Frontline, Katrina and the Ombudsman's Mailbag
Ken A. Bode
August 31, 2010
At the end of this month, the media overflowed with anniversary treatments of Katrina, five years later. On NBC, MSNBC, CNN and countless print outlets, we could relive the storm, the broken levees, the terror of the flooding, the overcrowded Superdome and Convention Center, the broken public policies that led to a massive evacuation on foot over the bridges and all the chaos and terror that accompanied those days.
The coverage then moved to bookend the past with how New Orleans is today -- schools in better shape than before the storm, art, culture and restaurants recovering, mainly because locals returned and rededicated themselves to the city.
One documentary was more focused and more useful than the rest. Not surprisingly it was Frontline with its program titled "Law and Disorder: An on-air and on-line investigation into questionable police shootings by the New Orleans Police Department in the wake of Katrina."
Unlike most of the anniversary coverage, Frontline was focused on events with ongoing consequences for the city and the corruption embedded in its justice system. For this program, Frontline partnered with the New Orleans Times Picayune and ProPublica, the independent investigative reporting group. Prominent in the coverage was A.C. Thompson of ProPublica an investigative journalist who reported on the police shootings of unarmed victims in an article for The Nation magazine titled "Katrina's Hidden Race War."
The focus of the program, both in its on-air and on-line versions was the longstanding corruption of the New Orleans Police Department. On-line you may follow the history of this enduring problem that led one commentator to call the culture of the NOPD "pseudo organized crime." Recently elected mayor Mitch Landrieu (he replaced Ray Nagin) has asked for a federal partnership to clean up what he calls "one of the worst police departments in the country."
Frontline's strong and focused contribution to the Katrina anniversary coverage could make a valuable contribution to a city that still has a long road to recovery.
Ombudsman's Mailbag
It has been a summer so slow in viewer and listener engagement that the staff at CPB has not reported receiving a single comment on the Ombudsman phone line.
E-mail commentary, however, has been a little tough on the Friday evening program Need to Know which replaced Bill Moyers when he retired.
Responding to comments I made in an earlier posting on the program, I received this from E. Rivers in Portland, ME.
"From the painful experiences I have had watching this new program, I am baffled by the fact that it is still on the air. It is a program that is a shallow, timid program that is almost the antithesis of "investigative journalism," the core strengths of the two programs it replaces. As you predicted (CPB Ombudsman posting, March 1, 2010), we now have McNews and consumer tips, breathless excitement about continuing television programs, architectural trends and non-confrontational news clips. It tries to appear fearless when there is little controversary between the right and left -- like the BP oil spill. But if you review critical stories like the Gaza Flotilla or Wikileaks, NTK is severely lacking.
"I've read several interviews of the show's hosts and producers. What seems to be a somewhat hidden agenda is an attempt to attract a younger audience-- Generation X and Y. It is understandable, a wider source for fundraising. The model being used is called a "news magazine," short articles about current issues, fashions, trends, etc. The other formulaic aspect of this news magazine is a "feel good" ending, much like stock Hollywood movies. Your fear of gimmickry is justified; Moyers and NOW have been reduced to Good Morning America. Is that what "smart, busy people need to know on a Friday night?"
"Please get this thin gruel off the air. This is anything but hard-working, eye-opening, in-depth journalism and an insult to the intelligence of loyal PBS viewers."
Unfortunately I find much to agree with in the comments of E. Rivers. Though I admired the August 12, segment, "Block-by-Block: Violence in Chicago," even the longer offerings seem to lack thematic strength. They come off as 60 Minutes Lite.
Also, as a viewer who seeks to catch-up on NTK by visiting the program's website, I am vexed by the constant interruptions or total stoppage of the video stream. Seventeen-and-a-half minutes into the program's segment on horizontal hydraulic fracking of natural gas, just as the representative from Halliburton got up to address a public meeting, the video stopped entirely and an on-screen message appeared: "PBS.org is experiencing difficulty. Please try back at a later time."
Scrolling back through other program entries on the NTK website, more often than not I encountered: "The selected item is not currently available." After two or three tries, I just gave up.
One more observation on NTK: The Andy Borowitz segment isn't working. For some time I received a regular submission on-line from Borowitz, a blogging humorist, who is moderately funny some of the time. On NTK however, his regular "Next Week's News" segment is neither as interesting nor as funny as the two anchors seem to think. Taking his kids to college with a set up piece involving Ken Burns and Elmo? Fizzle. His piece about people beginning to dress like the characters in Mad Men? Floppo.
Two final items from the mailbag:
From 4trumans in Wisconsin:
"I am eleven and my parents won't get cable and I'm bored of watching educational television all the time. When I get home from school, all that's on is shows like Arthur and Cyberchace and Word. I'd like some shows like SpongeBob ad Fairly Odd Parents. I would especially like Adventure Time, but you probably wouldn't put that on. Anyway, I'm bored of all educational television."
From jackmims@juno in Texas
"Our local PBS affiliate KMBH, in the lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, ran the first half of "South Pacific" and just as the second half was beginning they cut away to air a program about chickens. When will something be done about this embarrassment to PBS?"
