Beyond the Front Line
Five years after 9/11, Frontline continues to probe the most important story of our time. This season's powerful trilogy—Return of the Taliban, The Enemy Within, and The Lost Year in Iraq—personifies the in-depth reporting of complex global issues that makes the series and its Web site "must-see" viewing. So much so that following the premiere of producer Martin Smith's courageous report from the Taliban-controlled, lawless Pakistani tribal area along the Afghan border, US Army officials requested rush copies for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. That program was "the latest reminder that we don't just parachute our correspondents in for a couple of days in Kabul," says Frontline executive producer David Fanning. And Frontline's content lives on long after broadcast, through an extensive online archive of programs and materials available to view anytime. Adds Fanning, "journalism that matters is what Frontline is all about."
Two Cape Cods
For those who can afford it, life is good on Cape Cod. But for the
region's 58,000 working poor, the price of living year-round in an
affluent summer paradise is steep. Two Cape Cods: Hidden
Poverty on the Cape and Islands, a 20-part investigation
by WGBH's Cape and Islands NPR® Stations,
won audience praise as a "profoundly insightful series that should
be heard by every taxpayer on the Cape," and netted the young
stations one of broadcasting's most prestigious honors: their first
duPont-Columbia Award. WGBH launched the regional radio service in
2000 to fill the information gap for listeners in this previously
underserved area. "Thanks for providing both a precious community
resource," wrote one, "and an ear on the rest of the world."
All Politics Is Local
Greater Boston was the place to turn
for Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign coverage, on air and
online. Executive
editor/host Emily Rooney's
in-depth profiles of all the candidates, including
now-Governor Deval Patrick—along with live
debates, field reports on ballot initiatives, and a daily election
blog—scored high marks with the press and public. No surprise
the WGBH local production is considered the "program of record." In
2006, some 500 political and cultural newsmakers,
from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to actress Meryl Streep, were
interviewed. And the show's popular Friday-night media watch,
Beat the Press, brought its signature journalistic scrutiny
to deconstructing what the media covered that week, and why. "As
Boston's only locally owned and controlled television broadcaster,"
Rooney says, "we're here to respond not only to the day's events,
but also to the community's concerns."
In the Shadows
Africa's largest slum has a reputation for danger. Yet Dr. Sheri
Fink, the passionate physician-reporter for The
World, WGBH's international newsmagazine, seized the
challenge to put a human face on life deep inside Nairobi's
Kibera settlement. "I wanted a global audience to know why
decades of development assistance have failed to stem the shocking
growth of slums," she says, "and hear personal stories of how
intelligent, ambitious young people, with dreams like mine, are
struggling to create a
better future for themselves and their impoverished communities."
Some 2.2 million listeners nationwide, on air and online, heard
Cities of the Poor, the powerful four-part series on urban
poverty, on The World, a WGBH co-production with the BBC
and PRI.
Out of Africa
Veteran broadcast journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault discussed her memoir, New News Out of Africa: Uncovering Africa's Renaissance, and dispelled common myths about the continent on Basic Black, WGBH's long-running local series focused on the interests of people of color. Like Greater Boston, La Plaza, and Eye on Education, Basic Black provides a regular showcase for the voices and concerns of WGBH's diverse regional audiences to be heard on TV, and accessed on demand, and via podcasts and vodcasts, whenever and wherever viewers choose.
