A new grant allows PBS’s “Frontline” to expand into a year-round series with a fresh infusion of magazine-style episodes.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting said on Tuesday that it was giving “Frontline” a $6 million, two-year grant that would allow it to expand its investigative programming to a year-round schedule on PBS stations.
The money, plus an additional $1.6 million that is still being raised, will pay for seven to eight new programs each year, so the 28-year-old show will no longer have to take a summer hiatus. The expansion was announced in Austin, Tex., at PBS’s annual meeting. The corporation’s investment was “brought on by the recognition that there’s a crisis in journalism and there’s a real call for public media to step up,” David Fanning, the executive producer of “Frontline,” said in a telephone interview before the announcement. “The summer hiatus did stop us from doing certain stories,” he added. The new episodes, interspersed throughout the year, will include three stories an hour, not the usual hourlong “Frontline” investigations. “With shorter pieces, you don’t have the high bar of having to justify a full budget,” Mr. Fanning said. The shorter pieces will also have a quicker turnaround, so the program “can jump into a moving story,” like the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he said. The time will also be used for following up traditional “Frontline” investigations. Now, he said, once a documentary is finished, the reporting on the topic ends, and “we don’t want to do that anymore.” for more click the above link This is fantastic news. Frontline is superb week in and week out. If you are not familiar with it go to PBS’ website. Their Frontline documentary archives are extensive.
Frontline - The Wounded Platoon (5min excerpt)
Since the Iraq War began, soldier arrests in the city of Colorado Springs, Colo., have tripled. At least 36 servicemen based at the nearby Army post of Fort Carson have committed suicide, and 14 Fort Carson soldiers have been charged or convicted in at least 11 killings. Many of the most violent crimes involved men who had served in the same battalion in Iraq. Three of them came from a single platoon of infantrymen. FRONTLINE tells the dark tale of the men of 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion of the 506th Infantry, and how the war followed them home. It is a story of heroism, grief, vicious combat, depression, drugs, alcohol and brutal murder; an investigation into the Army’s mental health services; and a powerful portrait of what multiple tours and post-traumatic stress are doing to a generation of young American soldiers.
watch tonight online or on PBS
Higher education is a $400 billion industry fueled by taxpayer money. One of the fastest-growing—and most controversial—sectors of the industry is the for-profit colleges and universities. Unlike traditional colleges that raise money from wealthy alumni and other donors, many for-profit schools sell shares to investors on Wall Street. But what are students getting out of the deal? Critics say a worthless degree and a mountain of debt. Proponents insist they’re innovators, widening access to education. FRONTLINE follows the money to uncover how for-profit universities are transforming the way we think about college in America.
tomorrow night PBS or online
Examining the emotionally charged debate over medical risks vs. benefits and a parent’s right to make choices about her child vs. a community’s common good…
trailer here. watch in its entirety above
THE DANCING BOYS OF AFGHANISTAN
They call it Bacha Bazi, or “boy play”: an ancient tradition, banned when the Taliban were in power, in which street orphans or sons from poor families are bought by businessmen. The boys, sometimes dressed in women’s clothes, are taught to sing and dance for the entertainment of male audiences, above — and then traded or sold among the men for sex. The result can be murder, and even the Afghan authorities responsible for stopping these crimes have been accused of participation. Drawing on interviews with boys, their families and their masters, Najibullah Quraishi exposes this practice, prohibited by Afghan law, for “Frontline.” - NYTimes
Tonight on Frontline
Brooksley Born should be a name bandied about for the Supreme Court. No?
“The process was messy, and so it turned people off. It ended up being behind closed doors. It was filled with partisan wrangling, people yelling at each other across the table. We ended up having a process that represented a lot of what the American people hated about Washington.”
FRONTLINE Presents OBAMA’S DEAL
PBS’s “Frontline “follows the story of the healthcare bill” and offers the first in-depth look at how the Obama administration operates.” The report ” provides a sobering view inside Obama’s deals and reveals the realities of American politics, the power of special interest groups, and the role of money in policy making.” On air & online April 13 at 9:00 pm ET (check local listings). 5min excerpt above.
Frontline: A Class Divided
This is one of the most requested programs in FRONTLINE’s history. It is about an Iowa schoolteacher who, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in 1968, gave her third-grade students a first-hand experience in the meaning of discrimination. This is the story of what she taught the children, and the impact that lesson had on their lives.
The 1985 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational, Cultural, or Historical Programming
Sidney Hillman Prize Award (1985)
FRONTLINE: THE QUAKE
A powerful report on Haiti’s tragedy, with never-before-seen footage of the moments after the quake. What can be done now — and who will do it?
trailer here. complete documentary above.
THE SUICIDE TOURIST “Frontline”
Do we have the right to end our lives if life itself becomes unbearable, or when we enter the late-stages of painful, terminal illness? The questions, debated for centuries, have only grown more pressing in recent years as medical technology has allowed us to live longer lives, and several U.S. states have legalized physician-assisted suicide. With unique access to Dignitas, the Swiss nonprofit that has helped over 1,000 people die since 1998, Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Zaritsky offers a revealing look at a couple facing the most difficult decision of their lives — and lets us see for ourselves as one Chicago native makes the trip to Switzerland for what will become the last day of his life.
Frontline: Behind Taliban Lines
An Afghan journalist’s extraordinary 10 days living and filming with an insurgent cell allied with Al Qaeda to sabotage a key U.S./NATO supply route.
Behind Taliban Lines On air and online February 23
frontline is awesome
Frontline - Digital Nation
Within a single generation, the Web and digital media have transformed the way we work, learn and interact in ways that we are only beginning to understand. FRONTLINE teams up with one of the leading thinkers of the digital age to explore life on the virtual frontier.
This was on last night. This post is more of a bookmark for me so I will remember to watch it later. Watch it online here…. god I love Frontline.
