RADAR ALERT:
Tell PBS Stations that PBS' Whitewash Doesn't Mean Breaking the Silence is Unbiased

A few days before Christmas, PBS finally issued their statement on Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories. (See http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20051221_breakingthesilence.html) PBS' statement gives their affiliated stations a green light to continue airing this biased program.

In the statement, PBS says, “The producers approached the topic with the open mindedness and commitment to fairness that we require of our journalists.” To make this assertion, they had to completely ignore their own ombudsman's opinion that “this particular program had almost no balance” and the CPB ombudsman's opinion that the producers' stated intention to exclude any alternative view “amounts to a plea of guilty to violating the fairness and balance standards of PBS”. (See http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2005/12/introduction_and_breaking_the_silence.html and http://www.cpb.org/ombudsmen/051219bode.html)

PBS also claims that the producers' research “was extensive and supports the conclusions drawn in the program,” in spite of their having received a detailed analysis, which shows that the research cited by the program's creators does not support the program's message (http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/BTS/BTSResearchCritiqueWithComments.pdf) One has to wonder if they even bothered to read the analysis, or if they decided early on to support the producers' research no matter what.

PBS' implicit message to their affiliates is that there's nothing wrong with them broadcasting this biased program. So this week we're asking you to contact your local PBS affiliate with the message:

The PBS Ombudsman has described Breaking the Silence as “a one-sided, advocacy program”. The CPB Ombudsman has called the producers guilty of violating the fairness and balance standards of PBS. Affiliates that want to maintain the public's trust in their commitment to PBS' own fairness and balance standards should refrain from rebroadcasting Breaking the Silence.

To find your local PBS affiliate:

1. Go to http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html and enter your zip code, or
2. Look in your local telephone directory

Date of RADAR Release: January 2, 2006

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R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org