FORWARDED by Colin Stark >From: "Victoria Hogan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: FW: KCTS to air FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM on March 24th >Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 11:09:54 -0800 >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal >Importance: Normal >X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 >-----Original Message----- >From: mark achbar [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 1998 11:31 PM >To: Victoria Hogan >Subject: KCTS) to air FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM on March 24th > > >Hi there. This film is worth watching. > >Mark Achbar > [Mark is co-director/producer of the renowned Canadian film documentary "Manufacturing Consent", on the work of Noam Chomsky] KCTS [PBS -- Cable 27 in Vancouver] to air FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM, a documentary on self-censorship within the American press narrated by Studs Terkel, Tuesday March 24th at 10:00p.m. and Saturday March 28th at 2:00a.m. In the public's eye, reporters will do anything for a story. But FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM goes behind the scenes to shatter this myth with an insiders' critique of journalistic censorship and self-censorship. Top media executives including the president of NBC News and the vice chairman of The New York Times claim their editorial decisions are made "without fear or favor" of the owners. But some of the nation's most distinguished journalists - including four Pulitzer winners - reveal the hidden wreckage of spiked stories, demotions and firings. In convincing case studies, they prove that journalists quickly learn to muzzle themselves rather than pursue stories contrary to the interests of their corporate employers. Respected executive editor Bill Kovach resigned from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after its owners, Cox Enterprises, objected to aggressive reporting on issues such as racist bank lending practices and an alleged bribery scheme involving Atlanta-based Coca Cola. >- Pulitzer winner Sydney Schanberg resigned when The New York Times canceled his column for chastising the press for ignoring a major scandal involving real estate developers. > - NBC News president Michael Gartner killed footage of civilian carnage in Iraq during the Gulf War which challenged U.S. military claims of surgical strikes, then fired the reporter who shot it, six-time Emmy winner, Jon Alpert. > - The New York Times spiked Polk Award winner Frances Cerra's expose of billion dollar cost-overruns at the Shoreham nuclear power plant and pulled her off her beat. > >After seeing FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM, no one will ever read a paper or watch TV news without wondering what news the media magnates deemed unfit to print. As Frances Cerra puts it in the film, "I came to understand that freedom of the press is only guaranteed when you own the press. This is something I learned from The New York Times." > > >SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN: "Landmark documentary." > >VILLAGE VOICE: "Tough, gutsy...a vital and nicely structured work of televised media criticism, which is rare and difficult to do." > >SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: "Muckraking, cage-rattling." > >QUILL, Society of Professional Journalists: "Describes a fabric of entrenched news control that severely limits what Americans learn about controversial issues..." > >NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER: "Powerful documentary." > >"A marvelously revealing show & tell about how media censorship really works in America...a fine, fierce documentary." >Mark Hertsgaard, author On Bended Knee > >"This documentary shines a bright light on media outlets and monied interests that suppress the news, and their victims: not just the muzzled journalists, but the millions of Americans who don't get the full story." Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR > >"A lucid, compelling examination of some of the principal sources of the corruption of American journalism. James W. Carey Professor of Journalism, Columbia University > >"This is the story the corporate media won't report, which is why it is so important that FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM get the airing it deserves." Susan Faludi Pultizer prize winner former Wall Street Journal reporter > * * * > Producer/Director: Beth Sanders, (206) 325-3744. Co-Producer/Writer: Randy Baker. Produced in association with KTEH, San Jose Public Television. For VHS copies of the program, contact California Newsreel at 1-800-621-6196. Mark Achbar, Invisible Hand Productions Incorporated Vancouver, BC Canada
