Wilshire & Washington

From Left to Right

David Mamet's transformation from "brain-dead liberal" to conservative got plenty of play last week, after he penned a 2,500-word essay in the Village Voice.

But Andrew Klavan writes in the Los Angeles Times that it is "wonderful news for the culture, far better, I fear, than many conservatives will appreciate."

He writes, "The big question is whether the good men and women of the right will realize what a gift they have been given in Mamet. Will they turn out for his plays and embrace their excellence? His is a hard language of four-letter words and scorching insights. Will rightists, despite their commitment to good behavior and values, remember that art is an examination of the world as it is, not as we would have it be?"

Klavan writes that Mamet will "come to find out just how small-minded, exclusionary and intellectually corrupt many on the left can be" and "will also discover a right wing he never knew."

I can think of more than a few playwrights who would challenge this next graph, which casts the right as more open-minded than the liberal dominated creative class:

"He will discover thinkers who seek historical and moral truth as if it really mattered, and writers who defend liberty as if it were what in fact it is: the prerequisite of full humanity. Rather than the low and tiresome obsession of the left with the color of people's skins, he will find people who embrace a philosophical colorblindness. He will meet women of intelligence and competence who -- mirabile dictu -- don't despise men and manliness but openly admire them. Yes, he will find that a gathering of right-wingers is less welcoming to gay people than the left is, but he will also watch something astounding unfold. Unlike liberals, rightists, after a period of open discussion and thought, will actually admit when they're wrong and change their minds. This anti-gay prejudice will fall -- it's falling now."

Call me a bit skeptical of the latter. What isn't mentioned is that many so-called "creative" conservatives long have bristled at the religious right, in particular its targeting of the gay community. If anything, Hollywood conservatives have had to go to great lengths to distance themselves from the "red-meat" aspects of the religious right, especially when it poses a challenge to freedom of speech, while maintaining their commitment to conservative principles on national security, the environment and other issues. And perhaps Mamet, in his use of "four-letter words and scorching insights," will offer a refreshing challenge to social conservatives, who seem to thrive on the notion that the creative class in Hollywood and New York is stacked up against them.

Shoving It Back at Spitzer

Payback for payola investigations?

Radio stations are having a field day with the Eliot Spitzer story. ("I guess Spitzer does believe in pay-to-play after all!").

There's this YouTube clip saluting Spitzer's "moral crusade against our so-called corrupted industry" and wondering what he did with the more than $40 million in settlements he exacted from radio.

According to Radio-Info.com, "some stations continue to salute the Spitzer folly with promotions like Keymarket's in Pittsburgh. Its country "Froggy" uses the sounder from the old "Dragnet" TV show to give away copies of Sara Evans' greatest hits, which includes the tune "Cheatin'." Grand prize is two nights at the Super 8 near Cheat Lake, WV. And on satellite, Sirius put up a short-term "Client 9 Radio" talk channel, to discuss both Spitzer's own predicament and wider issues."

There's also this "Daily Show" trailer:

Spielberg's Pullout: Will It Work?

Steven Spielberg took a lot of flack this week from Chinese government officials and media sources, but experts say that his decision to pull out of the Beijing Olympics may end up having just the desired impact.

From the New York Times:

"Amid the international outrage over the bloodshed in Darfur, frustration has increasingly turned toward China, Sudan’s biggest trading partner and international protector, culminating in Steven Spielberg’s decision last week to withdraw as artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics.

"And it may be working.

"China has begun shifting its position on Darfur, stepping outside its diplomatic comfort zone to quietly push Sudan to accept the world’s largest peacekeeping force, diplomats and analysts say.

"It has also acted publicly, sending engineers to help peacekeepers in Darfur and appointing a special envoy to the region who has toured refugee camps and pressed the Sudanese government to change its policies."

More here.

In his decision to pull out of the Games, Spielberg cited some of the actions of the Chinese government, but concluded that the only measurement were the conditions on the ground, where the crisis shows little sign of improvement.

Union Busted

I'm catching up on a few items, but Dana Harris on our sister blog, Scribe Vibe, reported yesterday that the studios' new PR strategist firm of Fabiani & Lehane lost a consulting gig with a coalition of unions for taking the pro-management work.

A spokesman for Change to Win, a grouping of seven unions including SEIU, the Teamsters and the Laborers, said "Change to Win had a general consulting contract with Chris Lehane. That contract was terminated upon discovery of his role supporting the studios in the writers guild strike. As you know, Change to Win and its affiliates stand solidly behind the writers in their struggle for fairness, so we did not think twice about this decision."

Jane Hamsher on firedoglake.com quotes SEIU's Andy Stern: "By the end of the week, I believe Chris Lehane will have no union clients because of his work for the AMPTP. His days are numbered in the labor movement."

Coulter's Latest Crash

Ann Coulter once again has stirred things up, this time with a comment she made on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show "The Big Idea" that "We just want Jews to be perfected."

Coulter was talking about her ideal of a Christian America. "It would look like New York City during the Republican Convention."

Deutsch asked her what she meant. “People were happy. They’re Christian. They’re tolerant. They defend America.”

Later, she tried to elaborate.

DEUTSCH: So you don't think that is offensive?

COULTER: No. I’m sorry. It is not intended to be. I don’t think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe — this is just a statement of what the New Testament is — is that that’s why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don’t believe our testament.

Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group, first pointed out the exchange to media outlets that otherwise were not aware of it. According to the New York Times, the National Jewish Democratic Council is petitioning news orgs to drop her as a commentator.

Deutsch told Adweek, "I was offended. And then, and this was interesting, she started to back off and seemed a little upset.”

Asked to gauge her reaction, Mr. Deutsch said, “I think she got frightened that maybe she had crossed a line, that this was maybe a faux pas of great proportions. I mean, did it show ignorance? Anti-Semitism? It wasn’t just one of those silly things.

“But I didn’t really service it. It’s not the show I’m doing now. I think I handled it well, but it’s started to circulate and take on a life of its own.

Matt Lauer Lands Larry Craig

Matt Lauer has landed one of the latest big "gets."

The embattled Idaho senator sits down for a "Matt Lauer Reports" prime time special on Tuesday, followed by an appearance on "Today" the next morning.

Lauer also will interview Craig's wife, Suzanne, in what is surely not the greatest news for the Senate's Republican leadership, which would prefer that the matter just go away.

Heard That Word Lately? Damn Right

Fox Attacks, the group made up of Brave New Films, MoveOn, Media Matters and other progressive orgs, released its own response to Fox's censoring Sally Field's Emmy acceptance speech: A compilation of clips where the word "goddam" was used on Fox News Channel. It's a challenge to Fox's contention that they had to cut the use of the word for fear of indecency fines --- not because her speech was anti-war.

Technically the FCC's indecency authority doesn't extend to cable, a.k.a. Fox News, although such networks often follow broadcast standards.

The Carter Question

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Jimmy Carter's image as peacemaker-in-chief has been clouded by his recent comments about President Bush and especially by his recent book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." The book has been blasted for factual inaccuracies and for its slant, and while Carter has been staunch and public defender of its content, the controversy has not yet abated.

The latest: The CBS shareholders meeting, where the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America presented a proposal calling for new standards of fact checking at Simon & Shuster, the book's publisher and a CBS division. The group's treasurer, Carol Greenwald, is a CBS shareholder.

While it's doubtful that such a move will go anywhere --- shareholders often bring up a host of issues from far flung parts of media conglomerates, while the CEOs grin and bear it --- Carter's book is destined to stay in the fray. Director Jonathan Demme is working on a documentary, "He Comes in Peace," that essentially follows Carter through his book tour earlier this year. It doesn't have a release date, but the issues surrounding "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" are destined to be front and center in the doc. The title suggests that the movie will help rehab Carter's image, but Demme has said that it will capture a "dialogue" over the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Demme got intimate access to Carter, but ironically was not given access to one of his speeches that could have ended the film. Brandeis University denied the filmmaker access to a speech there in January, what the university blamed on logistics but what Demme's reps blamed on worries that the university would be cast in an unfavorable light.

A New "Truth": "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim says he's planning to discuss a follow up to the pic with Paramount officials, although it's too early to talk details.

Thompson's Role of a Lifetime: Time's Mark Halperin profiles Fred Thompson, arguing that one of his big advantages is that he has stayed consistent in the roles he's played. Halperin writes, "He is often cast as a person in power — a military official, the White House chief of staff, the head of the CIA, a Senator or even the President of the U.S. It could be called the Cary Grant approach to politics. As the legendary actor once explained his own style and success, 'I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be, and I finally became that person.'" The premise only goes so far: Thompson appears as President Ulysses S. Grant in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." He'll take the power, but chuck Grant's legendary drinking habits.

Paul Simon's Choice: The singer talks up Chris Dodd.

Is Rosie Feud An "Assault on Reason"?

The tiff between Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck --- the first of many --- has provided a lot of mileage for various news outlets, not the least of which is ABC itself.

It all started with a discussion about Al Gore, his new book, and why he isn't running, and ended only when co-host Joy Behar demanded a commercial break.

It's drama fit for the Internet --- and perhaps proves the point of Gore's book, "The Assault on Reason," which is that there's little room for public discourse anymore. You know there's trouble when they go to split screens. In "The View"'s favor, it sure beats Maury Povich's paternity tests.

We're hypocrites, then, for doing this, but here's the L.A. Times play-by-play, and the full-video video posted on You Tube.

"The Queen" on Why She Declined the Queen

After she offered her regrets to Queen Elizabeth's invitation for dinner, Helen Mirren released a statement today, just to set the record straight that she was not, in fact, rebuffing Her Majesty. Work on a decidedly American project, and a sequel, "National Treaure 2," kept her in the states.

Via her publicist, Stan Rosenfield,

"I was honoured to be invited to dinner at the Palace. This was a gracious gesture and very appreciated by me. It was therefore hard to have to decline. I was contracted on that date to be working in South Dakota, in a situation which was impossible to change. I would have made every effort to attend if it had been humanly possible. I explained this to the Palace officials, and I believe they understood. I would never have the hubris or the rudeness to insult anyone who had the kindness to invite me to dinner."

Given that the Queen had other distractions --- President Bush's "17--," the Kentucky Derby, Mickey Rooney --- this is all probably well behind her. Maybe another invite could be in the offing?

Just to make sure, "National Treaure" publicist Michael Singer also confirmed that "a very challenging and uncompromising production schedule" prevented the meet up.

Bill Maher: "I Never Said Those Words"

Over the weekend, blogs were filled with a variation of the headline, "Bill Maher Sorry the Assassination Attempt on Dick Cheney Failed."

But as Maher pointed out on Monday, he never actually said those words. The brouhaha came during a discussion he was having on HBO's "Real Time" about the removal of comments from HuffingtonPost.com in which some readers wrote that they wished Cheney were killed in bomb blast close to where he was visiting in Afghanistan.

"Don't get me wrong: I've never joined the Dick Cheney Fan Club," Maher wrote on HuffingtonPost.com, where he is, ironically enough, a contributing blogger. "But what I said Friday -- and what I believe -- is that the Vice President has presided over a bungled execution of a war in which thousands of our bravest continue to die. And I believe that were he not in power, our troops would likely come home sooner. But I don't wish him dead."

Here's an excerpt from the transcript. His guests on the show were Rep. Barney Frank, writer John Ridley and TV commentator Joe Scarborough.

FRANK: [overlapping] Excuse me, Bill, can I ask you a question? Do you decide what the topics are for this show?

MAHER: Yeah, I decide the topics. They don't go there. [laughter] And I ---

FRANK: [overlapping] But you --- you exercise control over the show ---

MAHER: [overlapping] But listen

FRANK: [overlapping]—the way she does with her blog.

MAHER: [overlapping] But I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn’t be dying needlessly tomorrow. [applause]

RIDLEY: Okay, but—[voices overlap under applause]

SCARBOROUGH: But, let’s talk – let’s talk about your show for a second, very quickly. If somebody on this panel said they wished that Dick Cheney had been blown up, and you didn’t say—

FRANK: I think he did. [laughter]

SCARBOROUGH: Okay, did you say--

MAHER: No. No, I quoted that.

FRANK: You don’t? Oh, you don’t believe that?

MAHER: No, I’m just saying that if he did die—

SCARBOROUGH: [laughter] Okay, but if – oh, let’s just say—

MAHER: [overlapping]—other people – more people would live. That’s a fact.

We should also note that Maher wasn't the one who dominated the show; it was Frank, and many of the other guests struggled to get a word in edgewise.

MSNBC Deploys Campaign-Style Attacks on Opponents

MSNBC is taking a page from politics with a campaign-style ad parodying the competition.

In the commercial, which started airing Tuesday, MSNBC takes shots at the on-air personas of both Fox and CNN in a bid to carve out space as an alternative to both.

It’s another sign the cable news race is getting rougher; last week Fox News Channel placed an ad in Television Week portraying Anderson Cooper as the “Paris Hilton of cable news.”

Fox News is portrayed as stocked with raving right-wingers tub-thumping for the Bush administration; its audience is represented by a cigar-smoking fat cat. CNN is represented with a thinly veiled caricature of Larry King, its viewers as shut-in septuagenarians.

"Let’s face it, there are a lot of choices out there,” the voiceover begins, with a woman first flipping to Fox News.

“You can pick someone who has an agenda,” it continues as a Fox viewer screams, “How can you question the authority of our commander-in-chief!”

“Or you can pick someone who is out of touch,” it says, switching to a geezer supposed to represent Larry King. “Oh, boy this is going to be great,” says an elderly viewer holding a cat.

As each channel is switched, the interior decor switches from stodgy to trailer-park chic to ultramodern as MSNBC personalities Tucker Carlson and Keith Olbermann hit the screen.

Ad represents a change in strategy for MSNBC, long a perennial underperformer, but now in its closest-ever competitive position with CNN.

“We’re looking to differentiate our brand from both Fox and CNN. The far more achievable goal is beating CNN,” said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines.“Now is the time for us to find our voice, given our recent ratings success.”

A Fox News rep was amused: “When you’ve been an embarrassment to your parent company for 10 years, it certainly never hurts to take chances.”

King’s viewers may be old, but he has more viewers in the 25-54 demo than MSNBC at 9 p.m.

---Michael Learmonth from New York.

Fox Apologizes for "F" Word

No word yet on complaints about Sacha Baron Cohen's vulgar but profanity-free acceptance speech at the Globes last night, but TV watchdogs have their sights set on another incident that happened over the weekend.

On a broadcast of the Eagles/Saints game on Saturday, Fox showed a fan wearing a T-shirt with the phrase "fuck da Eagles," and now the Parents Television Council is urging its members to file indecency complaints with the FCC.

Emboldened by the FCC's past fines or simply by Philly members in their ranks, the PTC was particularly unforgiving. "There can be no doubt that this was an intentional airing of patently offensive language on the public airwaves," the watchdog org said. Fox had no delay on its broadcast, and spokesman Dan Bell told B&C,  "It was unintentional, inadvertent, and we apologize."

O.J. Fiasco: Political Fallout?

In a rather scathing indictment of the whole O.J. "If I Did It" affair, Salon's Sidney Blumenthal doubts that Fox's reversal on airing the project and publishing the book will have any impact on future sensational projects at the company. That's because Rupert Murdoch has mastered the art of surviving these controversies just fine and still come out ahead. Blumenthal, a journalist and former senior adviser to President Clinton, specifically points to Murdoch's ability to not only find which way the political winds are blowing, but to weather the storm.

"When the GOP took control of Congress in 1994 he not only founded a neoconservative magazine, the Weekly Standard, as a loss leader for influence, but also gave the new House speaker, Newt Gingrich, a $4.5 million advance for a book just as Congress was considering telecommunications legislation that would directly benefit Murdoch. In the furor after the book deal was disclosed, Gingrich felt compelled to return his advance. But Murdoch still got his benefit, which, in 1996, cleared the way for him to launch Fox News."

Blumenthal also notes the spectacle of Fox News coming out against the O.J. doc. 

"When Fox News talk-show host and self-described "traditionalist" Bill O'Reilly, warming up for his annual campaign against "the war on Christmas," jumped into the fray, seizing upon the O.J. interview as a platform for publicity, the controversy reached a critical mass of hilarity. O'Reilly proclaimed the cancellation of the Simpson interview "a culture war victory," and said, "News Corp. led by Rupert Murdoch did the right thing." Murdoch might be gratified that O'Reilly's bellowing promoted one Fox show, albeit at the expense of another. It's the only consolation Murdoch gained from the incident."

Streisand: The Last Laugh?

With the Democrats taking Congress, Barbra Streisand tells a concert crowd in San Jose: "We're in control now." On her 16-city concert tour, in which she does a skit with a Bush impersonator, she'd been berated by hecklers at several appearances during the midterm campaigns, and famously shot back at one with a verbal expletive. The skit is still in the show, but she finishes a duet of "Side by Side" with the faux Bush by singing "the country has come to its senses, time to mend the fences."

She tells the Los Angeles Times' Tina Daunt: "Celebrities have the unique ability to raise issues, reach people and influence opinion more than the everyday citizen," she added. "I think that it's our duty to use that influence to bring about positive change in the world."

Some of her big fans, however, don't agree. Entertainment Weekly interviews some of the most obsessed Streisand followers and concertgoers, one in Fort Lauderdale who says, "I prefer her as an entertainer, as opposed to being held hostage to hear her political views. Nobody wants to hear that crap."

Streisand even has an answer to that. In response to a heckler at that concert, she yelled back, "Just buy my records. Don't see me live!"

 

"Borat" Victims Strike Back

As "Borat" continues to top the box office charts, MSN provides a nifty round up of who among the film's victims have filed lawsuits or are threatening to file. In addition to fraternity members and villagers from Glod, Romania, there are plenty of others who are just plain upset at the fake TV news reporter from Kazakhstan. If you haven't seen the movie, just a taste: In just one segment Borat sings the praises of slavery and anti-semitism and brings feces to a dinner table.

Kathie Martin runs an etiquette school in Birmingham, Ala., and was upset when Borat showed her nude pictures of his son.

"Unless you can figure it out for yourself, you have no way of knowing you have been tricked into being part of a childish prank with an R rating attached," she told the Associated Press via e-mail.

"And even if you figure it out, you've signed a release that Mr. Cohen's people say relinquishes any rights on your part to take action against them."

Fox says that the lawsuits are without merit.

Contrary to the notion that the movie exposes America's crassness, Slate's Christopher Hitchens marvels that so many of the victims kept their cool as Borat performed his schtick.

Hitchens writes: "Oh, come on. Among the 'cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan' is the discovery that Americans are almost pedantic in their hospitality and politesse. At a formal dinner in Birmingham, Ala., the guests discuss Borat while he's out of the room—filling a bag with ordure in order to bring it back to the table, as it happens—and agree what a nice young American he might make. And this is after he has called one guest a retard and grossly insulted the wife of another (and remember, it's "Americana" that is "crass")."

Report: Stations Still Use Fake News

Despite a federal investigation, not to mention embarassment, TV stations are still using pre-packaged video press releases in their broadcasts without disclosing the source of the material.

Following up an earlier investigation, the Center for Media and Democracy found 48 instances in a six-month period where local stations aired the so-called "video news releases," reports sent out by PR firms to make their case about controversial topics. For instance, WTOK-TV in Meridian, Miss., aired a report riduculing claims that hurricanes were connected to global warming. But the report came to the station from a Washington D.C. lobbying firm that counts ExxonMobil among its clients.

The FCC launched an investigation of the practice in August. The feds had earlier warned that stations "must clearly disclose to members of their audiences the nature, source and sponsorship of the material."

Other examples cited in the Center's study:

"In 12 instances, television stations actively denied disclosure to their news audiences by editing out on-screen and verbal client notifications included in the original VNRs. WMGM-40 in Philadelphia aired a full-length VNR after making just one edit—to remove the on-screen disclosure. A WMGM-40 reporter re-voiced the VNR, following the original script nearly verbatim, but omitting the verbal disclosure at the end of the script.

"In four instances, television stations not only aired VNRs without disclosure, but showed PR publicists on screen, as though they were staff reporters. KHON-2 (Honolulu, HI) and KFMB-8 (San Diego, CA) allowed publicist Mike Morris to "report" on Halloween traditions (and promote his client, General Mills), while KVCT-19 (Victoria, TX) and KSFY-13 (Sioux Falls, SD) showed publicist Kate Brookes "reporting" on medical advancements (specifically, machinery produced by her client, Siemens)."

Update: Radio and Television News Directors Assn. says that the study contains inaccuracies and that some of the incidents cited were newsroom errors or isolated incidents. It's been critical of the FCC's inquiry, saying that it was an extraordinary step" of "inserting itself into broadcast newsrooms."

They May Not Like U.S., But They Love Our TV

Variety's Elizabeth Guider reports that in Europe and elsewhere, there may be hatred toward U.S. policy but demand for U.S. TV shows is booming, led by dramas like "Lost" and "CSI." Hollywood studios may collect as much as $7 billion this year from the sale of TV shows and movies to foreign TV networks.

Meanwhile, Steve Bing has yet to comment on the fact that he spent $50 million on a California ballot proposition that lost. But he did talk to Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party, who says that the press-shy producer is still "Very enthusiastic and spirited. I didn't notice one negative tone in his voice." Bing's support represented the largest individual contribution to a ballot proposition ever.

Russia Bans "Borat"

Russia will not allow "Borat" to be shown in the country because the film "contains material that some viewers may consider offensive to certain nationalities and religions," Yury Vasyuchkov of the licensing body was quoted in local press. Its prospects for release in Kazhakstan were doubtful, but this decision was somewhat of a surprise. It's believed that it is the first time that a non-pornographic movie has been banned by Russia's licensing body. A distribution subsidiary of Fox could appeal, but its prospects for release are considered unlikely.

Subject of HBO Doc Responds to Diebold Claim

Bev Harris, the subject of HBO’s documentary "Hacking Democracy," debuting Thursday, defended the project after Diebold charged that its facts were flawed.

For one, Diebold challenges a scene in which Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti was able to hack his way into a computer and change the results of a simulated election. Harris, who founded the voting watchdog group Black Box Voting, e-mails that an independent team studied the incident in a February report commissioned California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

They said that Hursti "was indeed able to change the election results by doing nothing more than modifying the contents of a memory card." The group of computer scientists did find the Diebold problems fixable, and McPherson later certified their use in the elections this year with the conditions that problems be fixed.

Diebold Slams HBO Doc

With the midterms just a week away, and concerns in the air about electronic voting systems, Diebold Election Systems has gone on the offensive against an HBO documentary called "Hacking Democracy" that debuts on Nov. 2.

In a letter to HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht, Diebold President David Byrd charges that the documentary "contains significant factual errors and does not meet HBO's standards for accuracy and fairness." Among other things, he asks for a rebuttal on the HBO web page, and that a disclaimer be shown by HBO immediately before, during and after the doc is shown.

"The material errors and material misrepresentations are so egregious that HBO should pull the documentary," Byrd writes. An HBO spokeswoman says that the cabler "stands by the film" and has "no intention of withdrawing it." She added that she had doubts whether Diebold officials had seen the film that is scheduled to be shown. "Of course, [the film] went through a lot of vetting," she said.

Diebold spokesman David Bear says that they have not seen the doc but got their information from HBO's website and from the accounts of reporters who have seen the doc, asking for a response.

Among the errors that Diebold cites is a scene depicting computer expert Harri Hursti hacking a Diebold machine in Florida. Diebold charges the attack was a "complete sham," and that Hursti himself has raised doubts that a system could be hacked. According promotional materials on HBO website, the doc focuses on a Seattle grandmother Bev Harris' quest to find out more about electronic voting, and what she discovers is that "the top-secret computerized systems counting the votes in America's public elections are not only fallible, but also vulnerable to undetectable hacking, from local school board contests to the presidential race."

The doc is produced by Sarah Teale. Diebold also raised questions about the doc's partisanship. In their letter (read the letter as a pdf file), Diebold also raises concerns that "Hacking Democracy" was "directed by the directors of 'VoterGate' and contains much of the same material. 'VoterGate' was produced with special thanks to Susan Sarandon and The Streisand Foundation.'"

News Networks Refuse "Death of a President"

CNN and NPR have refused to show ads for the upcoming release "Death of a President," a faux documentary which stages a fictional assasination of President Bush. "CNN has decided not to take the ad because of the extreme nature of the movie's subject matter," the cable television network said in a statement. The British project is being released by Newmarket Films in only about 100 theaters, but it is bound to create even more waves as its release approaches. Not that it would come up as an election issue, but candidates like Hillary Clinton already have distanced themselves from the pic. According to the Journal News, she called the movie "despicable."

No Madonna on Crucifix

Avoiding a potential public relations firestorm, NBC will not air Madonna's crucifixtion scene as part of its concert special.