The Siegelman Saga: Alabama G.O.P. Wrestles with Retraction (!!)

[freshwest]

69. No coincidence. Saw that when PBS was going to play 'Death of a Princess' in Houston.

It had been announced, but we were among the places it was blacked out, since it was and still is a big oil town and the international players were there. There were complaints of censorship over the 'movie' not being shown, but it did no good.

Death of a Princess
Apr. 19, 2005
120 minutes

Twenty-five years after the initial broadcast of perhaps the most controversial program in the history of public television FRONTLINE re-issues "Death of a Princess." The 1980 docudrama recounting the public execution of a young Saudi Arabian princess and her lover for adultery triggered vehement protests from the Saudi government and an international uproar when it was first broadcast in the U.S. and Britain. The film which re-creates journalist Antony Thomas's journey through the Arab world to investigate the executions is a portrait of the constricted lives of Arab women and a Rashomon-like exploration of the elusiveness of journalistic truth. This special presentation will feature new interviews with the filmmakers an inside view of the controversies surrounding the film and an analysis of how the lives of Arab women have and have not changed.

Producer(s): Antony Thomas

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/info/2312.html

Death of a Princess is a British 1980 drama-documentary, produced by ATV, produced in cooperation with WGBH in the United States. The drama is based on the true story of Princess Masha'il, a young Saudi Arabian princess and her lover who had been publicly executed for adultery. The documentary's depiction of the customs of Saudi Arabia led many governments to oppose its broadcast, under threat of damaging trade ramifications....

After some stalling, it was eventually broadcast by the PBS programme World in most of the US on May 12, 1980, although many PBS stations did not do so. For example, in South Carolina, the PBS affiliate cancelled broadcast of the film, a decision influenced by fact that the then US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, John C. West, had formerly been the state's Governor.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Princess

Now it's on youtube:

Whether it's of any educational value or not, it was seen in some markets and at this time it doesn't matter as nothing is going to change the minds of some people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning#Saudi_Arabia.2C_Sudan

I wonder how differently the crucifixion of Siegelman would have played out had it been aired as I'm sure many people there watch CBS. We might have seen fair minded people take the lead there and stop it.