They even sold our History ! Smithsonian's secret deal with Showtime

[Guest guest]

S

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:08:43 -0700 (PDT)

They Sold Our History! - Smithsonian's Secret Deal with

Showtime [the Latest TRAVESTY]

 

 

(email this page to a friend too.)

 

 

http://www.buyblue.org/node/6190

 

They even sold our History! Smithsonian's secret deal with Showtime

 

Posted by Raven on April 18, 2006 - 4:36pm

 

Editor's Note:

 

This article was originally published on DailyKos by Magorn

and cross-posted with permission. See the original here

We all know Satayana's Famous warning about those who forget their

history; but I wonder what special damnation waits for those who sell

it off to the first megacorporation that cuts a check?

 

Thanks to a secret, no-bid deal cut in the beginning of this year,

the complete terms of which they refuse to release, The Smithsonian,

" the Nation's Attic " , has become Showtime's Candy Store instead.

As part of a near-exclusive deal with Showtime Networks, the Smithsonian

Institution is restricting filmmakers' access to its scientists and

archives....,

 

Now most filmmakers will not have in-depth use of Smithsonian materials unless

they are creating work for the Smithsonian/Showtime unit.

 

Which means effectively that $800 million a year in taxpayer funds we

spend on the venerable institution has just become another form of corporate

welfare.

 

To understand what an utter outrage this deal is you must first understand the

incredible depth and breadth of the institution and its archives.

 

First, the Smithsonian is not a single museum but 15 separate museums

covering almost every imaginable subject from the Famous Air and Space

museum to the National Zoo to the newly opened American Indian Museum.

 

And even that only scratches the surface of what the Institution

really is.

The institute's archives hold millions of historical documents, and

photographs, miles of film ( 8 million feet in the anthropology

archive alone), and thousands of hours of recordings that are unique

and able to be found nowhere else in the world.

 

And all of it, every last treasure, was just made off-limits without

permission from the Smithsonian's corporate partner Showtime.

 

Or to quote noted firebrand Documentarian Ken Burns:

" History's just been made for sale to an inside deal, " said Ken Burns,

the Emmy-winning producer of the documentaries

" Baseball " and " The Civil War. "

 

Or to put it even more bluntly:

I was horrified that the Smithsonian would even contemplate a deal

that would give a for-profit broadcaster the right of first refusal, "

said Nina Gilden Seavey, an Emmy-winning filmmaker and director

of the Documentary Center at George Washington University.

 

" It is a fire sale of the nation's history. "

 

It is important to understand the contract term " right of first refusal " and

what it effectively does to anyone wishing access to the

Smithsonian. .

Effectively it means that from now on anybody who wants

to do ANYTHING about the Smithsonian, its collections,

or even staff has to offer to sell Showtime the finished product:

 

Jeanny Kim, the vice president for media services at Smithsonian

Business Ventures, said the filmmakers who were doing

" more than an incidental treatment " of a subject mainly from

Smithsonian materials or wishing to focus on a Smithsonian curator

or scientist would first have to offer the idea to Smithsonian/Showtime.

 

Otherwise, the archives could not be used.

 

Not only is this an outrageous enrichment of a private company

at public expense, but it is literally allowing a corporation

to spin our history as it sees fit. According to the deal, to get access to the

Archives, Filmmakers MUST sell their final products to Showtime if Showtime

wishes to purchase them. However there are no control on what Showtime does once

the film is in their possession,

whether or if they ever air it, and what edits they may chose to make

before doing so. They are now free to spin pieces of the historical record

anyway they find convenient and no one can effectively rebut them.

 

It almost goes without saying that this is an unbelievably dangerous idea.

 

Worse yet,

Showtime is a only a tiny part of the Communications Giant Viacom.

Viacom's other holdings include: CBS, dozens of Local TV and Radio

Stations, 20 different cable channels (including MTV and all its demon-spawn),

Simon and Schuster publishers, King World Distributors, etc. and it would be

utterly naïve to believe that they have no plans

for leveraging their access to the Smithsonian's collections

for corporate synergy purposes. Those things they find helpful

or profitable can be promoted and those they find unhelpful

can be suppressed (for example inconvenient historical records

that contradict a Blockbuster Biopic made by Paramount,

might never see the light of Day if Viacom decided

releasing them would hurt the Box office gross)

 

We have fought hard to save other National treasures like ANWAR,

and staked out the principle that sacrificing our natural heritage

for short term corporate profits was a bad idea.

 

That principle has Never been more imperiled than by this back room,

still-secret deal that effectively turns over millions or unique

and irreplaceable historical records, knowledge and artifacts

to a giant entertainment company. If you stood Up for ANWAR

it's time to stand again and not let a giant Mega-corporation

take sole ownership of your History.

 

--

email this page to a friend too.

 

 

Also note

Center for American Progress has posted an open letter calling for

details of the deal.

 

----

" Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly. "

John F. Kennedy Raven – April 18, 2006 – 5:23pm

login or register to post comments | email this page

BuyBlue.org, a consumer advocacy issues website, is a nonprofit

corporation registered in the state of California, with federal 501©(3)

status pending. The opinions and viewpoints expressed by the authors

here are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of

BuyBlue.org.

 

© 2004-2006 BuyBlue.org, .

Hosting provided by Drak.net.