Books, Arts & Manners: PBS Tries Playing It Straight

While the four-part Public Broadcasting series Crisis in Central America scarcely represents a giant step for mankind, it does mark a great leap forward for integrity and objectivity in television documentaries. “My hope,” says Neal B. Freeman, the executive producer of the series, “is that anybody who spends four hours with us will have his/her presuppositions— right, left, or middle—vigorously shaken.”

“My role was to develop the idea, raise the dough, hire the people, create the conditions in which they could do good work, and then brace myself for the praise or blame,” the conservative Mr. Freeman explains. “I went to WGBH [the Boston-based PBS affiliate, with a reputation for high-quality public-affairs programming] for two reasons: They have production skills of a high order, and they are known for an intelligently liberal approach. In seeking to produce an objective, ‘on the fifty-yard line’ series, I wanted strong partners who would push against my nonliberal views.”

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Aram Bakshian Jr.

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While the four-part Public Broadcasting series Crisis in Central America scarcely represents a giant step for mankind, it does mark a great leap forward for integrity and objectivity in television documentaries. “My hope,” says Neal B. Freeman, the executive producer of the series, “is that anybody who spends four hours with us will have his/her presuppositions— right, left, or middle—vigorously shaken.”

“My role was to develop the idea, raise the dough, hire the people, create the conditions in which they could do good work, and then brace myself for the praise or blame,” the conservative Mr. Freeman explains. “I went to WGBH [the Boston-based PBS affiliate, with a reputation for high-quality public-affairs programming] for two reasons: They have production skills of a high order, and they are known for an intelligently liberal approach. In seeking to produce an objective, ‘on the fifty-yard line’ series, I wanted strong partners who would push against my nonliberal views.”