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Frontline(American TV program)

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Frontline
Created byDavid Fanning
Presented byMartin Smithet al.
Narrated byWill Lyman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No.of seasons42
No.of episodes813(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersDavid Fanning (1983–2015)
Raney Aronson-Rath(2015–present)
ProducerMartin Smith et sl.
Production companyWGBH-TV
Original release
NetworkPBS
ReleaseJanuary 17, 1983(1983-01-17)–
present
Related
Nova

Frontline(stylized in all capital letters) is aninvestigativedocumentaryprogram distributed by thePublic Broadcasting Service (PBS)in the United States. Episodes are produced atWGBHinBoston,Massachusetts.The series has covered avariety of domestic and international issues,including terrorism,[1]elections,[2]environmental disasters,[3]and other sociopolitical issues.[4]Since its debut in 1983,Frontlinehas aired in the U.S. for 42 seasons, and has won critical acclaim and awards in broadcast journalism. In 2024,Frontlinewon its first Oscar at the96th Academy AwardsforBest Documentary Feature,20 Days in Mariupol,made by a team of AP Ukrainian journalists. Frontline has produced over 800 documentaries from both in-house and independent filmmakers, 200 of which are available online.

Format

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The program debuted in 1983, with NBC anchorwomanJessica Savitchas the show's first host, but Savitch died later after the first-season finale.PBS NewsHour'sJudy Woodrufftook over as host in 1984, and hosted the program for five years, combining her job with a sub-anchor place onThe MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHourwhen Jim Lehrer was away. In 1990, episodes ofFrontlinebegan airing without a host, and the narrator was left to introduce each episode.

MostFrontlinereports are an hour in length, but some are extended to 90 minutes, two hours, or beyond.Frontlinealso produces and transmits such occasional specials asFrom Jesus to Christ,The Farmer's Wife,andCountry Boys.[5]

Since 1995,Frontlinehas been producing deep-content, companion web sites for all of its documentaries. The program publishes extended interview transcripts, in-depth chronologies, original essays, sidebar stories, related links and readings, and source documents including photographs and background research.Frontlinehas made many of its documentaries available via streaming Internet video, from its website.

Will Lymanis the distinctive voice who has narrated most of the installments of the program since its inception in 1983.[6]However, certain reports have been narrated byDavid Ogden StiersandPeter Berkrot.

"The Choice"

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Since 1988,Frontlinehas also aired "The Choice": a special edition aired during the lead-up to thepresidential electionevery four years, focusing on theDemocraticandRepublicancandidates contending for the office ofPresident of the United States.An installment aired on October 14, 2008, using a dual-biography format forBarack ObamaandJohn McCain.The 2008 documentary, produced byMichael Kirk,generated favorable reviews fromThe New York Times,which stated that the program helped viewers "gain perspective" about the "idea-oriented campaign",[7]andLos Angeles Times,which labeled it "refreshingly clear" and "informative".[8]

A subsequent episode aired on October 9, 2012, and featured the same dual biography tracing the lives and careers of incumbent President Barack Obama and his challenger,Mitt Romney.The following episode aired on September 27, 2016, and featured the biography ofHillary ClintonandDonald Trump."The Choice 2020"is the most recent installment and aired on September 22, 2020, featuringJoe Bidenand Donald Trump.[9]

Production

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The show is produced by theWGBH Educational Foundation,the parent company ofWGBH-TVin Boston, which is solely responsible for its content. WGBH is the creator of the Documentary Consortium, with another four PBS stations, includingWNETin New York andKCTSin Seattle.

In 2015, the creator and founding executive producer ofFrontline,David Fanning, retired after more than 32 years as executive producer of the program, andRaney Aronson-Rathsucceeded him in senior grade. Fanning, however, remainseditor-at-largeofFrontlineas a founding member.

On September 14, 2017, the program launched its first-everpodcastcalledThe Frontline Dispatch.[10]The podcast is a production ofPBSandWGBHin Boston alongsidePRX.

Frontline/World

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Frontline/Worldis aspin-offprogram fromFrontline,first transmitted on May 23, 2002, which was transmitted four to eight times a year onFrontlineuntil it was canceled in 2010. It focused on issues from around the globe, and used a "magazine" format, where each hour-long episode typically had three stories that ran about 15 to 20 minutes in length. Its tagline was:Stories from a small planet.

Initially a co-production ofWGBH,Boston andKQED,San Francisco,Frontline/Worldwas later based in part at theUniversity of California Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism,where the program's producers recruited a new generation of reporters and producers to theFrontlineprogram.[11]

Frontline/Worldalso streamed stories on its website, which won twoWebby awardsin 2008 for its original program of online videos called "Rough Cuts". In 2005, theOverseas Press Club of Americagave the program itsEdward R. Murrow Awardfor the best TV coverage of international events, citing producers David Fanning,Stephen Talbot,Sharon Tiller and Ken Dornstein. The program broke new ground in 2007 by winning twoEmmys;one of these was for a broadcast story, "Saddam's Road to Hell", and the other was for an online video, "Libya: Out of the Shadow".

Critical reception

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Frontlinehas received generally positive reviews from television critics.David ZurawikofThe Baltimore Sunwrote that the episode "Inside the Meltdown", was "one of the finest hours of non-fiction TV that I have seen."[12]Vern Gay ofNewsdaywrote that "The Card Game" episode, "bores down to the hard, cold truth" and is "journalism at its best."[13]Tom Brinkmoeller ofTV Worth Watchingcalled it, "Indispensable."[14]Sean Gregory ofTimewrote about the episode, "League of Denial",that it was" a first-rate piece of reporting. "[15]David Zurawik ofThe Baltimore Sunwrote about the episode "The Rise of ISIS", that it was "superb and daring work."[16]Alasdair Wilkins ofThe A.V. Clubwrote, "hardest-hitting show on television."[17]Margaret Sullivan,the media columnist ofThe Washington Postwrote for the episode, "The Choice 2016", "utterly-fair and completely riveting."[18]Vern Gay ofNewsdaywrote that the show is "authoritative and comprehensive."[19]David Zurawik ofThe Baltimore Sunwrote that the episode "Trump's Showdown", "is as good as long-form, non-fiction television gets."[20]Chris Barton of theLos Angeles Timeswrote for the episode, "The Facebook Dilemma" thatFrontlinehas a "well-earned reputation for unflinching, in-depth examinations of social issues and current events."[21]The Daily Beastwrote for the episode, "The Choice 2020","Beyond spin...thoughtful [and] in-depth. "[22]

Awards and results

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The crew ofFrontline's "United States of Secrets" (2014), at the 74th Annual Peabody Awards

OtherFrontlinereports focus on political, social, and criminal justice issues.Ofra Bikel,who has been a producer forFrontlinesince the first season, has produced a significant number of films on thecriminal justicesystem in the United States. The films have focused on issues ranging from post-convictionDNA testing,the use ofdrug snitchesandmandatory minimum sentencing laws,thepleasystem, and the use of eyewitness testimony. As a result of the films, 13 people have been released from prison.

After theSeptember 11 attacks,theWhite Houserequested a copy of "Hunting Bin Laden". In 1999,Frontlinehad produced this in-depth report aboutOsama bin Ladenand theterroristnetwork that would come to be known asAl-Qaedain the wake of the1998 United States embassy bombings.Following the September 11 attacks,Frontlineproduced a series of films about Al-Qaeda and theWar on Terrorism.In 2002, the program was awarded theDuPont-Columbiagold baton for the seven films.

In 2003,FrontlineandThe New York Timesjoined forces on "A Dangerous Business", an investigation led by reporterLowell Bergmaninto thecast ironpipe making industry and worker safety.OSHAofficials credit the documentary and newspaper report with stimulating federal policy change on workplace safety. In 2004, the joint investigation was awarded thePulitzer Prize for Public Service.

ProducerMichael Kirk'sFrontlinedocumentaries have won multiple awards. These films include "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis" (Peabody Award,2013),[23]"Cheney's Law" (Peabody Award, 2007),[24]"The Lost Year in Iraq" (Emmy Award,2006), "The Torture Question" (Emmy Award, 2005), "The Kevorkian File" (Emmy Award), and "Waco: The Inside Story" (Peabody Award).[25][26]

DirectorMartin Smithhas produced dozens of films forFrontline,and won both Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards. His 2000 filmDrug Warswas the winner of the Outstanding Background/Analysis of a Single Current Story Emmy and the George Foster Peabody Award.[27]Additionally,Separated: Children at the Border,for which he was writer and correspondent, also won a 2018Peabody Award.[28]

Other notable producers of multipleFrontlinedocumentaries have included Sherry Jones,Marian Marzynski,Miri Navasky,Karen O'Connor, June Cross, Neil Docherty,Stephen Talbot,Raney Aronson-Rath,Rachel Dretzin,[29]James Jacoby[30]and Rick Young.

As of July 2016,Frontlinehas won a total of 75 Emmy Awards[31]and 18 Peabody Awards.[32]In 2020,Frontlinewas also awarded an Institutional Peabody Award.[33]

In 2022,Frontlinewon four awards in the43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards.[34]

Episodes

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Main article:List of Frontline (American TV program) episodes

See also

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References

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  1. ^"U.S. and Scotland Eye Two New Suspects In Lockerbie Bombing".Frontline.RetrievedApril 4,2018.
  2. ^"The Choice".Frontline.RetrievedDecember 12,2020.
  3. ^Frontline | The Spill | Season 2010 | Episode 15,retrievedDecember 12,2020
  4. ^"Impact".Frontline.RetrievedApril 4,2018.
  5. ^"From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians".Frontline.PBS. April 6, 1998.RetrievedFebruary 17,2010.
  6. ^"Will Lyman:: Actor".whitethroat.RetrievedSeptember 24,2015.
  7. ^Genzlinger, Neil (October 13, 2008)."The Past Parts of the Present Campaign".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 3,2010.
  8. ^McNamara, Mary (October 14, 2008)."A refreshingly clear 'Choice'".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJuly 3,2010.
  9. ^[1]atPBS,accessed September 23, 2020.
  10. ^"FRONTLINE, PBS and WGBH's Acclaimed Investigative Documentary Series, Launches New Podcast, The FRONTLINE Dispatch".FRONTLINE.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  11. ^"'Frontline/World' video journalists bring world to Web ".SFGate.October 11, 2007.RetrievedSeptember 24,2015.
  12. ^Zurawik, David (February 15, 2009)."60 Minutes goes after crooked mortgage brokers".The Baltimore Sun.RetrievedDecember 8,2019.
  13. ^Gay, Vern (November 20, 2009)."'Frontline's' 'Card Game': A matter of life and debt ".Newsday.RetrievedDecember 7,2019.
  14. ^Brinkmoeller, Tom (December 18, 2012)."PBS Station Head Assesses Landscape Following Recent Assault on Public TV".TV Worth Watching.RetrievedSeptember 29,2022.
  15. ^Gregory, Sean (October 7, 2013)."New Book, and PBS Documentary, Details NFL's Concussion Denial".Time.ISSN0040-781X.RetrievedDecember 7,2019.
  16. ^Zurawik, David (October 28, 2014)."Frontline offers harrowing, revealing look into ISIS tonight".Baltimore Sun.RetrievedDecember 7,2019.
  17. ^Wilkins, Alasdair (October 27, 2015)."As baseball reaches its climax, basketball begins".The A.V. Club.RetrievedDecember 7,2019.
  18. ^Sullivan, Margaret (November 6, 2016)."It wasn't all bad: Here were the media's 13 best moments of Campaign 2016".The Washington Post.RetrievedDecember 7,2019.
  19. ^Gay, Vern (October 24, 2017)."'Putin's Revenge' doesn't break new ground ".Newsday.RetrievedDecember 8,2019.
  20. ^Zurawik, David(September 28, 2018)."Frontline takes on biggest story line in American life with 'Trump's Showdown'".The Baltimore Sun.RetrievedDecember 8,2019.
  21. ^Barton, Chris (July 31, 2018)."PBS 'Frontline' special 'The Facebook Dilemma' outpaces the scary stories on other networks".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedDecember 8,2019.
  22. ^"FRONTLINE's Critically Acclaimed Series," The Choice, "Returns Tonight for Key 2020 Election Insight".The Daily Beast.September 22, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 21,2022.
  23. ^73rd Annual Peabody Awards,May 2014.
  24. ^66th Annual Peabody Awards,May 2007.
  25. ^54th Annual Peabody Awards,May 1995.
  26. ^"About Us: producer Michael Kirk".PBS Frontline. 2009.RetrievedFebruary 17,2010.
  27. ^"Rain Media: Awards".Rain Media.2008.RetrievedFebruary 17,2010.
  28. ^"The Best Stories of 2018".June 24, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 28,2020.
  29. ^
  30. ^"The Facebook Dilemma".RetrievedFebruary 28,2020.
  31. ^Paddonio, Patrice (April 26, 2016)."Frontline Wins Six Emmy Awards".Frontline(Press release).RetrievedAugust 1,2016.
  32. ^Paddonio, Patrice (September 29, 2015)."Frontline Wins Peabody Award for 'ISIS in Afghanistan'".Frontline(Press release).RetrievedAugust 1,2016.
  33. ^"Peabody 30 Winners".RetrievedJune 25,2020.
  34. ^"PBS wins 6 News and Documentary Emmys® (Press Release)".PBS.July 28, 2022.RetrievedOctober 4,2023.
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