Lonesome EJ,

I'm curious about the argument you are making about an "obligation" to provide artists with a forum on network television broadcasts.

Do you mean a moral obligation? A legal obligation? An obligation to the shareholders? The audience? The artist? The producers of the program (nowadays, they often aren't employees of the network, but are outside contractors)? The advertisers?

There are many parties with legal/contractual obligations associated with broadcasts of any programming on PUBLIC airwaves. And like it or not, there are still strict rule regarding what political content is "allowable" in public broadcasts, which are much more stringent than what is allowed for language, sexual content, etc.

The airwaves are in the public domain, not a privately owned domain. Networks are private corporate bodies, which contract with and pay the governments who regulate use of their PUBLIC airwaves, for the right to broadcast their programming on those PUBLIC airwaves.

So just what do you mean when you say producers are under no obligation to provide a platform for Ani?

Remember, it appears that CBS in fact entered freely into a contract with Ani for her to appear on the show. Presumably they didn't do that for humantiarian reasons.

Now, if Ani did in fact submit three songs last March, well in advance (as I'm sure the contract requires all artists who are scheduled to appear to do) of the appearance date, and CBS approved that contract with the song in question already agreed to, just how is that "providing a platform"?

Sounds to me like they reneged on the deal. If they didn't violate the letter of the contract to do it (which is possible, maybe even likely), they certainly violated the spirit of it.

I mean really, how could anyone NOT know about the political content of many Ani songs when they book her on a national broadcast? They agreed to let her appear (and for all we know, may even have approached her first), and then pulled the plug at the last minute, claiming "artistic differences over song choice"?

A bit fishy, don't you think?