The Final Word on CBS and “The Reagans”

11-13-03 | jmstein7

[KellyAdmirer]

Very nice analysis, thanks. Perhaps some communication was made to Moonves along these lines either from someone representing the Reagans or simply from his own risk management people? We'll probably never know.

[Eva]

I think that the piece of garbage that CBS produced could more rightly be termed a mockumentary.

[onyx]

Excellent! Thanks for the ping.

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for the ping. It was good reading.

[jmstein7]

Cool! Thanks!

Onyx... do you have a high-volume ping list? I think this is about to fll off the "Editorial" sidebar.

Thanks!

[jmstein7]

Plus, this is pretty good research ammo for anyone who wants to debate the issue.

[goldstategop]

Its very difficult for a public figure to prevail even when a story is reckless and defamatory. The bar for libel and slander is deliberately set higher for those in public life so as not to squelch free expression. And that's why we'll have pieces like The Reagans that are far from being totally truthful. In a free society, we'd never want powerful people immune from criticism. What's then the best defense against smears and lies? The truth, which is what liars and scoundrels flee from.

[jmstein7]

Agreed.

My point was, the libs keep running around screaming "First Amendment, FIRST AMENDMENT!" and "Conservatives are chilling speech!". I think the above shows -- even though I didn't go into as much depth as I could have -- that these hysterical rants are nonsensical and unsupported.

[CyberAnt]

Since this group went out of its way NOT to interview any of the Reagan family members or associates, I believe it was predetermined to be a "hit" piece.

And .. you'll never convince me that Ms. Blabs didn't have a great deal to do with the script!

[Libertina]

Here you go again, JM, stirring things up....
Thank you ;)

[AgThorn]

[jmstein7]

BUMP! :)

[jmstein7]

BUMP! :)

[L.N. Smithee]

Writers are notoriously lazy and television writers are the laziest of all. This is especially true when it comes to doing research. I half wonder if this particular writer fantasized a Reagan hit piece less out of ideology and more because she was too lazy to do real research.

As far as I know, Egloff has done no writing for television before The Reagans other than spending eight months as a staff writer for the soap opera Search For Tomorrow (which I always said in response, "Wait until midnight, it'll just pop up.") That bit of information came from the alumni section of the Brown University website, which gives an insight into the politics of the education she received.