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Comment from: Kirk Varner, News Director
Thanks to all of you who have written here about your feelings on the upcoming broadcast of "The Path to 9/11"
A few points to make about WTNH and our role in the broadcast. The show is an ABC production and as an affiliate of the network we are obliged to carry it.
Obviously it has become controversial because of its content and obviously there are those who would prefer that it didn't air at all. But there are also those who want to see all of the presentation and decide for themselves what their ultimate opinion of it will be.
As to WTNH providing alternate programming, given that there are many channels available to every viewer, alternatives are already available--including other programming about the events of 9/11 as has been noted here.
The miniseries will air without commercial interruption, so WTNH will not be making any profit on the broadcast, as has been alleged. The presentation will be interrupted on Monday night for a Presidential address at 9pm and then will continue in its entirety after the coverage of that address.
It is interesting to note that ABC has a history of airing programming that sometimes has been controversial, dating back to the 70s and the airing of the mini-series "Roots" and the comedy "Soap", both of which were not carried by some network affiliates in other parts of the country. (By way of correction to one earlier posting, it was CBS, not ABC that pulled a miniseries about the Reagans after some pressure to do so.)
We'll be interested to hear from those of you who choose to watch the program on what your thoughts are after actually seeing what all the controversy has been about. And we'll be covering that as part of our regular news broadcasts on WTNH.
Finally, we do hope that those of you who have posted here that you will no longer be watching our station if this controversial broadcast airs will note that we provided you this forum to tell everyone your opinion. Ultimately, we believe that free speech includes all opinions, even those that may not be in the majority. And we believe in the right of our audience to watch this program and form their own opinions about it.
Thanks for taking the time to share all of your thoughts with us.
09/09/06 @ 21:29
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