[governance] Tangential MSG - PBS Killed Wisconsin Uprising Documentary "Citizen Koch" To Appease Koch Brothers

[Riaz K Tayob]

[Just more indications that Multistakeholderism will really need to deal 
with the very intimate relationship between State and BigCorporates, 
particularly as it relates to the participation of developed countries 
and 'their' multinational corporations. This is important for internet 
governance because there are parties that in a multistakeholder context 
get to double dip (or many more times over) at the inclusiveness 
trough... That articles like this still get published in the US is 
important, but needs to be understood beyond a simple safety valve and a 
few bad apples, if indications are that these are systemic. The question 
would remain to what extent are companies and folk linked to IG playing 
this kind of role particularly when profit rather than efficiency or 
effectiveness or service is the goal.]


    PBS Killed Wisconsin Uprising Documentary "Citizen Koch" To Appease
    Koch Brothers

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 09:19 By Brendan Fischer 
<http://truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/45704>, PRWatch 
<http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12118/pbs-killed-wisconsin-uprising-documentary-citizen-koch-appease-koch-brothers> 
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(Photo: Elsewhere Films)(Photo: Elsewhere Films)"Citizen Koch," a 
documentary about money in politics focused on the Wisconsin uprising, 
was shunned by PBS for fear of offending billionaire industrialist David 
Koch, who has given $23 million to public television, according to Jane 
Mayer of the 
<http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/05/27/130527fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all>New 
Yorker 
<http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/05/27/130527fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all>. The 
dispute highlights the increasing role of private money in "public" 
television and raises even further concerns about the Kochs potentially 
purchasing eight major daily newspapers.

The film from Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia 
Lessin documents how the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision 
helped pave the way for secret political spending by players like the 
Kochs, who contributed directly and indirectly 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnode%2F9964&ei=tsmaUdDQLIny0QHI6oDwCg&usg=AFQjCNEOnf4HBSJQ8BGj3vavqIepmupfzQ&sig2=0oobaf33G0SO9POLK_IQQQ&bvm=bv.46751780,d.dmQ> to 
the election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2010 and came to his 
aid again 
<http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/02/11289/americans-prosperity-nonprofit-spreading-pro-walker-message> when 
the battle broke out over his effort to limit collective bargaining.

Originally slated to appear on PBS stations nationwide as part of the 
"Independent Lens" series, "Citizen Koch" had its funding pulled after 
David Koch was offended by another PBS documentary critical of the 
billionaire industrialists.

"People like the Kochs have worked for decades to undermine public 
funding for institutions like PBS," Deal told the Center for Media and 
Democracy. "When public dollars dry up, private dollars come in to make 
up for the shortfall."

And that private funding can conflict with PBS' "public" mission and its 
editorial integrity. The PBS distributor "backed out of the partnership 
because they came to fear the reaction our film would provoke," Deal and 
Lessin said in a statement. "David Koch, whose political activities are 
featured in the film, happens to be a public-television funder and a 
trustee of both [New York PBS member station] WNET and [Boston member 
station] WGBH. This wasn't a failed negotiation or a divergence of 
visions; it was censorship, pure and simple."

*"Park Avenue" Documentary Raised Koch Hackles*

In November of last year, the New York PBS affiliate WNET aired a 
documentary by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, "Park Avenue," that 
explored growing income inequality by contrasting the lives of residents 
in a luxury apartment building in Manhattan with individuals living on 
the other end of Park Avenue, in the Bronx. The film focuses on one of 
the apartment's wealthiest residents, David Koch, and does not paint a 
particularly positive image of the billionaire industrialist and his 
brother, Charles.

Koch is also a board trustee and major donor to WNET. And WNET's 
president called him before the documentary aired to alert Koch to the 
critical content -- and took the nearly unprecedented step of airing a 
disclaimer from Koch following the film calling it "disappointing and 
divisive." WNET also replaced the original introduction to the film, 
which had been narrated by actor Stanley Tucci, with one calling the 
film "controversial" and "provocative."

"They tried to undercut the credibility of the film, and I had no 
opportunity to defend it," the film's director Gibney told Mayer. "Why 
is WNET offering Mr. Koch special favors?"

Independent Television Service (ITVS), an arm of PBS that funds and 
distributes independent films, had funded "Park Avenue," and aired it as 
part of ITVS' popular "Independent Lens" series that runs on dozens of 
PBS member stations. ITVS also funded "Citizen Koch" and it was also 
slated to be aired on the Independent Lens series.

But "Citizen Koch" got caught in the blowback.

*Fearing Koch Backlash, Funding Pulled on "Citizen Koch"*

ITVS was excited about the "Citizen Koch" documentary before "Park 
Avenue" aired. In April 2012, the company informed Deal and Lessin their 
film would receive $150,000, and that "Everyone here at ITVS looks 
forward to working with you on your very exciting and promising program."

But once "Park Avenue" aired, WNET blamed ITVS for impacting its 
relationship with David Koch and not providing advance notice of the 
film's contents. Mayer writes:

"[WNET President Neal] Shapiro acknowledged that, in his conversations 
with ITVS officials about 'Park Avenue,' he was so livid that he 
threatened not to carry its films in the future. The New York 
metropolitan area is the largest audience for public television, so the 
threat posed a potentially mortal blow to ITVS."

ITVS got the message, and quickly changed its tune on "Citizen Koch."

Lessin and Deal began receiving pressure from ITVS executives to change 
the title and de-emphasize the Kochs' political influence. One executive 
told the filmmakers the title was "extremely problematic" and that "we 
live in a world where we have to be aware that people with power have 
power."

On a conference call in January, ITVS executives acknowledged the 
push-back from WNET over the "Park Avenue" film, and again urged the 
filmmakers to change the storyline. Sources told Mayer that what their 
message was "Get rid of the Koch story line ... Because of the whole 
thing with the Koch brothers, ITVS knew WNET would never air it."

"It is always a struggle for documentaries to get out there," Deal told 
CMD. "That's why PBS and ITVS are so important: they support independent 
filmmakers to say new things on the public airwaves." But because of 
funding pressures, "we won't have access to that audience now," he said. 
"We're disappointed."

*PBS Reaction to "Citizen Koch" Proved the Film's Point: Money Talks*

"Citizen Koch," which premiered at Sundance in January and competed for 
Best Documentary, followed the activism and struggles of former 
Republicans who felt betrayed by Walker's union-busting move (which he 
never mentioned on the campaign trail). The film documents the role of 
Koch-funded entities like Americans for Prosperity, which spent $10 
million 
<http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/06/11604/politifact-false-about-koch-support-walker> aiding 
Walker in his recall election. The film's final scene shows an Americans 
for Prosperity official making the incredible claim the group is "just 
like the Red Cross, just like any other nonprofit."

In April of this year, one day after the film had its Dairy State 
premiere at the Wisconsin Film Festival, ITVS informed Lessin and Deal 
it had "decided not to move forward with the project."

In a statement, the filmmakers said this is an ironic turn: "It's the 
very thing our film is about---public servants bowing to pressures, 
direct or indirect, from high-dollar donors."

"I don't believe there was a concerted conspiracy to keep 'Citizen Koch' 
off of public television, with David Koch as a ringleader," Deal told 
CMD. "Instead, Koch's presence and role in that world created an 
environment that was hostile to our message. And that was enough."

Just before Mayer's New Yorker article was published, on May 16, David 
Koch resigned from WNET's board. The resignation was the result, a 
source told Mayer, "of his unwillingness to back a media organization 
that had so unsparingly covered its sponsor."

As has been widely reported 
<http://org.salsalabs.com/o/632/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=13288>, 
the Kochs are now considering a purchase of eight major daily newspapers 
currently owned by the Tribune Companies. And that has Deal worried.

"For anybody who says the owner or funder of an outlet doesn't have an 
impact on what gets published, I hope they'll think again."

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may 
not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the 
source.
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