How did I miss this? Discovery Channel Drops Plans To Air ‘Taxi To The Dark Side’

[sinkingfeeling]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/08/gibney-taxi-discovery/

Director Alex Gibney agreed to sell the rights of Taxi to the Discovery Channel because executives convinced him they would “give the film a prominent broadcast.” Now, however, Discovery has dropped its plans to air the documentary because the film is too controversial. Gibney responded to the news in a press release this week:

"Now, I am told that ‘it doesn’t fit into Discovery’s plans,’ and that the film’s controversial content might damage Discovery’s public offering.

Having directed ‘Enron,’ very little about this kind of corporate behavior shocks me, but I am surprised that a network that touts itself as a supporter of documentaries would be so shamelessly craven. This is a film that, in an election year, is of critical interest to the viewing public. What Discovery is doing is tantamount to political censorship."

It’s ironic that Taxi’s content is too “controversial,” considering it depicts real acts perpetrated by the current Bush administration. In an interview with the Center for American Progress, Gibney noted that Americans are excited about dramatizations of torture, such as in the show 24, but uncomfortable “with the reality of torture.”

[niyad]

1. sent a note to Discovery for their cowardice. won't watch again, EVER

[gateley]

4. And tell them you are contacting their ADVERTISERS - that's what they care

most about.

[niyad]

5. oh, believe me, that is one of the first things I say.

[gateley]

Excellent! And I'll do the same right now.

[intheflow]

14. I don't watch them to begin with.

I figured their documentary content was suspect when I saw a "factual" show about Atlantis a few years back. :eyes:

[Tuesday_Morning]

17. contact info:

comments:

http://www.mediaowners.com/company/discovery.html

Web Site: www.discovery.com/corporate/

Telephone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Address: 1 Discovery Place
Silver Spring MD 20910
USA

[CatWoman]

2. Amy Goodwin was talking about this yesterday

fucking shame......

[gateley]

3. They've been "gotten to". What else could it be? nt

[SoCalDem]

6. and since they own the "rights", will it ever be shown anywhere?

clever way of getting their hands on it and shelving it :grr:


or did they violate the contract by not showing it?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. I think I heard somewhere that they have the rights for 3 years

I believe I heard it on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now. But it's showing in the theaters right now, and the Discovery Channel doesn't own those rights.

[Bozita]

10. Yup, I read the transcript at DN. It's a three year exclusive contract.

It doesn't include theater showings.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. This documentary has been nominated for an Academy Award

for gosh sakes. I fail to see how airing it would affect a public offering, as most of the nation has turned against the war. I wonder how the Discovery Channel will justify their censorship if it wins.

Anyway, hopefully, in three years it won't be that relevant or timely anymore, unless we have the great misfortune to still be bogged down in that immoral and hopeless quagmire.

[Junkdrawer]

16. DemocracyNow transcript:

...

AMY GOODMAN: They bought the rights, though.


ALEX GIBNEY: They did.


AMY GOODMAN: So they own it.


ALEX GIBNEY: They own the rights for the next three years. They own the broadcast rights. It’s currently playing in theaters, where people can see it, but we had hoped that it would have a broad airing on television. And indeed, you know, one of the reasons I went with Discovery was because they had told me, “Look, we love this film. We’re going to give it a broad and very prominent airing.”


AMY GOODMAN: But if they still own the rights, can they just not air it for three years and keep you from airing it anywhere else?


ALEX GIBNEY: Yes, they can. That’s their right, because they paid for it. Now, we’re hoping that they’ll agree to sell it to somebody else, you know, maybe for a profit, if they need to do that. But I’m hoping at the very least that they’ll allow somebody else to take it on so it can be shown to the American people.

...

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/12/discovery_channel_accused_of_political_censorship

[ixion]

7. Yet they'll very happily show military propaganda

because, gee, that's not controversial, just lies and misinformation. :eyes:

[SoCalDem]

9. My husband goes NUTS when they mis-identify WWII planes or military

equipment.. He's a quasi-expert on the subject of WWII ..

[physioex]

12. Forget about Discovery....

If he retains the rights to the show then post it on YouTube. It's time we citizens took power away from the corporate titans.

[dysfunctional press]

13. according to amazon.com...

"This film has not yet opened in your area. It is scheduled to open in national release on February 28, 2008."

http://www.amazon.com/Taxi-to-the-Dark-Side/dp/B0012Q72XY/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1203111189&sr=8-2

[Initech]

15. Funny. They can get away with showing this crap on 24.

But when someone like this guy exposes the truth, he gets censored. What are the odds? :banghead:

[superkia]

18. Shows like 24 are accepted because they continue the constant...

brainwashing of allot of people. They wont let us see the truth but they will certainly brainwash us into thinking that all of a sudden we are doomed by terrorists and we must give and allow the gooberment to do anything to us so they can protect us. I cant stand seeing the shows and movies that have been put out that are helping to brainwash our thoughts. I think my own gooberment will attack or hurt me before a foreign terrorist will, I dont give a thought to real terrorism, its the false flags and agenda driven terra that I think about.

[ThomWV]

19. Here is a link to their Viewer Relations e-mail .... tell them what you think

You can contact the Discovery Channels Viewer Relations at:

http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations