[Fredslist] I thought CBS was bad...

[Lawrence Jackson-Rosen]

I never liked Rush Limbaugh, but even he has managed to scrape a lower 
bottom:

NYC No Fan of "Survivor: Segregation Island" By Gina Serpe
Fri Aug 25, 5:32 PM ET

Who would've thought reinstituting segregation would cause such controversy? 
Oh, right. Everyone but the producers of Survivor.

A group of New York City officials and civil rights groups have blasted CBS' 
announcement that it has split the contestants on Survivor: Cook Islands 
into tribes by race, claiming the producers' decision to pit blacks, whites, 
Asians and Hispanics against each other during the early rounds of the show 
would only promote divisiveness among competitors and viewers alike.

"This idea is so ill-conceived that it would be funny--but for the fact that 
racism does still sometimes rear its ugly head," city councilman John Liu 
said at a press conference Friday. "This show has the potential to set back 
our nation's race relations by 50 years.

"Nowhere else do we tolerate racial segregation and we certainly won't stand 
for it in this battle-of-the-races scheme to prop up sagging television 
ratings."

Liu claimed the show's divisive premise would do nothing but promote the 
spread of negative stereotypes based on the actions of the different tribes, 
something that, just two days after the announcement, is already an issue.

Right-wing mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh, always keen to wax bluntly on delicate 
subjects, took to handicapping the new season on his radio show Wednesday.

Hispanics, he said, "have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders" and 
"will do things other people won't do." Asians, per Limbaugh, are "the best 
at espionage, keeping secrets." Blacks "lack buoyancy" and are "more likely 
to drown," while the white man's burden will weigh down the last team with 
"guilt over the fact that they run things."

So much for breaking stereotypes.

Liu, an Asian-American, is hoping to head off any more grandiose and 
ill-informed statements at the pass, launching a campaign for CBS to pull 
the season, or at least the season's concept, from the air. (The latter is a 
nonstarter, since the show has already been shot.) He's teaming up with the 
council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus to urge the network to rethink the 
questionable gimmick, beginning with a rally at New York's City Hall earlier 
today.

"This is not the type of premise that promotes unity," council member Robert 
Jackson said at the Friday press conference. "This show does not foster an 
environment that is conducive to diversity."

Caucus cochair Maria del Carmen Arroyo agreed, saying that Survivor's 
producers didn't realize the impact of their programming decision.

"CBS has demonstrated great lapse in judgment. As a society, we need to hold 
corporations responsible for their actions," councilwoman Melissa Mark 
Viverito said.

The caucus has already earned the support of likeminded advocacy groups. The 
leader of Hispanics Across America told Reuters the new season of Survivor 
was "not reality TV--it's racist TV."

"Moreover, the participants will be held to the daunting and unfair 
challenge of representing an entire race of people," HAA founder Fernando 
Mateo said, adding that the stunt was an "offensive and cheap trick."

"What will it mean for a team--a race--to fail in a battle of wits and 
strength against another race?"

For its part, CBS defended the decision to segregate the tribes based on 
ethnicity and denied claims it was an incendiary twist designed to grab 
headlines and ratings--both of which the show, having dropped to a 
franchise-low average of 16.8 million viewers last season, is in need of. 
The powers-that-be instead insist the stunt was the next logical step in a 
series that made its name on exploring social politics.

"CBS fully recognizes the controversial nature of this format but has full 
confidence in the producers and their ability to produce the program in a 
responsible manner," the network said in a statement. "Survivor is a program 
that is no stranger to controversy and has always answered its critics on 
the screen."

Last season for instance, the contestants were initially split into four 
tribes consisting of the oldest men, the oldest women, the youngest men and 
the youngest women. The groups eventually merged into two mixed teams and 
eventually one tribe.
   On Tuesday, when he first announced this season's segregation on CBS' 
Early Show, host Jeff Probst said that the contestants had "mixed reactions" 
about the division.
   Probst also claimed that, controversial as the premise was turning out to 
be, the idea to divide its cast was well intentioned.

   "The idea for this actually came from the criticism that Survivor was not 
ethnically diverse enough, because for whatever reason, we always have a low 
number of minority applicants apply for the show," Probst said.
   Inadvertently or not, the producers of Survivor do appear to have 
contributed to the cause of racial unity. Thanks to the division, all 
ethnicities seem to have united--in their opposition to the show.

   Survivor: Cook Islands kicks off Sept. 14.