From: Jonathan Davis (jonathan.davis@lineone.net)
Date: Sun Apr 07 2002 - 08:12:53 MDT
Thanks Mike,
Interesting Alert, but I must say it looks like a rather elaborate bad
company/straw man fallacy. Nowhere does the alert criticise the content
of the program, all it does is point out that "Enron & other corporate
giants sponsored new globalization series". So what?
Regards
Jonathan
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com] On Behalf
Of Michael Cooley
Sent: 06 April 2002 21:32
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: Re: virus: Commanding Heights: The World Economy and How It Got
That Way
I haven't seen the show yet but I received this FAIR alert earlier this
week:
FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and activism
MEDIA ADVISORY:
PBS's "Commanding" Conflict of Interest:
Enron & other corporate giants sponsored new globalization series
April 3, 2002
In the latest example of PBS's inconsistently applied underwriting
guidelines, the network is premiering a six-hour series about the global
economy which was sponsored by major corporations-- including Enron--
that have a clear interest in the show's content.
Titled "Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy," the
series is based on the eponymous book by Daniel Yergin and Joseph
Stanislaw. It has already received a rave review from the Wall Street
Journal
(3/28/02)
under the headline "PBS Likes Capitalism More Than the Commercial
Networks Do," in which it hailed the series as a "paean to private
enterprise."
Corporate funders of "Commanding Heights" include the Electronic Data
Systems Corporation (which bills itself as "the leading global
information technology services company"), BP (formerly British
Petroleum, one of the world's largest oil companies) and FedEx-- all
firms with a major stake in the debate over the future of the global
economy.
Enron no longer appears on lists of the show's funders, but the Boston
Globe (1/23/02) has reported that Enron was one of the series' original
underwriters, providing backing that might have been "in the six
figures." Since Enron's scandalous collapse, PBS has downplayed the
Enron link, calling it "a distraction." In January, after more than two
years of work on the series and just three months before its debut,
Yergin told the Globe that "preliminary discussions" had been undertaken
to find a replacement underwriter.
This isn't the first time that PBS has distributed a show with a
funding-related conflict of interest. Nor is it the first time that
Yergin has been involved. Over the years, FAIR has found that PBS
scrutinizes the underwriters of certain documentaries with more
vigilance than it does others. Shows produced or funded by "interest
groups" like unions and public interest activists have been rejected by
PBS as compromised by these connections, while programs funded by
corporate or conservative interests are A-OK. Here are a few examples of
that trend:
DISTRIBUTED BY PBS:
* The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, a 1993 series
funded by PaineWebber, a company with significant oil interests. The
series' main analyst was Daniel Yergin, a consultant to major oil
companies. Almost every expert featured was a defender of the oil
industry.
* Living Against the Odds, a 1991 special on risk assessment that
asserted, "We have to stop pointing the finger at industry for every
environmental hazard." Funded by Chevron, a petrochemical company often
criticized for environmental pollution.
* James Reston: The Man Millions Read, a flattering documentary about
the New York Times' most famous pundit. The film was funded by and
produced "in association with" the New York Times. The director and
producer, Susan Dryfoos, is part of the Sulzberger family that owns the
paper, and is the daughter of a former Times publisher.
REJECTED BY PBS:
* Out At Work, a 1997 film about workplace discrimination against gays
and lesbians. Why? It was partially funded by unions and a lesbian
group. PBS acknowledged that the underwriters had clearly not controlled
the program's content, and that it was "compelling television
responsibly done," but still refused to distribute it.
* Defending Our Lives, a 1993 Academy Award-winning documentary about
domestic violence. Why? One of the producers was the leader of a
battered women's support group, and PBS felt that gave her a "direct
vested interest in the subject matter of the program."
* The Money Lenders, a 1993 film about the World Bank. Why? PBS was
concerned that "Even though the documentary may seem objective to some,
there is a perception of bias in favor of poor people who claim to be
adversely affected."
According to the "Commanding Heights" trailer-- which, though it doesn't
disclose the show's underwriters, does feature footage of FedEx
airplanes-- the show aims to tell "the story of the battle between the
power of governments and the power of the marketplace over which will
control the commanding heights of the world's economies."
It's unfortunate that public television is presenting viewers with a
report on the struggle over globalization that's been bankrolled by some
of the key players from one side of the debate.
For some of FAIR's past work on PBS, see:
http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/pbs.html
To contact PBS:
Public Broadcasting Service
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314
mailto:viewer@pbs.org
Phone: (703)739-5000
----------
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