Posts by hawkaw

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

For instance, the young man who does a groundbreaking bloodless liver transplant has opposing family members who come to the hospital to see first-hand that the new bloodless technology works.

hmm ... Typically, white blood cells are usually transferred along with the organ from the donor to the new patient. I wonder if the producer asked the question (or should ought to have asked the question) if any white blood cells were transferred to the new patient and ask what the patient thought about that since the WTS prevents a transfusion of white blood cells but seems to allow organ transplants that will have white blood cells from a donor .....

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

BTTT

Sorry about my formating on the above letter. But hopefully you will get what I wrote and how I formatted it.

hawk

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

July 12, 2005

Cheryl Jones
Senior Director, Program Development & Independent Film
PBS Headquarters 1320 Braddock Place Alexandria , VA 22314

Dear Ms. Jones:

Re: Concern Over Open Door Productions Proposed Knocking Documentary for PBS

My name is ------- and I reside in ------ . I am a ------. In my spare time, I attempt to assist Jehovah’s Witnesses advocates who are trying to protect children from pedophiles. As a long time viewer of PBS, especially NOVA productions, I was taken back by recent information indicating that you have agreed to go ahead with a Jehovah’s Witnesses production titled “Knocking” by Open Door Productions who reside out of San Francisco , CA 94107 . It appears Mr. Joel Engardio and Mr. Tom Shepard lead the documentary and are working to air the documentary on PBS . From their Internet site called www.knocking.org I observed the following:

By fighting for their right to live and worship as they choose, Jehovah's Witnesses won legal victories that protected civil liberties and free choice for all Americans. By refusing blood transfusions, but insisting on medical care, Jehovah's Witnesses risked their lives in pursuit of new bloodless technology now used on all types of patients. By resisting Hitler and his Nazi army, German Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to the concentration camps and became martyrs.

On a Discussion Group I noted the following Internet Thread subject http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/93613/1.ashx . In this Internet Thread Mr. Engardio apparently stated the following:

The aim of KNOCKING is to give a general, non-Jehovah's Witness audience a fair look at a religious group that has long been misunderstood and relegated to cartoonish stereotypes. KNOCKING uses the real life stories of real families to humanize Jehovah's Witnesses

Fair enough.

However, in the same Internet Thread I noted the following comments from my good friends, Ms. Barbara Anderson from Tennessee and Mr. Alan Feuerbacher from Colorado who wrote to Mr. Engardio over this proposed documentary. Some of their comments (which I fully agree with) to Mr. Engardio are as follows:

It appears to me that KNOCKING will not “tackle” even one of the issues that I brought up which Jehovah’s Witnesses “grapple with,” although you said "...we are sensitive to the valid criticisms of Jehovah's Witnesses.” These valid criticisms, which you are sensitive about, must be the unreported and covered-up child molestation, the unfair disfellowshipping practices resulting in shunning, and the misrepresentations about the blood doctrine and the Holocaust. Apparently, you believe that these valid criticisms are too much “inside baseball” for the average viewer, so you will not touch them.
As you know, JWs practice shunning. Shunning is done on both formal and informal levels. The formal level entails both "disfellowshipping" and "disassociation". In the first case, a person goes through a trial of sorts and is judged unrepentant of some sin, and then formally expelled from the JW organization. In the second case, the person is declared to have removed himself from the JW organization. In practice, the two terms amount to the same thing -- shunning of the expelled person by all JWs. Informal shunning covers a range of possibilities, from a JW simply deciding not to associate with someone, to the Society's writing a letter to a family or congregation suggesting that a person be informally shunned.
In 2002, about a week before the [2002] NBC Dateline program on child molestation problems in the JWs aired, the Society directed the elders of three congregations to disfellowship four people who were prominently to appear on the show: Barbara Anderson , William Bowen, and Carl and Barbara Pandelo. The Society claimed to the news media that the disfellowshippings had nothing to do with Dateline.
Today it is a lie for the Watchtower Society ( WTS ) to claim that Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from accepting transfusion of whole blood, erythrocytes, leukocytes, platelets or plasma. Why? Because the WTS no longer forbids Jehovah's Witnesses from accepting transfusions of these so long as it is part of a “current therapy” and it is autologous blood. Examples of this include Jehovah's Witnesses accepting nuclear scanning of red and/or white blood cells. This process requires removal of a portion of red and/or white cells so they can be exposed to radioisotopes. The nuclear charged red and/or white cells are then transfused back to the patient for later scanning.

Why does the WTS persist in teaching Jehovah's Witnesses and the rest of the world that Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from blood when it knows perfectly well that Jehovah's Witnesses use products from blood all the time? Given that the WTS requires Jehovah's Witnesses to respect Jehovah's Witnesses for literally using everything from blood so long as it is sufficiently fractionated first, why does it impose any prohibitions on using blood under threat of congregational shunning?

Additionally, on the subject of blood and regarding your advertisement for KNOCKING, exactly how does an instance of one of Jehovah's Witnesses utilizing the best medicine has to offer--your show's example surgical technique--address a religious teaching that in many cases forbids Jehovah's Witnesses from utilizing the best medicine has to offer? For your program to accurately illustrate the cause of complaint regarding the Watchtower Society's blood doctrine, it will have to examine one of the many instances where it leads to avoidable disability or premature death because this is the area where objections lay. No one objects to Jehovah's Witnesses or anyone else taking advantage of advanced medical procedures.

Regarding the Holocaust, please read, JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND THE THIRD REICH, SECTARIAN POLITICS UNDER PERSECUTION by M. James Penton (http://www.freeminds.org/sales/books.htm). The author, a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Lethbridge, Canada, speaks five languages and translated released German archival documents from the Nazi era. He proves without a shadow of a doubt that the leaders of German Jehovah's Witnesses, some of whom died in the camps, "were from the beginning quite prepared to support the Hitler government." The Witness propaganda has led people to believe that they "were united in their opposition to Nazism and did not collude with the Third Reich," but Mr. Penton proves otherwise. Jehovah's Witnesses' leaders were not politically neutral, and even the number of Jehovah's Witnesses that supposedly died in the camps was fictional.

And, last, but not least, if you read the attachment I sent along with my first e-mail, which contained a lecture I gave, you know that I complimented the leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses for their fight for civil liberties for their organization, yet, they prohibit freedom of speech and freedom of religious thought for their members. It is this that causes divided families. There is no "common ground" when people are punished for disagreeing with their religion and when their families remain within the religion.

If your aim "is to give a general, non-Jehovah's Witness audience a fair look at a religious group that has long been misunderstood and relegated to cartoonish stereotypes," why don't you also give a non-Jehovah's Witness audience a fair look at former Jehovah's Witnesses and interview some of the tens of thousands of us so everyone can hear what we have had to endure at the hands of "misunderstood" Jehovah's Witnesses because we either left their organization or were disfellowshipped for "apostasy" as I was.

Based on the above, I am very concerned that this upcoming documentary is ignoring some of the basic problems with the Jehovah’s Witnesses including the pain and suffering endured by little children. Based on the information I have read, I believe the proposed documentary will not accurately reflect what the Jehovah’s Witnesses and its parent corporation called the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York are all about for the American and Canadian Public.

I have reviewed your editorial standards. I note the following:

Documentaries are to be fair in order to not mislead the public
Documentaries must be accurate using factual evidence (ie. JWs do actually accept blood transfusions unlike what this producer suggests)
Documentaries must have objectivity presented in a neutral way
Documentaries must be balanced
Documentaries must not have unacceptable production practices that invent or add elements or never make choices that mislead or deceive the audience (such as the false JW Holocaust claim, abstain blood claims or producers ignoring shunning)

As Mr. Feuerbacher of Colorado properly noted in this comments on the Internet Thread , a bout 1994, CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Company) produced a documentary called "Children of Jehovah" for it’s The Fifth Estate show, which largely consisted of interviews with young people who quit, or were expelled from the JWs, and whose parents shunned them. One can hardly keep a dry eye watching this film. All of this shunning, of course, is done at the direction of Watchtower leaders. In January 2003 the CBC ’s The Fifth Estate then ran a documentary about the serious Child Abuse issues in this religious group that showed how it covered up the abuse and protected the pedophiles, survivors and advocates were and still are silenced by the shunning and how these pedophiles actually go out and “knock” on the public’s door. I should know seeing I assisted the The Fifth Estate in their 2003 documentary.

The Producers cannot ignore the information in these CBC documentaries along with the NBC Dateline Documentary of 2002 as well as published books by learned authors and Professors such as James Penton. To do so would be biased in my opinion and not provide the American and Canadian public with a true idea of what the Jehovah’s Witnesses including their leadership is all about.

In order that any documentary meets PBS’s high quality standards, it would be wise for PBS and the Producers of Knocking to consider Ms. Anderson’s following comments that she made in the above Internet Thread:

Interview and report on some of the thousands of husbands and wives of Jehovah's Witnesses who are in court fighting to see their children because Jehovah's Witnesses (and their Witness attorneys) don't want "worldly mates" to have any influence in the raising of their children.

Interview and report on some of the thousands of relatives of Jehovah's Witnesses who watched their loved ones die because of the Watchtower Society's misrepresented blood policy.

Interview and report on some of the 1,800 victims of child sexual abuse (committed by Jehovah's Witnesses pedophiles), who have approached just one Texas law firm [Love and Norris]. And how about talking to some of the over 4,000 people who have contacted www.silentlambs.org about their molestation within this organization, almost all unreported to the authorities. And what about mentioning the over 20,000 files kept at Watchtower headquarters that describe each mostly unreported accusation of molestation in the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States and Canada.

Interview and report on the children of Jehovah's Witnesses who are emotionally pushed to baptism, some as young as seven years old, and, who, by the time they are teenagers, are disfellowshipped and shunned by their families and the only friends they ever had just because they committed some rebellious "sin." Let some of them tell you what their lives were like on the streets. And let them tell you about the psychological damage and need for therapy because of the self-loathing and guilt because they couldn't live up to the religion's demands. And, if the dead could speak, you could interview some who have committed suicide because they could no longer endure the isolation of shunning.

I hope PBS will continue to meet its high standards of reporting. As one who has worked with many American news organizations such as but not limited to Ms. Laurie Goodstein at the New York Times and many Legal Counsel such as Ms. Kim Norris of Love and Norris to help child abuse survivors and their advocates from the Watchtower, I hope that this documentary will not in anyway mislead or deceive the public in the harm that is created by this religious group’s leadership.

Yours truly and take care,

xxxxxxx

c: Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, Brand Management, Promotion and Media Relations - Katherine Lauderdale, Senior Vice President and General Counsel - Cindy Johanson, Senior Vice President, Interactive and Education - Pat Hunter, Senior Vice President, Programming Services - Jacoba Atlas, Senior Vice President & Co-Chief Program Executive - Pat Mitchell, President & Chief Executive Officer - Knocking.org - Ms. Barbara Anderson , Tennessee

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

Okay folks ... this so-called producer would have Emails Ms. Cheryl Jones at PBS. This is here particulars:

Cheryl Jones
Senior Director, Program Development & Independent Film
PBS Headquarters
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314
phone: (703) 739-5150
fax: (703) 739-5295
[email protected]

I say Email her with your complaints about this Knocking proposal.

hawk

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

How to Email PBS:

Limit up to 500 Characters ....

http://www.pbs.org/aboutsite/aboutsite_emailform.html

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

Q. How can I send mail to PBS?

A. Due to security concerns, please be aware that mail is screened. There generally is a delay in the receipt of letters or packages; if possible postcard or email correspondence is requested. We are interested in your comments and suggestions. You can send mail to PBS Headquarters at the following address:

Public Broadcasting Service
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

PBS Corporate Officers

Pat Mitchell
President & Chief Executive Officer
Pat Mitchell was named president and chief executive officer of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in March 2000. Ms. Mitchell brings to the post a distinguished background as a former network correspondent, award-winning producer, television executive and college-level educator.

Under Ms. Mitchell's leadership, PBS has energized and rejuvenated its programming and strengthened its commitment to serve the American public through the 349 locally-owned and operated PBS stations throughout the country. Over the last four years, it has thrived with an unprecedented number of awards for excellence in programming, expanded its public affairs offerings, and renewed its commitment to education through enhanced teacher resources, curriculum and literacy initiatives.

As a result of this innovative combination of fresh programming, strategic partnerships and public service initiatives, Forbes magazine recognized PBS as one of the "Magnetic 40" companies in America and The Hollywood Reporter cited Ms. Mitchell as one of the "most influential female executives in the entertainment industry."

Ms. Mitchell is a member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of United Way America, the Sundance Institute and the Women's Advisory Council of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She lectures widely on leadership and the role of media in society, including testimony before both the U.S. Congress and the British House of Lords. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, with a master's degree in English literature, she is a resident of both Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Wayne Godwin
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Before joining PBS, Mr. Godwin was president and general manager, WCET (Greater Cincinnati TV Educational Foundation), Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Godwin's career in public broadcasting began while he attended Florida State University in Tallahassee and continued at WJCT in Jacksonville. In 1977, he joined PBS as head of station relations and later served as a senior vice president in programming. In 1982, he joined KOCE in Orange County, California, and in 1984 became president and general manager of WKNO in Memphis, Tennessee. He is chairman of PBS Enterprises, Inc., PBS's wholly owned subsidiary. Mr. Godwin served on the PBS Board from 1993 to 1999, and was vice chairman from 1998-1999. He also served as a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the mission and goals committee of America's Public Television Stations, a past chairman of the Southern Educational Communications Association, and was a member of the Children's Television Workshop's advisory committee on SQUARE ONE TV.

Jacoba Atlas
Senior Vice President & Co-Chief Program Executive
Jacoba "Coby" Atlas, along with co-chief John Wilson, oversees all PBS programming services. In the division of responsibilities, Coby oversees factual programming and fiction & performance programming. Coby operates out of PBS' West coast office. Prior to this role, Coby was vice president and supervising producer of CNN Productions. There she supervised and produced documentaries, several of which received Emmy and Peabody acclaim. Some of Coby's work includes "Dying to Tell the Story," a documentary about international war correspondents; and "Survivors of the Holocaust," executive produced by Steven Spielberg. She also served as supervising producer for "Assassinated: The Last Days of King and Kennedy," executive produced by Oliver Stone. Atlas spent 10 years at NBC News, serving as West Coast producer, supervising producer and senior producer of TODAY.

Edward P. Caleca
Senior Vice President, Technology & Operations
Mr. Caleca is responsible for the public television satellite interconnection system, all PBS technical and information technology operations, engineering, distribution services and digital television strategic services. A long-time manager and executive with AT&T, which he joined in 1967, he was named general manager for media, broadcast services and distribution in 1987. He served as national sales director of TV/video distribution and multimedia sales and as the sales and executive director for the 1994 World Cup and the 1996 Olympics video/audio services. He joined PBS in 1996.

Pat Hunter
Senior Vice President, Programming Services
Ms. Hunter is responsible for managing the operations of the Programming Services division, including oversight of over $180 million of programming and administrative funds. She is responsible for programming communications, including live teleconference production, programmers' and annual meeting planning, and coordination of PBS's presence at domestic and international program markets and festivals. Other areas under her control include: Program Operations, charged with advising member stations about scheduling feeds, flags, captioning, etc.; Program Management, which works closely with producers to ensure programs meet PBS delivery guidelines; Project Management, which was created to maximize the value of high-priority programming projects by guiding them through the process — from commission through broadcast — so that each receives maximum exposure; and Program Underwriting Policy. Before coming to PBS, Ms. Hunter spent 17 years at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting where she held positions in finance, contract administration, and programming.

Cindy Johanson
Senior Vice President, Interactive and Education
Cindy Johanson is responsible for extending PBS content across a growing number of media platforms. Ms. Johanson has managed PBS's Internet presence since its launch in 1995 and growth to one of the most popular "dot-org" content sites in the world. The winner of several Webby Awards, pbs.org consists of more than 1,300 Web sites, 4,500 lesson plans correlated to state and national standards, and links to more than 170 local PBS station sites. Ms. Johanson's responsibilities include digital content ventures spanning cross-platform linear (HD) and non-linear (VOD, PVR, digital curriculum) applications. Before coming to PBS in 1993, Ms. Johanson was one of the founders and managers of the National Teacher Training Institute for Math, Science & Technology at New York's WNET. She also worked with WNET's Learning Link, a pre-Internet, online service for K-12 educators starting in 1989.

Barbara Landes
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
As PBS' senior vice president and CFO, Barbara Landes is responsible for fostering the financial activities and fiscal health of the organization and serves as chief strategic planning officer. She plays a key role in assessing new business opportunities and revenue streams; developing strategic alliances and partnerships; and focusing on internal financial and operational performance.

Prior to joining PBS, Ms. Landes was vice president, Business Planning, AOL for Broadband. From 1999-2000, Ms. Landes was EVP and CFO at AverStar. She was also the CFO of Watson Wyatt Worldwide from 1994-1998. Ms. Landes has extensive experience in broadcast media. She has held key financial and management positions at WWOR-TV, Pinelands, Inc.(NYSE:PL), NBC and CBS. She received her BA from Washington University (St. Louis, MO) and her MBA from the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Katherine Lauderdale
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Ms. Lauderdale is the chief legal officer of PBS and manages the Office of the General Counsel, which includes the Legal and Business Affairs departments, as well as the Corporate Secretary function. The Legal Department is responsible for providing a wide range of services with respect to intellectual property, litigation, regulatory, labor, corporate and other legal matters. The Business Affairs Department, among other things, negotiates agreements for the PBS programming services. Prior to joining PBS in June of 2002, Ms. Lauderdale was Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and General Counsel at WTTW in Chicago, where she served in various legal, business and business affairs capacities for nearly 20 years. Ms. Lauderdale is a graduate of New York University Law School and began her legal career as an associate at the Chicago law firm of Schiff, Hardin & Waite.

Lesli Rotenberg
Senior Vice President, Brand Management, Promotion and Media Relations
Ms. Rotenberg oversees the strategic positioning of primetime and children's programming, online content and education services across a growing number of media platforms. She is responsible for building and extending the brand equity of PBS and PBS KIDS, the most trusted media brands in the U.S., and meeting the strategic communications needs of PBS and its 349 member stations. Her responsibilities include national oversight of PBS's creative services including on-air and print production, advertising strategy, media planning, corporate and media relations, and station professional development. Ms Rotenberg was named one of the nation's top 15 "Women to Watch" by Advertising Age in 2001, and one of the top 30 Brand Builders by Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and Promax/BDA. In 2004, Television Week and Promax/BDA selected the PBS "Be More" campaign as one of the top 10 Campaigns of Distinction. She has received numerous advertising and promotion honors including the 2003 Emmy for Best Commercial, the 2004 CINE Special Jury Award for Best On-Air Promo, 7 CINE Golden Eagle awards, 9 Promax/BDA Awards, 4 CTAM Awards, and 3 Telly Awards. Prior to joining PBS in November 2000, Ms. Rotenberg was Vice President, Marketing, at Animal Planet, and a marketing executive at Discovery for 10 years.

John F. Wilson
Senior Vice President & Co-Chief Program Executive
Along with Co-Chief Jacoba Atlas, Mr. Wilson oversees all PBS Programming services. In the division of responsibilities, he oversees children's programming, fundraising and syndicated programming, and scheduling. Mr. Wilson is based at PBS headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. He joined PBS in 1994 as director of program scheduling. In 2005, Mr. Wilson participated in the launch of an innovative partnership between PBS and the Comcast Corporation. PBS Kids Sprout, a 24-hour digital cable channel and video-on-demand service, will bring together some of the best-known and well-respected shows in children's programming. His television career began at PBS member station KAET in Phoenix, where he held a variety of positions in production and programming, including program director. During that period, he produced programs that aired nationally on PBS as well as hundreds of hours of live, local programming.

Chris DeCesaris
Controller and Assistant Treasurer
As PBS Controller and Assistant Treasurer, Mr. DeCesaris is responsible for managing and accounting for all banking and investment transactions, coordinating PBS’s annual audit, managing the work flow of the accounting department, and directing the preparation of quarterly financial statements and analyses.

Mr. DeCesaris initially joined PBS in December 2003 as Director of Internal Audit. Prior to that position, he served as an Assurance Manager at Grant Thornton, LLP. As a member of Grant Thornton's Not-for-Profit Solutions Group, Mr. DeCesaris managed nearly 30 not-for-profit audit engagements He joined Grant Thornton in 1995.

Mr. DeCesaris holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Maryland and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and The Institute of Internal Auditors.

92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

PBS Board of Directors

Rex D. Adams (2005)**
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President & CEO
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— representing PBS Hawaii

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— representing KQED, San Francisco

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92

Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

If you are going to offer up something to PBS you need to meet the following for editorial standards.

http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/aboutpbs_standards.html

A. Fairness
Fairness to the audience implies several responsibilities. Producers must neither oversimplify complex situations nor camouflage straightforward facts. PBS may reject a program or other content if PBS believes that it contains any unfair or misleading presentation of facts, including inaccurate statements of material fact, undocumented statements of fact that appear questionable on their face, misleading juxtapositions, misrepresentations, or distortions.

To avoid misleading the public, producers also should adhere to the principles of transparency and honesty by providing appropriate labels, disclaimers, updates, or other information so that the public plainly understands what it is seeing. For example, content that includes commentary, points of view, or opinion should be appropriately identified, as should all sources of funding. Transparency also suggests producers maximize attribution of information and limit the use of anonymous sourcing to those cases when there is no alternative and the information is essential. Content that contains adult themes or other sensitive material should contain an appropriate disclosure.

Producers should treat the people who are the subjects of, who appear in, or who are referenced in the content they produce with fairness and respect. PBS will reject content if, in PBS's judgment, it unfairly treats the people or misrepresents their views. Fair treatment of individuals generally requires that a producer represent the words and actions of the people portrayed or identified in a way that presents their strongest case, and gives individuals or organizations that are the subject of attack or criticism an opportunity to respond. Fairness also requires that a producer be willing to consider all relevant information and points of view.

B. Accuracy
The honesty and integrity of informational content depends heavily upon its factual accuracy. Every effort must be made to assure that content is presented accurately and in context. Programs, Web sites, and other content containing editorials, analysis, commentary, and points of view must be held to the same standards of factual accuracy as news reports. A commitment to accuracy includes a willingness to correct the record if persuasive new information that warrants a correction comes to light, and to respond to feedback and questions from audiences.

PBS may undertake independent verification of the accuracy of content submitted to it. Producers of informational content must exercise extreme care in verifying information, especially as it may relate to accusations of wrongdoing, and be prepared to correct material errors. PBS will reject content that, in its judgment, fails to meet PBS's standard of accuracy.

C. Objectivity
Along with fairness and accuracy, objectivity is the third basic standard to which journalists are held. While PBS holds all news and informational content to standards of objectivity, PBS recognizes that other types of content may not have the objective presentation of facts as their goal.

Objectivity, however, encompasses more than news and information presented in a neutral way. It also refers to the process by which a work was produced, including work that involves analysis or, as a result of reporting, arrives at conclusions. To begin with, journalists must enter into any inquiry with an open mind, not with the intent to present a predetermined point of view. Beyond that, for a work to be considered objective, it should reach a certain level of transparency. In a broad sense, this spirit of transparency means the audience should be able to understand the basics of how the producers put the material together. For example, the audience generally should be able to know not only who the sources of information are, but also why they were chosen and what their potential biases might be. As another example, if producers face particularly difficult editorial decisions that they know will be controversial, they should consider explaining why choices were made so the public can understand. Producers should similarly consider explaining to the audience why certain questions could not be answered, including why, if confidential sources are relied on, the producers agreed to allow the source to remain anonymous. And the spirit of transparency suggests that if the producers have arrived at certain conclusions or a point of view, the audience should be able to see the evidence so it can understand how that point of view was arrived at. One aspiration implicit in the idea of transparency is that an audience might appreciate and learn from content with which it also might disagree.

Opinion and commentary are different from news and analysis. When a program, segment, or other content is devoted to opinion or commentary, the principle of transparency requires that it be clearly labeled as such. Any content segment that presents only like-minded views without offering contrasting viewpoints should be considered opinion and should identify who is responsible for the views being presented.

No content distributed by PBS should permit conscious manipulation of selected facts in order to propagandize.

D. Balance
PBS seeks to present, over time, content that addresses a broad range of subjects from a variety of viewpoints. PBS may, however, choose to consider not only the extent to which the content contributes to balance overall, but also the extent to which specific content is fairly presented in light of available evidence.

Where appropriate, PBS may condition acceptance of content on the producer's willingness to further the goal of balance by deleting designated footage or by including other points of view on the issues presented or material from which the public might draw a conclusion different from that suggested by the content. Material to be added may range from a few words, to a complete content segment, to an added episode in a series of programs, to the production of an entirely separate, new program. Where PBS deems it appropriate, PBS may arrange for the production of additional content by a producer other than the producer of the original content material. For Online Content, links to credible, high-quality, related resources may be used to provide access to additional information or viewpoints.

E. Responsiveness to the Public
Producers must work with PBS to respond to and interact with the public. This may include providing an outlet for public feedback about content and helping to create material for the Web that allows audiences to learn more, seek background information, access documents alluded to in a program, answer questions that a program might not have been able to address, and even customize information. Accountability is a goal, including answering audience questions and responding to criticisms about programs or content. When public feedback is published by PBS it should be labeled as such, and standards for publication - such as those relating to obscenity or personal attacks - should be clearly communicated.

F. Courage and Controversy
PBS seeks content that provides courageous and responsible treatment of issues, and that reports and comments, with honesty and candor, on social, political, and economic tensions, disagreements, and divisions. The surest road to intellectual stagnation and social isolation is to stifle the expression of uncommon ideas; today's dissent may be tomorrow's orthodoxy. The ultimate task of weighing and judging information and viewpoints is, in a free and open society, the task of the audience. Therefore, PBS seeks to assure that its overall content offerings contain a broad range of opinions and points of view, including those from outside society's existing consensus, presented in a responsible manner and consistent with the standards set forth in these Standards and Policies.

G. Substance Over Technique
Advances in production technology carry with them the possibility that technique may overwhelm substance, distorting the information, making it technically inaccessible or distracting the public's attention from its central thrust. Neither people nor ideas ought to be victimized by technical trickery. PBS will reject content that, in its judgment, disserves the viewer or its subject matter by inappropriately pursuing technique at the expense of substance.

H. Experimentation and Innovation
PBS seeks content that is innovative in format, technique, or substance. The absence of commercial considerations accords PBS the freedom to experiment in ways not always tolerable in the commercial environment. The potential for innovation can be fully realized only if PBS is bold enough to take occasional risks.

I. Exploration of Significant Subjects
Unlike their commercial counterparts, public television stations do not sell time for profit and are, therefore, free from the constraints that compel commercial broadcasters to pursue the largest audience. PBS seeks programs that will enable its member stations to explore significant subjects even if those subjects or their treatment may not be expected to appeal to a large audience.

J. Unprofessional Conduct
PBS expects producers to adhere to the highest professional standards. PBS may reject content if PBS has reason to believe that a producer has violated basic standards of professional conduct. Examples of unprofessional conduct by a producer include such things as plagiarism, fabrication, obtaining information by bribery or coercion, insensitivity to tragedy or grief, and real or perceived conflicts of interest such as accepting gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence the producer's work.

K. Unacceptable Production Practices
It is impossible to anticipate every situation with which a producer of informational content must contend. Nevertheless, certain areas present such frequently encountered dangers that they merit explicit warning. In general, they would fall under two broad concepts:

Never invent or add elements that were not originally there; and
Never make choices that mislead or deceive the audience.

1. Staging. Producers of news content should not stage events or suggest that others stage events for the sake of media coverage.

2. Re-creations and Simulations. In instances where re-creations or simulations of actual events are necessary and desirable, they should be clearly identified if there is any possibility that the viewer would be confused or misled.

3. Distorted Editing. All producers face the necessity of selection - which material is to be left in, which is to be edited out. Reducing and organizing this information is part of the producer's craft. It is the objective of the editing process to collect and order information in a manner that fairly portrays reality. Producers must assure that edited material remains faithful in tone and substance to that reality. When editing, producers of informational content must not sensationalize events or create a misleading or unfair version of what actually occurred. When significant interruptions of time or changes of setting occur, they should be unambiguously identified for the viewer.

4. Deception. The credibility of content is jeopardized whenever the audience or a source is duped or feels duped. Deceiving the audience would include such examples as when time is conflated so that it appears that several interviews were actually one. Duping a source would include when a producer misleads an interviewee concerning the purpose of the interview. Honesty, candor, and common courtesy must govern producers' behavior.

5. Pre-trial Publicity. Our legal system presumes that criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty. In reporting on crimes and related legal proceedings, producers must be sensitive to the rights of the accused to a fair trial and the effect of pre-trial publicity. Producers should be wary of self-serving statements from both prosecuting and defense attorneys. They should also remain cautious about using alleged evidence in any content to be made available to the public pre-trial.

6. Media Manipulation. Manipulation can be effected either by the media or by others seeking to use the media for their own purposes. Television is an extraordinarily powerful instrument; the mere presence of television cameras can change or influence events. Producers must minimize and, to the extent possible, eliminate this interference. In crowds, demonstrations, and riots, during terrorist incidents, and in other similar circumstances, camera crews and production teams should seek to be as inconspicuous as possible, and, as appropriate, cap lenses or withdraw completely when their presence might incite an extreme reaction or unduly influence the course of events.

7. Manipulation of the Audience. The use of music and sound effects, dramatic lighting or staging, or other artificial effects can subtly affect the impression left with the audience. Producers must exercise care not to use such techniques in a way that is unfairly manipulative by distorting the reality of what occurred.

PBS may reject and decline to distribute any content that, in its judgment, violates the production practices identified above or shows evidence of any other production practice that is not consistent with accepted professional standards.

L. Objectionable Material

Responsible treatment of important issues may sometimes require the inclusion of controversial or sensitive material, but good taste must prevail in PBS content. Morbid or sensational details, or material that is gratuitously offensive to general taste or manners (e.g., extreme violence, racial epithets, strong language, nudity, sexism), should not be included unless it is necessary to an understanding of the matter at hand.

Questions of taste cannot be answered in the abstract, but when specific problems arise, they must be resolved in light of contemporary standards of taste, the state of the law, and the newsworthiness and overall value of the material. If PBS concludes that the exclusion of such material would distort an important reality or impair the content's artistic quality, PBS may accept the content provided it carries appropriate notice to the viewer. Conversely, PBS may reject content that, in its judgment, needlessly contains objectionable material that compromises the content's quality or integrity.

Adopted: June 14, 2005

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Producer of KNOCKING posts at my guest list, Barbara Anderson replies

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the following was posted at my guest list the other day, by a producer of a new documentary that is pro-witness and may go out on pbs.

i'm joel engardio, director of the project.

joel .

hawkaw

The program is not made for JWs or former JWs, that would be too much "inside baseball" for the average viewer. The program is for the public who only sees JWs on their doorstep from time to time, and might be curious about what is good and what is controversial about this group. KNOCKING takes a balanced approach. It does not promote nor does it denegrate.

I think people need to be aware that the a JW coming to your door and asking to do a bible study could very well be a child molestor.

I think a people need to understand that the JW coming to your door wants you to divorce yourself of all of your friends and your beliefs and take on these new beliefs to peddle magazines.

I think people need to understand that the JW coming to your door wants you to join the club and if you do join and you decide later to complain you will be shunned by family and friends in the cult.

I think people need to understand that the JW coming to your door has been manipulated into believing that a blood transfusion is bad for a variety of junk scientific reasons and not bible based beliefs (Maybe this producer should look at informed consent and the penal code with a lawyer).

I think people need to understand that the JW coming to your door may have kids under the age of 18 and may have been kicked them out the door and shunned them all because their kids refuse to believe in some guys in Brooklyn New York!