TPM Reader DT on the ABC bamboozle and Scholastic …
I think Scholastic may be the weak link here. Scholastic is in the business of teaching children — and that requires that it present factual material. ABC will not readily pull The Path To 9/11 because it has advertised it so heavily and because it can pretend that its semi-fictional account is based on facts, etc. Also, I doubt ABC can reshoot made-up scenes between now and Sunday or find a replacement on its schedule. The best we may see from ABC is a more prominent display of the falsity of its docudrama.
Scholastic, on the other hand, does not have the same investment as ABC does in the program. It would not surprise me if Scholastic executives were unaware of the liberties that the docudrama takes with the facts. Scholastic will suffer much more reputational harm from teaching lies to children than ABC will from airing a “docudrama.” We can already see that while abc.com still prominently advertises The Path To 9/11, Scholastic has, at least temporarily, scrubbed its site of 9/11 materials. The corporate offices of Scholastic are at 212-343-6400. (I note that a customer service representative offered me this number without prompting when I mentioned the 9/11 controversy, so I’m not handing out a number that Scholastic is hiding.)
If Scholastic pulls out of the project because the docudrama is inaccurate, that would increase pressure on ABC to admit that its program contains gross falsehoods.
This may be true. I would also say, though, that you get the names of the key advertisers with your local ABC affiliates and contact them, and you’ll hear people squeal very quickly.
