Censoring private Ryan.

• Author: Rich, Frank
• Position: Opinion - Brief Article

Sixty-six ABC affiliates refused to broadcast Saving Private Ryan on Veterans Day after the American Family Association found that the movie's soldiers invoked expletives and indecently re-enacted "graphic violence" in battle scenes. The real reason for the self-censorship? Fear. Not fear of terrorism or of low ratings but fear that the government would punish them for exercising freedom of speech. If these media outlets are afraid to show a graphic Hollywood treatment of a 60-year-old...