Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Primetime Propaganda The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV by Ben Shapiro Primetime Propaganda. Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV is a 2011 book by conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro. In it he argues that producers, executives and writers in the entertainment industry are using television to promote a socialist political agenda. Contents. Content Interview techniques Reception See also References. Content. As one part of the evidence, Shapiro presents statements from taped interviews made by celebrities and TV show creators from Hollywood whom he interviewed for the book. The book include quotes from, among others, the co-creator of Friends , Marta Kauffman, and the creator of Soap and the Golden Girls , Susan Harris. Another argument is that conservatives are shunned in the industry. [1] For example, Vin Di Bona, a producer responsible for many hit television shows, agreed during an interview with Shapiro that Hollywood promotes a liberal political agenda, commenting, "I'm happy about it, actually." Di Bona also said that MacGyver , the cult hit show on which he was a producer, promoted an anti-gun movement position, as the character of MacGyver does not use a gun, but rather his own intelligence. People involved with television shows M*A*S*H and Happy Days told Shapiro that they possessed pacifistic and anti-Vietnam War agendas. [2] Another example is the television show Sesame Street which is accused of deliberately spreading left-wing propaganda to children. [3] Producer Leonard Goldberg stated to Shapiro that in the industry liberalism is "100 percent dominant, and anyone who denies it is kidding, or not telling the truth", and when Shapiro asked if politics are a barrier to entry replied, "Absolutely". Producer and director Nicholas Meyer replied "Well, I hope so," when asked if conservatives are discriminated against, and stated regarding the 1983 made-for-TV film The Day After that, "My private, grandiose notion was that this movie would unseat Ronald Reagan when he ran for re- election." Executive Fred Silverman stated regarding TV comedy nowadays that ". there’s only one perspective, and it’s a very progressive perspective. And if you want the other perspective. well it's just not there right now." TV series COPS creator John Langley stated that he prefers showing segments where whites are the criminals because he fears that he would be promoting negative stereotypes. [4] Shapiro states that he was ". shocked by the openness of the Hollywood crowd when it came to admitting anti-conservative discrimination inside the industry". [2] He argues that nepotism in Hollywood rarely is familial, but rather is ideological by friends hiring friends with the same ideological views: [1] Portions of some of the interviews which were released onto the internet to promote the book, particularly the Di Bona interview, caused director and producer Lionel Chetwynd to resign from the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors. In an open letter, he wrote about the reaction of other members of the caucus to Republican Party politicians: "In preparing his book, Mr. Shapiro interviewed a large number of our Hollywood notables on the subject of diversity -- not the sacrosanct melange of race, religion, gender orientation and the like, but a more challenging diversity: that of opinion and policy. The vast majority felt quite comfortable endorsing discrimination against those whose political philosophy was not rooted in the reflexive Leftism of Hollywood," and "I knew most of my fellow members looked upon the political positions of these people as distasteful; what I now understand is the disgust was not for their views, but for their very person". [5] Another argument by Shapiro is that Hollywood has overemphasized the importance of the 18–49-year-old market for advertisers. Initially, as admitted by executives during the taped interviews, this view was promoted by ABC in the late 1960s since the network had poor ratings and needed to increase advertising revenue in some way. [6] Shapiro argues that the situation may change quickly in the future since new technologies, such as content delivered by the Internet, may dramatically change the media landscape. [7] Interview techniques. Vin Di Bona stood by the statements quoted from his interview but added that the material "was obtained in a duplicitous manner", accusing Shapiro of misrepresenting the nature of his book prior to interview. [5] Marta Kauffman said that "The idea that we are pushing an agenda is nonsense," adding that ". the dangerous thing about the book is it implies we don't want a dialogue." [5] Another of the interviewees, George Schlatter, rejected suggestions that Hollywood is conspiring to exclude the conservative perspective and accused the right wing of being "guilty of everything they accuse the left wing of". [5] Reception. Reviewing the book and interviewing Shapiro, Los Angeles Times reporter Patrick Goldstein questioned Shapiro citing The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Simpsons as examples, as Goldstein argued those shows have . "gone over like gangbusters with middle America." [8] See also. Media bias in the United States 2011 in literature The Right Side of History – 2019 book by Shapiro. Related Research Articles. MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff and starring Richard Dean Anderson as the title character. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The series follows the adventures of Angus MacGyver, a secret agent armed with remarkable scientific resourcefulness to solve almost any problem out in the field using mundane materials at hand. Richard Dean Anderson is an American actor and producer. He began his television career in 1976, playing Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital , then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver (1985–1992). He later appeared in films such as Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992), Pandora's Clock (1996), and Firehouse (1997). Sean Patrick Hayes is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is best known for playing Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace , for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, and one American Comedy Award, and earned six Golden Globe nominations. He also runs a television production company called Hazy Mills Productions, which produces shows such as Grimm , Hot in Cleveland , The Soul Man , and Hollywood Game Night . " Excellence in Broadcasting " is the second episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy . It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 3, 2010. The episode features anthropomorphic dog Brian, an adamant liberal, confronting conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh at a book signing in Quahog, and ultimately having a political change of heart when Limbaugh convinces him to read his latest book. Brian soon decides to become a devoted member of the Republican Party, and soon begins criticizing liberals. This leads Brian to become roommates with Limbaugh, and begins following him everywhere; Limbaugh eventually gets annoyed with Brian and ends up disclosing his true political convictions. Benjamin Aaron Shapiro is an American conservative political commentator and media host. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. He writes columns for Creators Syndicate, Newsweek , and Ami Magazine , serves as editor emeritus for The Daily Wire , which he founded, and hosts The Ben Shapiro Show , a daily political podcast and live radio show. He was editor-at-large of Breitbart News between 2012 and 2016. Shapiro has written eleven books, the first being Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth (2004) and the latest being How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps (2020). Lee David Zlotoff is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series MacGyver . He started as a screenwriter for Hill Street Blues in 1981. He then became a producer of Remington Steele in 1982. Vincent John "Vin" Di Bona is an American television producer of the television shows MacGyver , Entertainment Tonight , and America's Funniest Home Videos . He runs an eponymous production company called Vin Di Bona Productions. In 2010, Di Bona launched a second business, FishBowl Worldwide Media, an independent production company developing properties for film, television, digital platforms and brands. Peter M. Lenkov is a Canadian television and film writer, producer, and comic book author. He is best known as the showrunner of the reboot series Hawaii Five-0 , MacGyver , and Magnum P.I. , all of which aired on CBS. Marta Fran Kauffman is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom Friends with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive producers of the show, along with Kevin Bright. Kauffman and Crane also produced Veronica's Closet and Jesse . From 2005 to 2006 she was an executive producer on Related . Both writers were the creators of the HBO series Dream On . Marta Kauffman also studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City. Terence Patrick Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14). Before creating Boardwalk Empire , Winter was a writer and executive producer for the HBO television series The Sopranos , from the show's second to sixth and final season (2000–2007). Marc Guggenheim is an American screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series Eli Stone (2008–2009), Arrow , and Legends of Tomorrow (2016–present), executive producer of the animated series Tales of Arcadia (2016–present), as well as the writer of the feature films Green Lantern (2011), and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013).