WGBH Annual Report 2000-2001 Text Version: Stay curious about our world

Text Version

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Stay curious about our world

How is the rapid rate of scientific change shaping our future? What does America's past reveal about who we are today? Each week, WGBH offers original, rigorously researched and engaging documentaries and Web sites that organize the facts into compelling journeys of discovery.

How do you bring a good story to life?

How do you make America's past come alive?
"History on television works best when you tell a story, and one of the keys to a good story is character development. An interesting way to learn about history is to see how character manifests itself during crisis. In David Grubin's American Experience film Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided, we learn that the pressures of the Civil War brought profound changes to both characters, and, ultimately, their marriage could not survive the strain."
-Margaret Drain, Executive Producer, American Experience

How do you tackle a controversial subject?
"Evolution underpins all of biology and is essential to understanding the world we live in. As an issue, it is at the core of a raging debate in America's schools. WGBH is taking on the topic in a big way for Fall 2001 with an eight-hour television series and a set of educational initiatives, including a Web site and outreach project, that are among the most ambitious ever attempted. Our goal is to encourage public dialogue by examining the science itself, and the profound effect it has had on society and culture."
-Richard Hutton, Executive Producer, Evolution

How can TV serve the needs of an increasingly diverse society?
"In Latin America, 'plaza' refers to the town square, a meeting place where ideas are exchanged. We think of La Plaza, the longest-running Latino series on public television, as the equivalent of this town square, a place to look at important issues from the Latino perspective. Our documentary on Amherst High School's decision to stage West Side Story and the protests that followed looked at issues of artistic freedom, censorship, and political correctness that resonated with WGBH's increasingly diverse audience."
-Joseph Tovares, Managing Producer, La Plaza

How do you demystify science?
"In the case of Building Big, our series on the science of monumental engineering, we turned to author-illustrator David Macaulay to take our viewers on a journey of discovery. With sketchbook in hand, David scrambled up, over, around, and through spectacular megastructures, explaining their engineering secrets through simple and clean drawings and engaging stories. In the end, we explained 'big' by staying relatively small, by presenting the concepts with a human touch, and by focusing on how big structures ultimately affect all our lives."
-Larry Klein, Executive Producer, Building Big

Who explores with WGBH?
"Deep down, we'd all like to climb Mt. Everest. With NOVA, we were there. NOVA's approach to subjects always makes you want to learn more; that's when we turn to their Web site. The Everest online adventure has it all: geology, the nature of air and what happens to it when you get higher, the effects of high altitude on the body. It's like going to the library and having a multimedia resource at your fingertips. Science is always changing. NOVA covers those changes; that's really valuable for people who want to stay abreast."
-Kreon and Anne Cyros, Saugus, MA

"NOVA shares the adventure of science with millions of viewers every week. As technology has developed, it's given scientists a greater ability to do on-site research, whether at the summit of Everest or in the eye of a storm. NOVA shows curious viewers science as it happens and takes them places they might not otherwise see, on television and online."
-Paula Apsell, Executive Producer, NOVA

Home | Message from the President and Chair | Awards | Fiscal Year 00
Kids and Families | Arts and Culture | Our World | Important Issues | Learning