Category: media

German officials are warning that Mel Gibson’s controversial epic, The Passion of the Christ, could stir up anti-Semitism in the country when it opens on 400 screens today. In contrast to America, where Catholic bishops embraced the film and declared it to be a vivid but accurate representation of Jesus’s last days, “German Catholic leaders called the film problematic, and the German Bishops’ Conference said: ‘We urgently warn against using the suffering of Jesus as an instrument for anti-Semitism.'”

Charges of anti-Semitism aside, Mel Gibson is cashing in on his personal faith to a degree that would make a televangelist blush. In fact, when all is said and done, Gibson could make a cool half a billion on his violent little tribute to ultra-orthodox Catholicism. And in Hollywood, where money talks louder than morality, that kind of moneymaking ability is likely to keep Gibson a major player for quite a while, regardless of how many people he offends.

“Scrooge McDuck would be proud. Few have panhandled for taxpayer dollars as successfully as Disney during Eisner’s reign. It has received at least $4.5 billion in subsidies, low-interest loans, land grants and “joint venture” investments from governments in Florida, Pennsylvania and Hong Kong. It even managed to get a handout from the French government—not exactly a fan of things American—which sold 4,800 acres just outside of Paris to Disney at a 90 percent discount so the company could build Euro Disneyland. Disney has gotten even sweeter deals closer to its home base in Southern California.”

The satellite radio industry is in a pickle. “In order to get permission to exist, XM and Sirius had to swear off local content. But in order to survive, they need to find a legal way to deliver it to subscribers.”

“Recording artists joined radio hosts yesterday in blasting proposed broadcast indecency legislation that could subject ‘nonlicensees’ – including hosts, artists, guests and callers – to huge fines for inappropriate utterances. Current House and Senate bills would let the FCC fine individuals up to $500,000 per violation. FCC rules now place most of the burden for violations on stations and owners, with a ceiling of $11,000 for individuals. In the past, the FCC has almost never fined individuals.”

The premier of Ontario has proposed privatizing TVOntario, the province’s public broadcaster, as well as a few other government-run companies. But so far, the public isn’t on board with the plan…

Former BBC chief Greg Dyke, forced out of his position at the head of the UK’s public broadcaster following the furor over reporter Andrew Gilligan’s story accusing the Blair government of “sexing up” a dossier concerning Iraqi weapons capabilities, has been honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Royal Television Society. BBC staffers rallied to Dyke’s side when he resigned in January, and much was made of how popular a leader he was.

“In a remarkable crossing of media, 23 feature directors, including Rob Reiner, Ivan Reitman, Barry Sonnenfeld and Bryan Singer, are preparing pilots for shows vying for placement on all six broadcast networks. At most, only a few will be picked up. But the effort shows an important swing in the entertainment pendulum: the acceptance of television as a creative and thriving medium that no longer stands as the stepchild to the big screen.”

A week after firing commentator Sandra Tsing Loh for uttering an obscenity in a commentary, the Santa Monica public radio station KCRW offered her her job back. “Late last week, station General Manager Ruth Seymour apologized to Loh and reversed her decision to terminate the commentator for using a four-letter obscenity on KCRW-FM (89.9). But Loh turned down the station’s offer Monday, citing what she called a “toxic” environment there.”

Why do public broadcasters seem even more afraid of an FCC crackdown than commercial broadcasters? “That no broadcaster has ever lost its license for obscenity or indecency, however, seems entirely lost on public broadcasters. Although they preen over their intellectually superior, cutting-edge programming, they have devolved into some of the most timid and conformist contributors to the programming mix. In this environment, the government need never take any real action to accomplish a chilling effect on an already jittery broadcast community. The head of the FCC or an influential congressional committee chairman need only clear his throat, and industry ‘leaders’ are set scrambling to shoot their wounded.”