Scott Horton, a writer for Harper’s magazine and prominent international human rights attorney who we have previously quoted and praised, has written a piece detailing the possible buckling at the knees of PBS’ executives in charge of programming. In addition, NPR and The Discovery Channel may have felt pressured to dial down their programming regarding the Bush administration’s policy on torture. In particular, PBS, in the face of continued budget cuts initiated at the White House level, may have decided to delay its airing of a damning documentary on torture from Emmy and Dupont Award winning producer Sherry Jones, until after the Bush administration leaves office in January.
Horton starts his piece, “This spring, PBS’s distinguished Frontline series aired a mildly critical account of the lead-up to the Iraq War entitled “Bush’s War.” As the airing of the program was announced, the Bush Administration proposed to slash public funding for PBS by roughly half for 2009, by 56% for 2010 and eliminating funding entirely for 2011. Did PBS get the message? Perhaps.”
The documentary entitled, “Torturing Democracy” will be broadcast instead by WNET in New York, WGBH in Boston and some 65% of other PBS stations, this Thursday evening. Here are some excerpts from the program or you can watch it in its entirety on the film’s website.
UPDATE: One thing to add is that WETA in Washington, DC has declined to air the documentary. WETA CEO, Sherry Percy Rockefeller is the wife of Jay Rockefeller, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Should this be of concern? What does Senator Rockefeller have against the airing of this documentary? Horton details it further in his piece.
