No matter where you live, local TV newscasts tend to be pretty awful: a mash-up of crime, spectacle and celebrity–along with sports and weather.
According to an item in the Hollywood Reporter, though, ABC has told its local affiliates not to cover one celebrity in particular: actor Johnny Depp.
The actor is doing interviews to promote a new film called The Rum Diary, based on a book by Hunter S. Thompson. But according to the Reporter, Disney-owned ABC seems to think interviewing him about a movie that isn’t part of the Disney‘s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise would be bad business:
According to Houston’s KHOU, no ABC affiliates were allowed to speak with or even shoot the actor at the event, due to a clause in his contract with Disney for its successful film franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean.
“We came here expecting to talk to one of the biggest names in Hollywood,” say KHOU news reporter Shelton Green. “But apparently Disney doesn’t want Johnny Depp’s new movie premiering here at the Paramount [Theatre] to get more exposure than his new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. So they wouldn’t allow us to interview him, nor would they even allow us to get video of him, but hundreds of other people did.”
What election did Disney win to exercise such control over the media?
The so-called market does not qualify as an election; except in a sham democracy of one dollar one vote instead of one person one vote.
Lo and behold should these corporations get control of the internet. It won’t be pretty.
Noted in an earlier article on this site.
https://fair.org/index.php?page=101
“FAIR believes that independent media are essential to a democratic society, and that aggressive antitrust action must be taken to break up monopolistic media conglomerates. At the same time, non-corporate, alternative media outlets need to be promoted by both the government and the non-profit sector.”
YES! But this isn’t happening, isn’t going to any time soon as long as corporations run the show.
Occupy corporate head offices?
“What election did Disney win to exercise such control over the media?”
none. they don’t need to. as it says in the article, they OWN ABC! if they wanted to, they could order ABC to show the exciting mating habits of bed bugs 24/7.
while i’m not a fan of these concrete policies and conglomerates, i would recommend people think about the connections before they go way over the top with some argument… after all, if you would own a grocery store and your employees would like to advertise for the grocery store next-door, just because they sell the same product (yes, i am objectifying johnny depp…), would you allow them to do that?
That’s what you get for helping Disney make a billion dollars over the last decade, Depp! It should’ve been TWO BILLION!!!
(lazy actors…)
Adendum: If anyone wants to get on ABC News all you have to do is get on Dancing with the Stars. Every morning on Good Morning America they talk about that dumb show more than Lybia, Egypt, the flooding in Thailand, and the US Army’s rogue death squad in Afghanistan combined. Now that “POP NEWS” :-D has taken cener stage it’s almost all silly fluff, but with lots of good, warm humor, camaradie and delicious recipes at the end of every show!
I loved it when that big baby Chris Brown stormed tore up a dressing room after an interview in which Robin Roberts brought up how he beat the shit out of Rihanna. Roberts let it slip that they always send a list of the questions they’re going to ask a celebrity before the celebrity comes on the show. So much for journalistic integrity there.
But you know, you can’t stay mad at the gang ‘cuz that big queen Sam sure is a hoot! (I’ll bet Sam really, REALLY misses Chris Cuomo… I know I do!)
Interesting that so many movie stars bleat about peoples rights, and equality, and all the rest that we poor slobs out of show biz have to live with.Yet when the “PURSE”tells them how to act -they snap to attention on cue. Not one celeb will tell Depp to tell Disney to go screw.They know where their toast is buttered
The corporate media has been caught wearing no cloths. And it is even worse when it comes to corporations pulling media puppet strings when they lay down and spread their cheeks for Washington’s political psychos who get us into wars that never end.
This is even worse than you think.
KHOU is a CBS affiliate. But KHOU owner Belo Corp. also owns four stations affiliated with ABC, as well as some NBC, Fox, MyNetworkTV (a Fox subsidiary), CW, and other CBS affiliates.
Did ABC threaten reprisals against any company that owns any ABC affiliate if the news departments of any of the company’s other stations — those affiliated with other networks, and even independents — interviewed Depp about this non-Disney movie?
Glenn, that sham election you refer to, is the same one the pharmaceutical and hospital industries cite to keep people away from possibly-more-effective natural health approaches that can reduce health care costs considerably.
Reply to Edward H:
A point I believe FAIR & others make is that corporate power & control over news is an intentional anti-democracy monopoly. It’s not about a little mom&pop protecting itself. It’s about the ability to eliminate free speech ~ when it serves a corporation to do so. On the other hand, corps have more free speech than We the People ~ when THAT serves their purpose, thanks to:
1. a long series of SCOTUS decisions starting in 1886, and most recently in 2010,
and
2. vast amounts of corporate money used to subvert the Constitution.
The issue of corporate media is at least half the problem of corporate power & control over our lives, government and the planet, because they are way too wealthy and powerful, as the mouthpiece of the mega-transnational Military-Industrial-Wall St-et al-Corporate-Complex. It wasn’t just a figment of Jefferson’s & Eisenhower’s imagination. GE, manufacturer of war materiel, owns NBC…
This particular issue may be Disney censorship of competing entertainment, but just think about the ongoing general corporate media censorship of bodybags, the face of war-related maiming, military suicides ~ and lack of adequate services… FAIR covers this, fortunately for the truth and an actual “4th Estate.”
It’s up to We the 99% to connect the dots… and yes, occupy mega-media as well as mega-financial corporations!
And that’s what happens when the Trusts are allowed to grow and take control. Expect more of it.