the impact the walt disney company has on

abc news

the mickey mouse giant

the book that sparked the controversy

Brian Ross, “one of TV’s finest and fairest investigative reporters.”

By Peter & Rochelle Schweizer

§ Walt Disney World Resort has history of hiring sex offenders and failing to aggressively prosecute pedophiles in the park.

§ Schweizers uncover sexual harassment, child labor violations, and hiring practices. §  ABC News “exclusive” on book with

Regnery Publishing pushing back release of book.

§ No conflict-of-interest, “We fully intend to follow (ABC’s normal news practices) in the case of the Disney Company.”

- Richard Wald, ABC News Senior Vice President

disney, the mouse betrayed

§  “ABC News makes its own decisions about what it covers and what it runs. Nobody at Disney has any say in that. That’s just standard practice,” spokesman Tom Deegan said.

§  Regnery Publishing Vice President Richard Vigilante told by Schwartz that 20/20 was overscheduled and segment would run. It never did.

§  Four months spent on prepping the story with Brian Ross, Rhonda Swhwartz (producer) and 10 staff members.

§  ABC News President David Westin killed story.

§  “A draft story was submitted that was unacceptable to ABC News. This does not reflect badly on any producer or reporter involved. It is an inevitable part of the editorial process,” Eileen Murphy said.

prepping the story

ceo michael eisner comments

§  “I would prefer ABC not to cover Disney. I think it’s inappropriate … ABC News knows that I would prefer them not to cover [Disney].”

- Michael Eisner, NPR’s Fresh Air, Sept. 29, 1998

§  Inside sources claim David Westin began shouting after reading the script and called Ross and Schwartz “crazy”.

- Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, Oct. 14, 1998

§ “You do not make jokes about Mickey Mouse. I learned that very quickly. Some of my colleagues did not.”

- Peter Jennings, Herb Caen/San Francisco Chornoical Lecture at University of California –

Berkeley, Oct. 1999

CEO of Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner

ABC World News Tonight anchor, Peter Jennings

nikki finke’s pooh stories

§  Wrote stories about a Winnie the Pooh licensing rights squabble the Walt Disney Company was having with the Slesinger family heirs, who acquired licensing rights from creator A.A. Milne in 1930.

§ Stories, “Deep Pooh-Pooh” and “Pooh Scandal is $hred Hot” uncovered Disney had destroyed documents and underreported Pooh royalties.

§ After stories ran in the New York Post on Jan. 29, Finke fired.

§ In her lawsuit, Finke claims Disney Co. threatened News Corp and the Post with economic reprisals if Finke wasn’t dismissed.

§ Interesting facts :

§ Michael Eisner’s best friend, John Angelo, is the father of the Post’s Metro editor Jesse Angelo and Eisner’s godson.

§ Angelo is best friends with Jason and Lachlan Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch’s sons) who oversee the Post.

finke runs into news corp

§  Disney’s Annual Report in 2002 states objectives as maximizing “earnings and cash flow from existing businesses and to allocate capital profitably toward growth initiatives … to maximize long-term value to shareholders.”

§ Serving audiences addressed in last line, “shareholders, cast members, suppliers and communities to which it operates.”

§  ABC News says it “is devoted to reporting around-the-clock, writing and editing the news and features, while bringing the best of ABC News television broadcasts … [and] brings the same high standards and dedication to journalism as ABC News historically brought to radio and television news.”

§  Nieman Reports reiterating Kovach & Rosensteil, experts on journalism standards, emphasizing obligation to tell the truth and maintaining loyalty to citizens.

conflict of objectives

research evidence

§  Investigative journalists said they “were more likely to cite the impact of corporate pressure as a cause of self-censorship.”

- “You Can’t Report What You Don’t Pursue,” Columbia Journalism Review

§  Majority of working journalists say that, “increased bottom-line pressure is hurting the quality of coverage.” - The Pew Research Center For the People and the Press

§  Damaging results would occur “from further concentration of media ownership.”

- “Funny, It’s All We Ever Read About,” Broadcasting & Cable

§  “Nearly three-quarters of Americans have heard nothing about the debate over media ownership.”

- Project For Excellence in Journalism & the Pew Research Center

wrapping up

§  Corporate interference can cause elimination of voices.

§  Pressures of business and conglomerate control hinders independence of journalists as watchdogs.

§ Alternative voices silenced by large corporations geared for profits.

§  1998 story an example of corporate ownership interfering with newsgathering process and information dissemination in American media news.

The End