Mediaboss Marketing

Citing Censorship, Artistic Directors Sign Letter of "Outrage" Over Ousting of Theater J's Ari Roth; Tony Kushner Issues Scathing Statement

By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and Carey Purcell 22 Dec 2014

Artistic directors from leading theatres in the U.S., including the Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, La Jolla Playhouse and the Guthrie Theater, issued a letter in support of Ari Roth, artistic director of Washington D.C.'s Theater J, who was fired Dec. 18, in what industry members are calling "an act of politically motivated censorship."

On Dec. 18, Roth told the Washington Post that Carole R. Zawatsky, chief executive officer of the DC Jewish Community Center, of which Theater J is an arm, delivered notice of his dismissal and that the given cause was insubordination. He had served in his role there for 18 years.

The Post reported that Roth and Zawatsky frequently disagreed on Roth's programming choices, with the most recent being over the the fate of Theater Js Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival. In November, the Jewish Daily Forward reported that the DCJCC was removing parts of the festival; Roth told the Post that his comments to the media following that article were used as an example of his insubordination.

"Theyve crafted a letter thats saying Im resigning, not fired," Roth told the Post, adding, "I was terminated abruptly." He said he refused to sign a severance agreement and that he had been discussing "an elegant transition" that would result in him departing Theater J in a few months.

The DCJCC released a statement quoting Zawatsky Dec. 18 that read: "Ari Roth has had an incredible 18-year tenure leading Theater J, and we know there will be great opportunities ahead for him. Ari leaves us with a vibrant theater that will continue to thrive."

Kushner wrote, "Ari wasn't fired, as the executive committee has claimed, because of insubordination. That's a preposterous and cowardly whitewashing of the truth. Ari was fired because he believes that a theater company with a mission to explore Jewish themes and issues cannot acquiesce to a demand for uncritical acceptance of the positions of the Israeli government regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or to insistence on silence. Ari was fired because he refused to surrender to censorship. He was fired because he believes that freedom of speech and freedom of expression are both American values and Jewish values."

The video can be seen in full at the bottom of this article.

In addition, artistic directors from leading theatre companies from across the U.S. issued a statement in support of Roth.

Original post:
Citing Censorship, Artistic Directors Sign Letter of "Outrage" Over Ousting of Theater J's Ari Roth; Tony Kushner ...

WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama rebuked Sony Corp. Friday for caving into North Koreas cyber attacks by cancelling the release of the satirical film The Interview.

I think they made a mistake, he said. We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they dont like or news reports that they dont like or even worse, imagine if producers or distributors and others start engaging in self censorship.

Obama said he wished Sony had spoken to him before making the decision to cancel the movie.

I would have said to them do not get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by these kind of criminal attacks, he said.

Sonys decision, he said, is not what America is about.

Sony President Michael Lynton told CNN that Sony officials had been speaking with senior White House officials prior to cancelling the films Christmas Day release. However, he appeared muddled about whether Sony discussed withdrawing the film. He also said it was the movie theatres that cancelled the release and not Sony.

Obama made the comments Friday afternoon at his final news conference of the year before flying off to Hawaii for a family holiday.

He also addressed the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, pouring cold water on what he called a hyped project of little benefit to Americans.

Obama confirmed the attack on Sonys computer system came from North Korea, adding that no other country was involved.

I think it says something interesting about North Korea that they decided to have the state mount an all-out attack on a movie studio because of a satirical movie, he said.

Go here to read the rest:
Obama calls Sony censorship wrong; labels Keystone a hyped project

Mini Ice Age 2015-2035 | European Ice Storms and Zonal Media Censorship (32)
During the beginning of Dec 2014, powerful ice storms covered Austria, Germany and Czech Republic in several inches of ice with near hurricane force winds. US media did not cover the story...

By: Adapt 2030

Continued here:
Mini Ice Age 2015-2035 | European Ice Storms and Zonal Media Censorship (32) - Video

Blogger of the Year PETER RHODES on a Korean conspiracy, dressed-down weather forecasters and the wind of change in draughty homes.

AFTER picking up yet another energy drink can in her local park, a reader asks: Why is it these drinks don't produce enough energy to get the drinkers to a litter bin?

NOT that those officially entrusted with our litter are any better. Every fortnight the recycling lorry hurtles up the farm lane, to be loaded with all our plastic and cardboard before hurtling off again. In the process some of the stuff (plastic milk bottles in particular) fly off the lorry and into the fields. We then pick them up and put them back in the bins for another fortnight. I suppose it's a sort of recycling. All together now: It's beginning to look a lot like somebody won't be getting a Christmas box.

ONE of the abiding mysteries of television is why weather forecasters have to pack a shirt and jeans to appear on Countryfile (BBC1). In the bulletins before and after the show they wear smart suits. But for the Countryfile seven-day forecast they suddenly dress-down into rural casual. Why? Are we dimwit viewers supposed to believe Tomasz Schafernaker has just come in from the harvest or Nina Ridge is on her way to a barn dance? It's supposed to be factual telly, Auntie, not The Archers.

THE great dream of the internet was that it would create a wired world, where men and women of goodwill could exchange views, create a new Enlightenment and transform this planet into something better. I once interviewed a philosopher who believed that, once we were all communicating with each other, Planet Earth would be transformed into a single, organic entity like a vast living creature. What no-one ever dreamed was that the internet would enable North Korea to impose its idea of censorship on you, me and the rest of the cinema-going world.

A LETTER from America on the continuing thread about paraffin heaters and frozen houses. The writer's home is insulated to Scandinavian levels and, even when the temperature outside drops to minus 8C, the temperature inside never falls below 5C. Compared to a 1960s council house, she says, that's Caribbean luxury. Even so, she admits her house is a tad cool which may explain why guests, wanted or unwanted, don't hang around for long. It may be the temperature that puts them off, but there is another factor. In some super-insulated homes, draughts are eliminated to the point where the air hardly ever changes. Aromas linger and (how can I put this delicately?) the after-effects of the Christmas sprouts may still be with you at Easter. You may not notice it but your guests certainly will. Leaving so soon . . ?

ON the subject of winter blackouts, a reader retells the old yarn of a young woman sitting between two men on a packed train in the 1941 Blitz. As German bombers appeared overhead, all the lights were switched off and a profound darkness fell on the train. Suddenly, the woman exclaimed: Take your hand off my knee! And after a few seconds: Not you, you!

ANOTHER popular thread is the one of folk trying to outdo each other about how poor they were as kids. A reader recalls a trip to the Black Country Museum where, on seeing a black-lead grate, he explained how his family's grate was cleaned every week with Zebo blacking. Sure enough, another tripper joined in: Yow musta bin well off. We 'ad to goo down the foundry and get some soot to mek we own.

SOOT? You were lucky . . .

See the original post:
Long-range censorship, courtesy of the internet

Thoughts on Hatred, Censorship, and Gamer Outrage
Stay classy, Hatred supporters. "SJWs as targets in game please! (TW: Violence)": https://archive.today/nJ7l4 Off Target - Don #39;t Censor Me Part 2 : https://w...

By: Zennistrad1

Read more:
Thoughts on Hatred, Censorship, and Gamer Outrage - Video