:21:00
They were afraid
of being sued
:21:02
and losing
advertising dollars.
:21:05
And all of the stations
owned by Rupert Murdoch.
:21:08
And he owned more television
stations than any
:21:11
other group in America.
:21:12
Thats 22
television stations.
:21:14
Thats a lot of
advertising dollars.
:21:16
For Round Up Aspartame
Nutra Sweet
:21:18
and other products.
:21:20
So we got into
a battle.
:21:22
And uh the first deal was
the new general manager
:21:25
his name's Dave and
Dave is a salesman.
:21:27
And you know
hed pump your hand
:21:28
how ya doin
how ya doin?
:21:29
Called us upstairs to
his office and he said
:21:32
what would you say if
I killed this piece?
:21:35
what if it never ran?
:21:37
And we said
well you know
:21:39
we wouldnt be very
happy about that.
:21:41
And he said well I
could kill it you know
:21:42
and we said yes of
course youre the manager
:21:44
you could kill it
it would never air.
:21:46
And he hemming
and he showing.
:21:48
Hes back
and hes forth.
:21:49
And we couldnt figure out
what is this all about
:21:51
and finally
he blurted out
:21:52
look would
you tell anybody?
:21:55
You know I said Im
not going to lie for you.
:21:58
And about a week later he
calls us back to the office
:22:00
and says okay wed like you
to make these changes.
:22:02
In fact you will
make these changes.
:22:05
We said well look let us
show you the research
:22:07
that we have that
shows that this information
:22:09
you want us to
broadcast isnt true.
:22:11
To which he replies.
:22:12
I dont care about that.
:22:14
I said pardon me?
:22:15
And he said well thats
what I have lawyers for
:22:17
just write it the way the
lawyers want it written.
:22:20
I said you know
this is news
:22:22
this is important.
:22:23
This is stuff
people wanted to know.
:22:25
And Ill never forget he
didnt pause a beat
:22:27
and he said
:22:29
we just paid three
billion dollars
:22:30
for these
television stations
:22:32
Well tell you what
the news is.
:22:35
The news is what
we say it is.
:22:38
I said Im not
doing that.
:22:40
and and he said
:22:41
Well he said if you refuse
to present this story
:22:43
the way we think it
should be presented
:22:45
youll be fired
for insubordination.
:22:47
I said I will go to the Federal
Communications Commissions
:22:50
and I will report that
I was fired from my job by you
:22:55
the licensee of these
public airwaves
:22:56
because I refused to lie
to people on the air.
:22:59
And it's thank you very much
youll hear from us right away.