I won’t defend the forthcoming ABC TV movie, “The Path to 9/11,” because I haven’t seen it. But of course, it appears to be the case that even those who have seen it—haven’t seen it. That is, the film appears to be in a state of constant re-editing now, as Clinton Administration alumni, including Bill Clinton, weigh in with their demands that this scene and that scene be changed.
So who knows what the final product will be? I am curious to see what, if anything, actually airs on the Alphabet Network on Sunday and Monday. And then I will wait around for the “director’s cut” version of the film, and maybe the “liberal cut” and the “conservative cut.” Maybe ABC could show all those different versions, plus others, to see which one gets the highest audience. Call it a combination of the “Rashomon” and “Create Your Own Adventure”!
But a few comments about cable news’ role in this story do seem in order:
First, all considerations of the film’s merits aside, this is a great made-for-cable-news story. The broadcast news covered 9-11, of course, but only cable has stuck, reliably, on the overall “Global War on Terror” for these past five years. It was cable news that followed the whole of the 9-11 Commission hearings, for example, back in 2004. And I will wager that the 9-11 Commissioners have had at least 10 times more airtime on cable than on broadcast. So while the broadcasters have been treating upon this movie-troversy, it’s really a cable story.
Second, the mere fact that this movie even got this far in the production process is a reminder that the politics of Hollywood, like the politics of America, have changed. Two decades ago, made-for-TV movies could lionize JFK, or demonize Joe McCarthy, and that was that—there was no recourse, no appeal. The media were so stacked against conservatives that the liberals could climb into the ring, throw their punch against conservatives, and then climb out of the ring again, with the media “referee” not saying boo. But then came the “new media,” including cable, and now, that’s no longer possible. Fox News, in particular, has been a hero of providing a “fair and balanced” reference point for the news, but the mere fact of greater media diversity has helped, too. MSNBC has Pat Buchanan, for example, and even CNN Headline News features Glen Beck. So when CBS tried to air that hit piece on Ronald and Nancy Reagan, the new-media outcry forced the Eye Network to back off, and pull its own show. That was a sign that the power relationships are changing. And now comes this new film, which puts much of the blame for 9-11 on the Clinton Administration. As noted, I can’t really comment, although I suspect that one of the reason that the Clintonians are so upset is that they feel betrayed--they were expecting ABC to put the knife in George W. Bush, not their Bubba. But the mere fact that “Path” got greenlighted at all tells us something about the changing politics in the US.
Third, the fight over 9-11 will, of course, continue, and much of the fight will play out on the long form of cable news. I see that CNN is planning on re-running its entire day’s worth of 9-11 coverage on Pipeline. Good for CNN. But even more important than such backward-looking coverage is the forward-looking coverage—about what’s ahead, for all of us. That’s important, and so we should all stay tuned.
