 Last
Fall we aired a special about radical Islam, called
"Exposed: The Extremist Agenda" and man oh man did it get
people riled up. I found out quickly about
the extraordinarily powerful and influential groups in this
country that want to make sure you only see one side of
Islam and, believe me, we heard from every single one of
them.
For the first time, I started to understand how political
correctness and personal agendas are silencing the voices of
moderate Muslims and those in the media who want to speak
out against the perversion of their religion.
That's why I was so glad to hear that PBS, the PUBLIC
BROADCASTING SERVICE -- had spent millions of taxpayer
dollars to finance an 11 part documentary series called
"America at a Crossroads" to, quote "explore the challenges
confronting the post-9/11 world."
Of the 11 parts, the most interesting one to me is called
"Islam vs. Islamists" --which is just another word for
"Extremists." This episode focuses on how moderate Muslims
everywhere from the U.S. to the U.K to France are clashing
with Muslim fundamentalists.
But the Real Story is that you may never see this
documentary. PBS says they're delaying the release because
the film is a mess. They say it has no structure, it wasn't
ready in time, it's weak, it's incoherent, blah, blah,
blah. And, I'll be honest with you: if I didn't go through
the Exposed experience, I might actually be inclined to
believe them.
Unfortunately, I've seen how these things work from inside
the newsrooms. What you've got to understand is that there
are two completely different schools of thought on who's
responsible for radical Islam. Some people believe the West
caused the problem and we deserve everything we get, while
others -- like me -- tend to blame the madrassas, the
culture of hate, and the extremists themselves who are only
interested in their political agenda.
That clash of ideas is happening in newsrooms all over the
globe and I bet that PBS is no different. But, unlike
others who take on this material, PBS has another problem:
government money. When you're taxpayer funded, there's
another level of political correctness that you've got to
worry about or else you run the risk of alienating enough
people that you put yourself out of business. And that's
why I think the real story is simple: PBS is frightened.
They're scared of the groups that will inevitably threaten
them with boycotts and lawsuits and, more importantly,
they're scared of a lobbying campaign in Congress that could
threaten their funding. When your budget is at stake, it's
only natural to want to stay away from controversy.
But, let me ask you: where's the controversy? Why is it OK
to show a "firebrand" radical cleric spewing hate speech
against the West, but it's controversial to show a Muslim
denouncing that same cleric? Why can we run Osama bin
Laden's latest propaganda video on the 6 o'clock news, but
we have to walk on eggshells if we want to put on a Muslim
who says the Koran preaches peace?
There are two sides to every story, but my gut, and my
experience, tell me that the truth lies closer to the
filmmakers. Of course, there's an easy way to settle this:
let me see the film. PBS, I'll watch it with an open mind
and decide if it's incoherent or if it's simply unbalanced
and honestly, I hope you're right; I hope the film's a mess
because that would mean it's being pulled for plot, not
politics. Unfortunately, knowing what I know -- I sincerely
doubt that'll be the case.
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