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09/24/2001
The terrorist attacks of September 11 have brought forth an unequalled sense of national unity and patriotism. Americans are flying the flag and wearing red, white and blue like never before. Flag graphics abound on network and cable television.

So how do you respond if you are a media mogul in the American city hardest hit by terrorism? If you are Charles Dolan, of the Cablevision conglomerate, you ban your Cable News 12 employees from on-air flag displays. No flags on lapels, no red, white and blue ribbons, zilch, zip, nada! Oddly enough, the flag is used in onscreen graphics.

Bizarre and outrageous!

News 12 is part of the Cablevision system, reaching 1.5 million homes throughout the metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. Also part of Cablevision's media stable are American Movie Classics, Bravo, the Independent Film Channel, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Clearview Cinemas, the N.Y. Knicks and the N.Y. Rangers.

Pat Dolan, News 12 news director, issued a memo banning on-air flag displays on Sunday, 09/16/2001. He was alarmed by the flags appearing in the newsroom and on the lapels of anchors. "Our office is a newsroom and news people are committed to supplying objective information in events here and around the world . . . We have to avoid giving a false impression that we lean one way or the other."

As one might expect, this directive upset many of his employees. In an interview with Long Island's Newsday, Dolan expressed the following concern: "What we're trying to do is make clear that our guys can express their patriotism, but we don't want the flag to be associated with their daily activities as electronic journalists." On air flag waving is "a real problem when war breaks out." Viewers may get the impression that "we may subtly endorse what the government is doing."

One can't help but wonder if he subtly endorses what the terrorists did on September 11! Is this the balance he hopes to strike, between the terrorists and the victims?

So much outcry was developed by this silly policy that James L. Dolan, president and CEO of Cablevision Systems Corporation, felt it necessary to issue the following statement:

"A News 12 policy regarding the wearing of flags on newscasts has generated criticism in many quarters and has stirred conflict within the company as a whole. While there are flags flying throughout all company buildings and widely displayed by employees of every division, News 12 has determined that its independence of judgment could be thought to be compromised by the appearance of flags on display in the newsroom. Though we may disagree with this judgment, we stand firmly by the importance of our news division making its own decisions about the content of its newscasts.

As we see today, occasional disagreements with corporate can be a hallmark of an independent news organization.

For our own part, Cablevision supports the use of the flag both by the company and its employees to show support for everyone affected by last week's tragedy, and we are distributing flags to each of our 24,000 employees."

What hypocrisy! The flag belongs to all people of the U.S.A. It doesn't belong to the Republicans, the Democrats, or any news network. It belongs to the citizens of this great country as a symbol of freedom and democracy - the very ideals that the terrorists despise!

Let's tell Cablevision where we stand on the ban on Old Glory. Here is the contact information:

Charles Schueler
Senior Vice President
Media and Community Relations
Cablevision Systems Corporation
1111 Stewart Avenue
Bethpage, NY 11714

Phone: 516-803-1013

Contact page

Read more here:

Channel 12's Old Glory Ban An Outrage
Cablevision: Boycott warning Over Flag Ban
Flag Ban Mutiny at News 12?