Moyers Challenges PBS on Public Affairs Coverage

NASHVILLE — Longtime public broadcasting contributor Bill Moyers challenged the PBS system to put more of an emphasis on public affairs programming, including using such shows during stations’ several-times yearly fund-raising pledge drives.

“What kind of message are we sending viewers when we think they will respond to faith healers and financial gurus, but not to reality--real issues of democracy?” asked Moyers, in an impassioned keynote address at the PBS annual meeting Monday.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he told attendees, who responded enthusiastically to his speech. “What we do is good. It’s just not enough. We need to respond more to the needs of America as a democratic society, not just a consumer market. We need more hard-hitting public affairs programming on controversial issues. We’re good, but we’re bland,” he said, adding that too often, producers and stations are fearful of offending Congress or driving off the corporate underwriters who sponsor shows.

Moreover, said Moyers, “With media ownership consolidating, public television stands alone in our ability to provide independent journalism free from corporate strings,” and also has the experienced producers and uninterrupted air time needed. “We’re selling our public short. Americans don’t just want palaver from the chatting classes, or propaganda duels from partisans,” he concluded, referring to the shouting matches on cable news networks. “They want the truth, not just the news. Where else are they going to get it?”

Moyers--whose latest documentary, “On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying,” airs over four nights in September--was echoed by another speaker. Time Warner vice chairman Ted Turner, whose CNN has in the past tackled such topics as the Cold War and global warming, told attendees not to shy away from provocative programming.

He said his own company, which has announced plans to merge with AOL, is no longer doing as many documentaries as previously, and the pressure to make profits is rising. “There’s a good possibility that I will help you more than I have in the past,” he said, to applause from PBS station managers. PBS’ new president, Pat Mitchell, was previously president of Turner’s CNN Productions.

Separately, PBS announced several new series, including eight hours on “Evolution”; a four-part series on how Judaism came into being, called “The Kingdom of David”; and two new productions for “Masterpiece Theatre’s American Collection”: James Agee’s “A Death in the Family” and Esmerelda Santiago’s “Almost a Woman.”