Million Muppet March ~ An example of how the liberal media spins the news

An October 12, 2012, a Reuters (Canada) article, linked on the DRUDGE REPORT, illustrated how the old liberal media spins the news by reporting less than the whole truth.

The article is entitled “‘Million Muppet March’ planned to defend U.S. backing for PBS”.

Here’s the key, though incomplete, information in the piece:

“Plans to save Big Bird, the fuzzy yellow character on U.S. public television’s ‘Sesame Street,’ from possible extinction are taking shape in the form of a puppet-based protest next month dubbed the ‘Million Muppet March’.

The demonstration is planned for November 3 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., three days before the general election.”

{snip}

“Michael Bellavia, 43, an animation executive from Los Angeles, and Chris Mecham, 46, a university student in Idaho, separately came up with the Million Muppet March idea in response.”

{snip}

“Bellavia bought the Internet address www.millionmuppetmarch.com during the debate and discovered Mecham had already started a Facebook page by the same name.

Within 30 minutes of the end of the debate they were on the phone with each other, planning the march.

‘I figured, why just make it a virtual show of support? Why not take this opportunity because it seemed like there was already a growing interest in it and actually make it an active, participatory event,’ Bellavia said. ‘I literally just said, ‘It’s happening.’’

Both men consider themselves fans of ‘Sesame Street,’ perhaps the best-known program on PBS, which received $445 million of $3.8 trillion in federal budget outlays in 2012.”

{snip}

“Mecham is a writer who is studying political science at Boise State University out of his interest in healthcare policy.

Bellavia is president of the animation studio Animax Entertainment, founded by former Second City actor Dave Thomas.”

Now for the untold rest of the story.

Mecham is a sophomore at Boise State University struggling to recover from crystal meth addiction.  Power to him.

Bellavia is the Chief Executive Officer of Animax Entertainment.  One of his company’s clients is Sesame Workshop, making him more than just a casual “fan” of Big Bird.

“Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), is a Worldwide American non-profit organization behind the production of several educational children’s programs that have run on public broadcasting around the world (including PBS in the United States). Sesame Workshop was instrumental in the establishment of education children’s television in the 1960s, and continues to provide grants for educational children’s programming four decades later. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett were the original founders, with the intention of producing a revolutionary television series based on cutting-edge research into childhood learning. The result was Sesame Street, a landmark program which has been reproduced in countries around the world.

Although it was originally funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the United States Office of Education, the majority of the Workshop’s funding is now earned through licensing the use of their characters to a variety of corporations to use for books, toys, and other products marketed toward children. This ensures that the Workshop has reliable access to funding for its programming without depending on unpredictable grants.”

Looks like Big Bird helps pay Bellavia’s salary.

Bellavia is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).  In fact, he’s listed on their website as the “Events Chair” of the PGA’s New Media Council Board of Delegates.  The PGA “is the non-profit trade group that represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the producing team in film, television and new media.”

So is the Million Muppet March a PGA-staged event?  Starting to look that way isn’t it?

On its face, the Reuters story appeared to be about two guys whose interests just happen to converge on the idea of a Million Muppet March.

But there’s more here that makes us wonder about the veracity of the Reuters’ account.

On one of Mecham’s websites, he posts a tweet wherein we learn that the application for the march, scheduled for the Saturday before Election Day, was only submitted on October 5. In that case, approval for the planned, mass D.C. event came at warp speed from city officials. (So who pays for the extra police needed?)

You suppose the speed with which the application was approved had anything to do with city officials wanting to host a mass event, which will clearly be perceived as favorable to President Obama, just a few days before the election?

One way the old liberal media spins the truth is to not tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Sometimes we only get just part of the truth.