's police station.
No arrest warrants were issued. Brazilian law does not allow the military or civil police to enter Indian lands, Portal Amazonia reported.
It is still unknown how many people took part in the alleged cannibalistic ritual, although several Indians have fled into the jungle fearing prosecution, the newspaper Diario do Amazonas reported.
Clementino said the victim was herding cattle when he met with a group of Indians who invited him back to their village.
"They knew each other and they sometimes helped one another. They invited him to their reservation three days ago and he was never seen again," Clementino said.A city official in the remote Brazilian Amazon village of Envira told CNN that five... more
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An Italian woman who had been in a coma for 17 years and whose right-to-die case was being debated in the Italian Parliament has died days after doctors began removing her feeding tube.
A portrait of Eluana Englaro. She was in a vegetative state for nearly 17 years.
The speaker of the Italian Senate announced the death of Eluana Englaro, 37, Monday night, then called for a moment of silence in the chamber.
Even as the silence ended, one legislator declared, "She has not died -- she was killed," prompting other right-to-die opponents to join in with calls of "Murderers!"
Englaro had been in a vegetative state for 17 years, after suffering what doctors determined to be irreversible brain damage in a 1992 car crash, when she was 20 years old.An Italian woman who had been in a coma for 17 years and whose right-to-die case was... more
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More than 200 dolphins have beached themselves on Manila Bay, officials in the Philippines said Tuesday as they tried to work out why the marine mammals had come ashore.
Residents saw huge pods of dolphins near the towns of Pilar and Abucay on the Bataan peninsula west of Manila.
Bataan governor Enrique Garcia said at least three have died.
"This is an unusual phenomenon," Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Malcolm Sarmiento told local radio, estimating the number of dolphins at "more than 200."
He said they could be reacting to a "heat wave or disturbance at sea" such as a possible major underwater earthquake.
Since they are mammals, the dolphins have ears that are sensitive to large changes in pressure underwater, he said.
"If their eardrums are damaged they become disorientated and they float up to the surface," he added.More than 200 dolphins have beached themselves on Manila Bay, officials in the... more
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Ed Balls, the Children's and Schools Secretary, said the downturn was likely to be the most serious for 100 years, and his comments appeared to raise the prospect of a return to the Far Right politics of the 1930s and the rise of Facism.
His warning, in a speech to activists at the weekend, came after a trade union baron warned that far right parties were trying to hijack the campaign for "British jobs for British workers".
The row over foreign workers has gathered momentum in recent weeks and Mr Balls seemed to suggest the recession could trigger a return to the Far Right politics that prospered in the Great Depression of the 1930s.Ed Balls, the Children's and Schools Secretary, said the downturn was likely to... more
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An fun interactive and informative guide to the connections of Henry (Hank) Paulson to the Wall Street Masters of the Universe. SEE the connections! SEE the Cronyism!
http://www.propublica.org/special/degrees-of-hank-paulson/
You gotta play to grin! An fun interactive and informative guide to the connections of Henry (Hank) Paulson to... more
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PURGE: SKEPTICAL REPORTERS TOSSED OFF OBAMA PLANE
Fri Oct 31 2008 08:39:55 ET
**Exclusive**
The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!
The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs -- and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
Despite pleas from top editors of the three newspapers that have covered the campaign for months at extraordinary cost, the Obama campaign says their reporters -- and possibly others -- will have to vacate their coveted seats so more power players can document the final days of Sen. Barack Obama's historic campaign to become the first black American president.
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Some told the DRUDGE REPORT that the reporters are being ousted to bring on documentary film-makers to record the final days; others expect to see on board more sympathetic members of the media, including the NY TIMES' Maureen Dowd, who once complained that she was barred from McCain's Straight Talk Express airplane.
After a week of quiet but desperate behind-the-scenes negotiations, the reporters of the three papers heard last night that they were definitely off for the final swing. They are already planning how to cover the final days by flying commercial or driving from event to event.
Developing... PURGE: SKEPTICAL REPORTERS TOSSED OFF OBAMA PLANE
Fri Oct 31 2008 08:39:55 ET... more
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Joe The Plumber Ditches McCain (VIDEO)
I am starting to think that the contrails we see in the sky are in fact making us hallucinate.Joe The Plumber Ditches McCain (VIDEO)
I am starting to think that the contrails we... more
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Audit: Private security in Iraq costs over $6B
WASHINGTON – No one knows for sure, but auditors think the U.S. has paid well over $6 billion to private security companies who've been guarding diplomats, troops, Iraqi officials and reconstruction workers in Iraq.
The money amounts to about 12 percent of the $50 billion Americans are paying for reconstruction in the country, said Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen.
The figure, included in a report being released by Bowen's office Thursday, is likely to be taken as the most authoritative accounting so far of what it has cost taxpayers to provide private security since 2003 in the violence-plagued nation.
It included bodyguards for diplomats and top commanders and guards for U.S. military bases, as well as for military supply convoys, contractors, subcontractors and others supporting the U.S. mission and military.
Also included were personal security details for high-ranking Iraqi officials, as well as security advice and planning costs.
Government agencies in Iraq were not required to keep track in one place of how much money was going to security. So Bowen's office spent three months going through records from the State Department, Defense Department U.S. Agency for International Development and other government sources to try to pull together the figure.
There are likely more contractors he has yet to count and so the $6 billion is almost certainly not the full picture, he said in an interview Wednesday.
The report accompanies Bowen's quarterly reconstruction report to Congress, which included the following other findings:
_More than $125.7 billion has now been committed to rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure and government since U.S.-led forces toppled the government of Saddam Hussein five years ago.
Though all of that has not been spent, it includes $50.77 billion in money appropriated by the U.S., $57.96 billion in Iraqi funds and $17 billion pledged by other international donor, the bulk of it in the latter in loans and under $5.3 billion in grants.
• Iraq's rule-of-law system remains broken, most evidenced by the fact that Iraqi judges continue to be assassinated across the country. In 2008, terrorists killed seven judges, compared to 11 killed in 2007 and bringing the number to more than 40 judges and family members since 2003.
• A serious problem remains with corruption — which Bowen has long called a "second insurgency" in Iraq for the challenge it poses. For instance, auditors noted that a local contractor asked to be released from his work on three schools in Baghdad's Sadr City this quarter because he and his family were threatened when he refused repeated requests from government officials that he pay them bribes.
• The United States has allocated nearly $25 billion to support training and equipping new Iraqi security forces and the justice system and spent more than $10 billion on Iraq infrastructure.
Video at Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/rebuilding_iraq
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On the Net:
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction http://www.sigir.milAudit: Private security in Iraq costs over $6B
WASHINGTON – No one knows for... more
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Corporate America's Perverse Love Affair With The GOP
Three articles from the Wall Street Journal show the strange myopia of businesses and business groups when it comes to politics. One article detailed how big retailers (Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Target) are warning employees about the possibility that a Democratic sweep could give unions the upper hand (translation: vote Republican!). A second describes how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is mounting a huge $35 million campaign—twice the amount it spent in 2006 Congressional races—to support "almost exclusively Republicans in contested Senate races." And Federal Express CEO Fred Smith gave an interview to the editorial page in which he endorsed Sen. John McCain: "Because I agree with him on trade, taxes, energy and health care."
Let's take each in turn...
Read the rest at Link: http://www.newsweek.com/id/166193Corporate America's Perverse Love Affair With The GOP
Three articles from the... more
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Falling behind in her reelection race, Sen. Elizabeth Dole has uncorked one hell of a charge: The Democrat running against me is godless.
Dole's 30-second ad, which is running on television in North Carolina but has not (understandably) been promoted by the GOP, uses a September fundraiser co-hosted by 40 people, including a representative of the Godless America PAC, to falsely accuse Democrat Kay Hagan of being an atheist herself.
The end of the ad features a picture of Hagan with a female voice yelling "there is no God!" -- the clear implication is that the voice is Hagan's. In fact, the Democratic candidate is a Sunday School teacher and an elder at her Presbyterian church.
The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday morning that Hagan's campaign is seeking a "cease and desist" order against Dole's new attack.
"A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser in Kay Hagan's honor," the ad begins, showing some ominously blurred footage, ostensibly of the event in question. The ad then quotes the group's Ellen Johnson making atheist claims on two cable news shows. Summing up, the spot asks: "Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras, took Godless money. What did Hagan promise in return?"
Two weeks ago, when the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a similar attack, the Fayettville Observer described it as "the nastiest, most misleading, negative ad of the campaign..."
More at Link...Falling behind in her reelection race, Sen. Elizabeth Dole has uncorked one hell of a... more
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WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- British researchers say they've identified a "hate circuit" in the brain.
This hate circuit shares part of the brain associated with aggression, but is distinct from areas related to emotions such as fear, threat, and danger, said researchers Professor Semir Zeki and John Romaya, of University College London's laboratory of neurobiology.
The study was published online Oct. 29 in the journal PLoS One.
"Hate is often considered to be an evil passion that should, in a better world, be tamed, controlled, and eradicated," Zeki said in a journal news release. "Yet to the biologist, hate is a passion that is of equal interest to love. Like love, it is often seemingly irrational and can lead individuals to heroic and evil deeds. How can two opposite sentiments lead to the same behavior?"
In this study, 17 female and male volunteers underwent brain scans while they looked at photos of a person they hated, along with photos of a "neutral" person. Looking at images of hated people triggered activity in an area that includes structures in the cortex and in the sub-cortex as well as components that generate aggressive behavior and translate it into action.
The hate circuit also includes a part of the frontal cortex that's believed to play a major role in predicting the actions of others, likely an important feature when a person is faced with someone they hate, the researchers said.
The sub-cortical activity of the hate circuit involves two structures called the putamen and insula. The putamen plays a role in the perception of contempt and disgust, and may be part of the motor system that's mobilized to take action, the scientists said.
"Significantly, the putamen and insula are also both activated by romantic love. This is not surprising. The putamen could also be involved in the preparation of aggressive acts in a romantic context, as in situations when a rival presents a danger. Previous studies have suggested that the insula may be involved in responses to distressing stimuli, and the viewing of both a loved one and a hated face may contribute such a distressing signal," Zeki said.
He added that activity in parts of the hate circuit matches the strength of the person's declared intensity of hate, "thus allowing the subjective state of hate to be objectively quantified. This finding may have legal implications in criminal cases, for example."
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- British researchers say they've identified... more
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WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee is taking out a $5 million line of credit to help Senate Republican incumbents who are facing re-election difficulties.
The national party committee plans to give $2 million directly to the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the final days before the Nov. 4 elections, party officials said Tuesday. It also plans to spend $3 million in coordination with several Senate Republican campaigns. Officials would not disclose which races they intend to assist with the money.
At least eight Republican-held seats could switch to the Democratic Party, according to polls. The NRSC has been outspent by its Democratic Party counterpart. It also has been short of cash to give a hand to its troubled candidates.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/gop-takes-out-loan-to-hel_n_138680.htmlWASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee is taking out a $5 million line... more
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So, Joe The Plumber was out on the trail with John McCain today, apparently giving the thumbs up to someone in the crowd who felt that an Obama Presidency would bring about the end of Israel. From Raw Story:
The Ohio plumber, who has no license and is actually named Samuel Wurzelbacher, spoke at a McCain campaign event in Columbus Monday. A McCain supporter asked if "a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel." JTP hardly batted an eye.
"I'll go ahead and agree with you on that," Wurzelbacher said.
It's all a part of Joe the Plumber's "Maybe I'm A Foreign Policy Expert, But Anyway, You Should Go Out And Get Your Own Opinions On Things Instead Of Listening To Mine, Even Though I'm Going To Keep Opining If You Give Me Half A Chance, And Anyway, I Don't Even Really Know What John McCain's Position Is On Anything Anyway, And Probably I Should Be Snaking A Sink Trap Or Something, Instead Of Dragging Myself All Over The Country Making Statements Which I Then Sort Of Disavow A Few Minutes Later Anyway, Who Knows?" Tour of 2008!
Honestly, it's like the 24 Hour News has finally reached the 25th Hour or something.
Anyway, five minutes with Joe The Plumber had Shepard Smith so frustrated that the Fox anchor felt compelled to issue a disclaimer, immediately following the segment, pushing back on any notion that Obama would mean the "death of Israel," saying: "I just want to make this 100 percent perfectly clear -- Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend of the United States, no matter what happens once he becomes President of the United States. His words." Smith later added, "The rest of it -- man...some things -- it just gets frightening sometimes. We'll be right back." I haven't seen Shep this broken up about the state of the world since Katrina.
Meanwhile, let's remember that after a year of trying to figure out what their campaign is about, the McCain camp has basically pinned all their hopes to the avatar of Joe The Plumber, a random dude who says, "I know just enough about foreign policy to probably be dangerous...I have no idea where John McCain's position is...I honestly want people to go out and find their own reasons. I tell people not to listen to everyone else's opinion. I'm not going to have them start listening to mine." His words. Such as they are.
Go to the Link...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/foxs-shepard-smith-forced_n_138674.html
To see Fox's Shepard Smith interview JTP!
So, Joe The Plumber was out on the trail with John McCain today, apparently giving the... more
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The opening of "Milk," director Gus Van Sant's account of California's first openly gay politician, is four weeks away. Yet you wouldn't know it.
Unlike the hoopla over Focus Features' previous gay-themed awards magnet, "Brokeback Mountain," which was drawing calls of agenda-pushing from right-wingers months before it opened in 2005, there's been hardly a peep in editorial pages or on talk radio.
Admittedly, the election is a major distraction. But Focus also is doing something deliberate: It's eschewing publicity for the Sean Penn vehicle, keeping it out of the high-profile fall film festivals and heavily restricting media screenings.
"The best way to help this film win over a mainstream audience is to avoid partisanship, and the best way to avoid partisanship is to let people find out about the film from the film itself," said one person involved with the film.
Giving up word-of-mouth to avoid hot air is not a typical trade-off -- notice how Lionsgate effectively flogged politically charged movies like Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic "W." and the Bill Maher documentary "Religulous" -- but it's one Focus is willing to make.
Not that it will last. The political football will be kicked off when the movie premieres Tuesday night in San Francisco and then put in play after the November 4 election. And when that happens, the studio will face a marketing dilemma: how to accommodate the gay-rights angle the core audience expects while appealing to mainstream filmgoers who might not be immediately moved to see a movie about the subject.
One example of those filmgoers: At a recent Vegas test-screening for a middle-class, straight audience, several senior citizens tried to leave after a gay love scene in the early moments but couldn't because they were trapped in the middle of a row (near Focus production chief John Lyons, in fact). The seniors eventually said they were happy that they stayed, but, like independent voters in an election contest, these are the viewers Focus must woo.
Like its initial phase of playing keep-away from cable news, the post-election phase will also involve staying above politics. Focus plans on selling "Milk" in part as a story of hope and change (Harvey Milk, a member of San Francisco's Board of Superviors until his assassination in 1978, won equal-rights battles against great odds), just as it sold "Brokeback" as a love story.
The ploy was logical with "Brokeback." It's less so here.
Like "Brokeback," "Milk" features a gay romance. But unlike "Brokeback," "Milk" is made by gay filmmakers, features the polarizing Penn and puts itself squarely in a political context. Milk's fight against California's anti-gay-rights Proposition 6 -- a drama the movie deals with in great detail -- spookily parallels the current California fight over Proposition 8, a measure that would ban gay marriage.
Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said that "since this movie is about a beloved politician who was killed, it won't be easy for our adversaries to fight us on it." Focus and its Oscar handlers should get the weaponry ready anyway.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
The opening of "Milk," director Gus Van Sant's account of... more
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