Expert on the Moore/Disney Controversy

Released: 5/5/2004 3:10 PM EDT
Source: University of Maryland, College Park

Newswise — Filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary criticizing President Bush's handling of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and his actions leading up to those attacks reportedly won't be distributed by the Walt Disney Company.

The New York Times says Disney is blocking its Miramax Film division from distributing "Fahrenheit 9/11" for fear of losing tax breaks for its resort parks in Florida. Moore is crying foul. In a statement he says " "I would have hoped by now that I would be able to put my work out to the public without having to experience the profound censorship obstacles I often seem to encounter." Disney has yet to release a statement.

University of Maryland Journalism Professor Douglas Gomery is available to comment on this controversy, especially as it relates to the impact of media concentration and its effect on free speech.

Gomery Says About the Moore/Disney Controversy - " Michael Eisner, since his scare of losing his job over the failed Comcast takeover, has turned conservative. He wants to put a safe face on Disney and while his Miramax film division has produced and made money on such controversial films in the past (e.g. Pulp Fiction), he is in no mood to honor a deal today which would cause him trouble. It's a natural outcome of media concentration."

Douglas Gomery - professor, Philip Merrill College of Journalism; scholar-in-residence at the Library of American Broadcasting, University of Maryland.

Expertise - the history and economics of the mass media in America.

Credentials - Prof. Gomery is the author of 10 books and more than 600 articles covering the economics and history of the mass media. He has written for publications including the Baltimore Sun, Village Voice and Woodrow Wilson Quarterly.

Web Page - http://www.journalism.umd.edu/faculty/dgomery


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