MEDIA WATCH

New York Times: CBS CAVES TO PRESSURE, DUMPS REAGAN MOVIE

TV docu-dramas, such as this Sunday's red, white and blue Iraqi war
mythology Saving Private Lynch, always play fast and loose with the
facts, twisting reality into fiction for entertainment's sake. But
a much hyped CBS miniseries on Ronald Reagan drew the wrath of the
Right, and CBS has dumped the show. The New York Times reports that
"CBS executives ... denied they were capitulating to pressure from
Republicans and conservative groups in moving the 'The Reagans' to
the pay cable channel Showtime, a sister network at Viacom. The
decision, they argued, was instead 'a moral call,' reached after
concluding that the four-hour television movie carried a liberal
political agenda and treated the Reagans unfairly. ... On Oct. 28,
the Media Research Center ... wrote a letter to a list of 100 top
television sponsors urging them to 'refuse to associate your
products with this movie.' At around the same time Michael
Paranzino, a former Republican Congressional staff member from
Betheseda Md., decided to start a Web site called BoycottCBS.com.
... Last Friday, the Republican National Committee entered the
fray."