WGBH stands fast on COMPANY OF SOLDIERS

[paineinthearse]

This thread is dedicated to WGBH standing fast against the fascist sensors who have coreced PBS from airing the uncensored A COMPANY OF SOLDIERS: "...PBS removed that episode and a wave of strong criticism from liberal supporters ensued, although WGBH bypassed public television and made the episode available to interested stations..."

As it did with "Buster", WGBH is offering the original, unedited show to affiliate stations around the country.

Edit: The original DU post is at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1247292&mesg_id=1247292&page= I am creating a "shadow" thread because this is a local matter as well, and we know that LBN issues with long life unfortunately sink into the archives.

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002183615_pbs18.html

Friday, February 18, 2005, 12:00 a.m. Pacific

PBS feels heat of indecency debate, bleeps Iraq war piece

By Kay McFadden
Seattle Times TV critic

War is hell. Just ask PBS.

The raging battle over what's indecent on TV claimed another hostage yesterday: "Frontline," the award-winning public-news program whose story about a group of soldiers in Iraq has caused a ruckus even before it airs next Tuesday. The 90-minute piece was filmed in November and is titled "A Company of Soldiers." It follows members of the 1st Battalion of the Army's 8th Cavalry, whose dangerous job was to protect bodyguards assigned to senior officers in south Baghdad.

Many of the scenes are vivid, as one might expect from men and women under fire. So is the language — and that's the problem. With the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) mounting crackdown on indecency and the U.S. House of Representatives' decision this week to dramatically increase fines on TV and radio stations, PBS took no chances.

It edited the nationally televised version of "Frontline" that will be fed to member stations. Instead of cursing during an ambush or sniper attack, there is bleeping. The unexpurgated version will be available to stations that want it, but with a major caveat. The show will not be indemnified by PBS or producing station WGBH-TV, meaning that if the FCC levies penalties, an airing station is financially on its own.

<snip>

Meanwhile, "Frontline" executives reacted with dismay to PBS' decision. David Fanning, executive producer of "Frontline," e-mailed what he called "a statement of principle" to PBS stations and to the media. In a telephone interview, he decried the growing atmosphere of "self-censorship and second-guessing" in the media. "We hope to send a message to the system that it's time to revisit these rules and the narrow interpretation of them." Fanning said he wanted PBS to make the unedited version its main feed to stations and offer the bleeped version as a second choice — typical practice until a year or so ago.

more...........

Kay McFadden: [e-mail]

[glitch]

1. This is why I support individual PBS stations and NOT the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting. Ditto for community and individual NPR radio stations.

[paineinthearse]

2. Message from Louis Wiley, Executive Editor

Subject: Messaged received from Louis Wiley, Executive Editor
Message:
From: "FRONTLINE Bulletin" <[e-mail] >
To: (me)
Subject: FRONTLINE - A Company of Soldiers, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 at 9.00 pm (wgbh/channel 2) on PBS

FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline /

- This Week: "A Company of Soldiers" (90 min.),
Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 at 9.00 pm (wgbh/channel 2) on PBS
- Inside FRONTLINE: This film's special problem
- Live Discussion: Chat with co-producer Edward Jarvis this Wed. at
11am ET

-------------------------------

+ This week


This Tuesday we bring you a glimpse into what the war in Iraq is really like for the average soldier. Producer Tom Roberts and his three-member team embedded with Dog Company, the 1st Battalion of the Army's 8th Calvary Regiment stationed in South Baghdad. Over 30 days and 26 missions in November 2004 they followed a small group of the young men of Dog Company on missions where they were often in combat, and always in danger. Roberts told us that he took away from the experience some things that he had not expected:

"I think there were three things. First, the intellectual and
operational model the U.S. was using was far more sophisticated and far more based upon the complex reality of Iraq than what one was led to believe by watching the news or reading newspapers.

The second thing was that stories about low American morale just didn't stand up to the test of reality. Time and time again the soldiers were positive, cheery and realistic. They are not full of, if you will, star-spangled patriotism. They are quite realistic about what they're doing, quite determined, with a clear sense of mission.

The third unexpected thing I came away with is a bigger sense of the
mess and chaos in Iraq than I thought there would be. One has a sense, sitting here, that there's a counter-insurgency or guerrilla war taking place. In fact, there are many layers of conflict within the society and a lot of them don't involve insurgency."

....

We hope you will watch "A Company of Soldiers." And we want to call
Your attention to a special problem that FRONTLINE confronted with this film.

As you might expect, the soldiers' language is sprinkled with
expletives, especially at moments of greatest fear and stress. As we edited the program, we were judicious, but came to believe that some of that language was an integral part of our journalistic mission: to give viewers a realistic portrait of our soldiers at war. We feel strongly that the language of war should not be sanitized and that there is nothing 'indecent' about its use in this context.

PBS stations were given the option of airing an edited or unedited
version based on their own community standards. Broadcasting the
unedited version carries some risk that the FCC would entertain
complaints and levy a fine. Each public television station had to
decide for itself whether to take that risk.

FRONTLINE does not believe the expletives used by the soldiers violate the FCC's 'indecency' rule. They are not used in a "gratuitous" manner nor are they meant to "titillate" or "pander" -the terms the FCC uses to determine if there has been a violation. You may be familiar with the recent case of ABC's broadcast of the movie "Saving Private Ryan," which contained repeated instances of strong language, used in the same context as this FRONTLINE. It was widely reported that a majority of the FCC commissioners decided they would not support viewer complaints about the language in "Saving Private Ryan," and outgoing Chairman Michael Powell concluded that the agency should not take action against the ABC stations that aired it because the language was part of accurately portraying the story about the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II.

FRONTLINE thanks those stations who are willing to broadcast the
unedited version, but recognizes the difficulty any station would have in deciding to take a risk that might result in a penalty. We
encouraged all stations that could do so to stand with FRONTLINE because we believe what is at stake here is not only the particulars of this case, but the principle of editorial independence. We believe that overreaching by the FCC is at its heart a First Amendment issue. We think that the editorial integrity of future FRONTLINES is at risk along with many other types of programs, whether art, science, history, culture, or public affairs. Editorial decisions should be free from influence by the government and should be made in accordance with the standards, practices, and mission of public television. We hope you agree.

We hope you will join us for "A Company of Soldiers." Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 at 9.00 pm (wgbh/channel 2) on PBS And after watching, explore our web site where you have the opportunity to express your opinion about the program and the issues it raises, at http://www.pbs.org/frontline/shows/company /

Louis Wiley
Executive Editor

This program will be rebroadcast at the following time(s):
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005 at 10.00 pm (wgbx/channel 44)

--------------------------
+ Live Online Discussion on Washingtonpost.com ...

Co-Producer Edward Jarvis will be online this Wednesday, Feb. 23rd at
11am ET, to discuss "A Company of Soldiers."

For details, see:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34837-20...

----------------------------

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click on http://www.ShopPBS.com /

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Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers.

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