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New Book on Liberal TV Bias Goes After… Sesame Street?

by Josh Feldman | 5:08 pm, May 31st, 2011

» 32 comments

“C is for communism, that’s good enough for me”?

Ben Shapiro, a conservative author/radio host based in California, has written a new book called Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV. His previous books include Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth and Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future. So it only seems natural that he would set his sights on supposed left-wing propaganda on mainstream television.

He points to popular shows of the last few decades that he believes were filled with overtly liberal messages. For example, he suggests Friends was promoting an anti-family values lifestyle and MacGyver was pro-gun control.

But the book is getting a lot of attention for Shapiro’s criticisms of the children’s program Sesame Street. It isn’t enough that the show is broadcast on PBS (which would be enough for some conservatives), but it has overriding liberal messages that Shapiro says is brainwashing young children.

Citing interviews with one of the show’s creators, early episodes of the show featuring hippies and racial reconciliation and, more recently, incidents such as 2009′s “Pox News” controversy, Shapiro writes that “Sesame Street tried to tackle divorce, tackled ‘peaceful conflict resolution’ in the aftermath of 9/11 and had Neil Patrick Harris on the show playing the subtly-named ‘fairy shoeperson.’”

He also points to Cookie Monster’s declaration that cookies are a “sometimes food” as evidence of an active liberal agenda attempting to conform young children to a particular lifestyle.

Two years ago, conservatives were outraged when Sesame Street made an innocent joke about Fox News. After watching the fictional Grouch News Network, a friend of Oscar the Grouch says, “From now on I am watching Pox News. Now there’s a trashy news show!” Rather than assuming it was a self-referencing joke about grouches loving trash, some right-wing bloggers cited this as evidence that the program had an overt liberal bias.

There are valid points to be made about liberal bias in the media and primetime programming, but the point of children’s television is to teach kids basic comprehension and critical thinking skills at an early age. Whatever political message may lurk in the background does not register with kids that young. When Elmo teaches young kids how to be more fiscally responsible, they don’t grasp the more complicated issues. All they learn are the basics, then as they grow up, they’re free to learn more and read up on subjects they choose, eventually developing their own opinions on important matters. “Sharing is caring” does not automatically equal “government handouts are okay.”

Hopefully, if Bill O’Reilly picks up this story, he’ll give the folks on Sesame Street a fair shake. After all, they did make a whole new puppet in his honor.

(h/t The Huffington Post)

Ben Shapiro, children's television, friends, liberal bias, Macgyver, sesame street, TV

Nature Freak

So what’s the deal between Ernie and Bert?
Jackie_Treehorn

The right will find anything to bitch about. The most insane, miserable people on the planet.
Thelonious Funk

Of course colleges are left wing. They teach liberal arts.

…

And science.
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

Thelonious Funk said:
Of course colleges are left wing. They teach liberal arts.

…

And science.

Most incredibly intelligent people are liberal… and that’s because there’s no way to not be liberal after you’ve accumulated a certain amount of life experiences. After a while, you know it’s probably not the welfare recipients fault they are on welfare… and you realize gay people aren’t monsters out to corrupt society.. you learn black people and latino people appear frightening only to ignorant people…

I think many conservatives may have just had a bad upbringing or a very divisive one, where they have to view people that disagree with them as ruining the country. It’s the only way they can exist to be honest… Republicans these days are already depressed enough.. but to then throw in the idea that they’ve been wrong about everything and everyone they supported.. it’s too much for them to handle and at the end of the day it’s easier to just say Barack Obama is the worst than to question their beliefs.
Jackyboy

Ok this is just stupid. Liberal bias on Sesame Street? Are we in the twilight zone?
jakester

Ben Shapiro is just another Townhall hack who panders to the same pool of saps as the rest of those so called pundits.
NonElite

Too many parents and grandparents assume that children’s shows are all OK to watch. They never imagine that anyone, let alone Sesame Street, would stoop to propaganda.
After I saw about a dozen leftist activists on Sesame Street, I finally got a clue. My grandchildren won’t know who Big Bird is if we have anything to say about it. Their parents don’t let them watch it either.
I don’t understand why this story wasn’t out at least 15 years ago. Well, I supose I do, as it is Public Broadcasting protected by the MSM.
Barack Must Go

In obama’s amerika Sesame Street is turning into a ghetto. Something’s got to be done about it before it’s too late.
im_lovin_it

NonElite said:
Too many parents and grandparents assume that children’s shows are all OK to watch. They never imagine that anyone, let alone Sesame Street, would stoop to propaganda.
After I saw about a dozen leftist activists on Sesame Street, I finally got a clue. My grandchildren won’t know who Big Bird is if we have anything to say about it. Their parents don’t let them watch it either.
I don’t understand why this story wasn’t out at least 15 years ago. Well, I supose I do, as it is Public Broadcasting protected by the MSM.

My God. Well, what did these leftist activists come on to say? It’s important to be nice to people? Or that you should look both ways before you cross the street? I just can’t comprehend the level of paranoia that it takes to prevent children from watching Sesame Street.

Then again, look at this CCCP agent in action…..

http://www.sesamestreet.org/celebrity_video_player/-/pgpv/celebrityvideoplayer/0/579a3192-1551-11dd-8ea8-a3d2ac25b65b?
tiredoftherunaround

Propaganda is propaganda regardless of from where it comes.

Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth Movement succeded in mesmerizing an entire generation of idealistic German boys with the NAZI ideology of racial and national superiority. These boys were the ones who carried out without question the barbarities of aggresive war and the Holocaust.

He alone, who owns the youth, gains the Future!

– Adolf Hitler, speech at the Reichsparteitag, 1935
damien

Holy hell! This is why conservatives always lose the liberal bias argument. Yes, there’s enough evidence to suggest the media gives us information through a liberal filter, but finding one or two vaguely liberal elements of mother-flippin’ Sesame Street does not a liberal bias make.

MacGyver promotes gun control, huh? He might have a point there, were it not for, say, the dozons of other shows on American television that celebrate guns.

I hope he’s not suggesting shows should avoid liberal messages in favor of an conservative ones, ’cause you know, that would be bias.
damien

Barack Must Go said:
In obama’s amerika Sesame Street is turning into a ghetto. Something’s got to be done about it before it’s too late.

You know Sesame Street isn’t real, right? It’s just a TV show.
NonElite

im_lovin_it said:
My God. Well, what did these leftist activists come on to say? It’s important to be nice to people? Or that you should look both ways before you cross the street? I just can’t comprehend the level of paranoia that it takes to prevent children from watching Sesame Street. Then again, look at this CCCP agent in action….. http://www.sesamestreet.org/celebrity_video_player/-/pgpv/celebrityvideoplayer/0/579a3192-1551-11dd-8ea8-a3d2ac25b65b?

Well, like I said, it was a very long time ago, and I can’t remeber a lot of the details.
First of all, it’s obviously not what they said on Sesame Street, but rather the character of the people they have as guests. The guests are put out there as special people who deserve the attention. Public Broadcasting clearly didn’t care who they put on a children’s show. I’m sure it hasn’t gotten any better since.
The “paranoid” comment was wrong and quite unnecessary, and the Barbara Bush thing was an absurd comparison.
I remember Pete Seeger and either Joan Baez or someone very much like her and one of the more objectionable female talk show hosts, whose name I cannot recall either. I also remember two or three foul mouthed comedians and some musicians who were poorly behaved, like drugs and that sort of thing. It seems to me that they were pretty much all left leaning. I know that some were involved as activists.
I feel like it’s a parent’s responsibility to let kids know what is acceptable in people’s characters and what is not. Apparently, the folks at Sesame Street don’t feel that same responsibility, so it’s just a lot better to change the channel.
Barack Must Go

damien said:
You know Sesame Street isn’t real, right? It’s just a TV show.

Nothing is safe while obama is in our White House, not even Sesame Street. I hear Cloe is pregnant and is having an abortion in one of next weeks episodes and Oscar is in intensive care, as some gang banger did a drive by on a bicycle and shot up his crib.

Art imitates life a bit too closely for my white bread taste in barack obama’s amerika.
damien

Barack Must Go said:
Nothing is safe while obama is in our White House, not even Sesame Street. I hear Cloe is pregnant and is having an abortion in one of next weeks episodes and Oscar is in intensive care, as some gang banger did a drive by on a bicycle and shot up his crib. Art imitates life a bit too closely for my white bread taste in barack obama’s amerika.

White bread? What does your taste in bakery have to do with anything?
damien

damien said:
White bread? What does your taste in bakery have to do with anything?

If you mean white bred, it’s good of you to admit your dislike of Obama is based on race, but it doesn’t make you any less of a racist, racist.
Barack Must Go

damien said:
If you mean white bred, it’s good of you to admit your dislike of Obama is based on race, but it doesn’t make you any less of a racist, racist.

obama is the racist and you know it. His overt hatred of the white ( bread ) middle class and above in this country is palpable. He wants our money, that’s it. Other than that he’d prefer we were all dead, and if he gets reelected, he’ll get his wish and we will be.
Jerps

I lean right, but Ben Shapiro is the Ben Lyons of Big Hollywood.
W.I.S.C

Barack Must Go said:
obama is the racist and you know it. His overt hatred of the white ( bread ) middle class and above in this country is palpable. He wants our money, that’s it. Other than that he’d prefer we were all dead, and if he gets reelected, he’ll get his wish and we will be.

Wow.
White Ninja

My son loves Little Einsteins which was totally fine with me until we saw a military jet in real life and he, instead of thinking it was neat, said “Oh no! Big jet!” Big jet is the bad guy on the show and looks like an F16. So my two year old associates the military with “bad guys.”

In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse the bad guy is Pete the cat who is the bad guy because he always charges the characters on whatever adventure theyre going on to cross a bridge or fish in his pond etc. Depicting capitalism as evil people who dont provide anything but just take money from people. Lovely.

Special Agent Oso is a show where a kid wants to learn to do something like jump rope or brush their teeth but their parents are always too busy to teach them or just leave them to figure it out alone and instead of trying to do it the kid sits on their butt staring at the wall until a robotic lady bug transmit the message to Secret Agency who sends Secret Agent Oso, a stuffed bear, to help them. So I guess the moral is “If at first you dont succeed, dont worry, the government will swoop in to help because your parents are too busy to be bothered with you?”

Just laying the groundwork. Building better citizens in their image. It’s fine. Dont worry about it.
damien

Barack Must Go said:
hatred of the white ( bread ) middle class

Wow! Talk about willfull ignorance! The verb is breed, or bred in the past tence. I suppose I shouldn’t expect any more from racists.

And as for me knowing Obama is a racist, what I know is that you keep saying so here without offering any examples of him displaying this hatred of whites. I can only assume your evidence for Obama’s racism is that he’s black, which makes you a racist, racist.
NonElite

damien said:
Wow! Talk about willfull ignorance! The verb is breed, or bred in the past tence. I suppose I shouldn’t expect any more from racists. And as for me knowing Obama is a racist, what I know is that you keep saying so here without offering any examples of him displaying this hatred of whites. I can only assume your evidence for Obama’s racism is that he’s black, which makes you a racist, racist.

Seriously, you’ve never heard the term “white bread”? Amazing.
Barack Must Go

NonElite said:
Seriously, you’ve never heard the term “white bread”? Amazing.

Why even bother…seriously.
Barack Must Go

W.I.S.C said:
Wow.

I know, but no one seems to give a sh*t about it.
Barack Must Go

damien said:
Wow! Talk about willfull ignorance! The verb is breed, or bred in the past tence. I suppose I shouldn’t expect any more from racists.

And as for me knowing Obama is a racist, what I know is that you keep saying so here without offering any examples of him displaying this hatred of whites. I can only assume your evidence for Obama’s racism is that he’s black, which makes you a racist, racist.</blockquote

Everything about Barack & Michelle Obama's agenda for their vision for their amerika is based on " reparations " and building up " the blacks " at the expense of white " real " Americans such as myself.

You don't accept this because you do not wish to, not because it's not only true…it's right out in the open for the entire ( muslim ) world to see.
greg454

“Most incredibly intelligent people are liberal… and that’s because there’s no way to not be liberal after you’ve accumulated a certain amount of life experiences. ”

—What a ridiculous generalization. I am 36, I have accumulated a ton of life experiences which has helped me evolve from a liberal to a conservative and then libertarian. In fact, it’s the liberals that live in a dream world where nobody’s poor because the rich pay for everything. I find conservatives much more interesting, pleasant, and easy to get along with.

Besides, intelligence has nothing to do with politics. There are all kinds of criminals with extremely high IQ’s. There are Marxist professors who are very intelligent yet very stupid at the same time. Stupid because they believe in Marxists theories while ignoring the awful realities of Marxism all over the world.

Tell me, have you seen “The Motorcycle Diaries”? Are you ones of those Che Guevara worshipers that ignores how that bastard killed innocent men and boys? Because lots of liberal celebrities love him, which is funny since the Che hated them. That’s right, in Guevara’s Cuba, Rock and Jazz became illegal.

But hey, who care about reality when Ted Turner can travel to Cuba and stay in fine hotels with happy slaves.
http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/
tiredoftherunaround

greg454 said:
“Most incredibly intelligent people are liberal… and that’s because there’s no way to not be liberal after you’ve accumulated a certain amount of life experiences. ”

—What a ridiculous generalization. I am 36, I have accumulated a ton of life experiences which has helped me evolve from a liberal to a conservative and then libertarian. In fact, it’s the liberals that live in a dream world where nobody’s poor because the rich pay for everything. I find conservatives much more interesting, pleasant, and easy to get along with.

Besides, intelligence has nothing to do with politics. There are all kinds of criminals with extremely high IQ’s. There are Marxist professors who are very intelligent yet very stupid at the same time. Stupid because they believe in Marxists theories while ignoring the awful realities of Marxism all over the world.

Tell me, have you seen “The Motorcycle Diaries”? Are you ones of those Che Guevara worshipers that ignores how that bastard killed innocent men and boys? Because lots of liberal celebrities love him, which is funny since the Che hated them. That’s right, in Guevara’s Cuba, Rock and Jazz became illegal.

But hey, who care about reality when Ted Turner can travel to Cuba and stay in fine hotels with happy slaves.
http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/

“Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.”
–French Premier Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929):
StewartIII

Ben Shapiro| Exclusive: To Protect Hollywood, MSM Focuses On .0027% of My Book
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bshapiro/2011/05/31/exclusive-from-primetime-propagandas-shapiro-to-protect-hollywood-msm-focuses-on-0027-of-my-book/
greg454

““Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.”
–French Premier Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929):”

—That’s the quote I was looking for, thanks!
tiredoftherunaround

You are incredibly wise and intelligent 36y/o! Well read for your age. Be proud. You are the hope of this nation.
Liberal Tormentor

TV Executives Admit in Taped Interviews That Hollywood Pushes a Liberal Agenda (Exclusive Video)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tv-executives-admit-taped-interviews-193116
lancero

No bias on Sesame Street? Okay, here’s one for you: In 1977 SS engaged Pete Seeger to perform a three-verse song (which he did not write) called “Garbage” with Oscar the Grouch. Pollution is bad, so what’s the gripe, right? Well, Pete decided to write a fourth verse, which went, in part: “Their kids will read in history books about financiers and other crooks and feudalism and slavery and nukes and all their knavery to history’s dustbin they’re consigned…” Not only did this altered version of the song go on the air, it was included on one of SS’s LPs. But perhaps accusing them of “liberal bias” is unfair. “History’s dustbin” comes from a quote by Leon Trotsky. (And all this time I thought Pete spent his formative years as a Stalinist.)