Several months ago, Joel Schwartzberg from NOW on PBS contacted us to bring their show and website to our attention. I took a look at it... and loved it. Unfortunately, time got away from me and I never got a chance to write this blog.
Trying to get my inbox in some semblance of order this morning however, I came across the most recent email about the show and knew it was time I brought it up here.
The vulnerability of chemical facilities to terrorist attack, campaign finance, the future of intellectual property, public education, the environment, and America's relationship with the world have been the focus of NOW's exhaustive reportage. In an important post-election year, NOW will compare the promises to the reality — the state of national security, the erosion of jobs, the rising cost of health care, the problems with retirement, and the quality and availability of child care.
Through documentary segments and interviews with original thinkers, NOW goes beyond the noisy churn of the news cycle and gives viewers the context to explore their relationship with the larger world. In an era where commercial values in journalism risk overwhelming democratic values and corporate interests can prevail over the public interest, NOW continues to stand apart as what THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR called the "one program going against the grain."
I can't count the number of times someone here has complained about how uninformative, slanted, boring or otherwise worthless cable news has become. And I can't count the number of times I've heard a complaint that there is nothing new to blog about.
The award winning NOW on PBS may just solve both problems without leaving you even more frustrated than you were to begin with. The short segments you see on cable news and the news they have yet to bring to your attention can all be found on NOW, in greater fact checked detail. From education to national security to child prostitution and beyond, the NOW series takes an in-depth look at many of the topics that have claimed the attention of ProgressiveU bloggers.
NOW also explores those topics that haven't even been touched upon, such as the running of prisons by private corporations or the initiative of the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation which provides animals to Nepalese families in exchange for agreement not to sell their daughters into slavery.
I'd personally encourage everyone to check it out; if not for the show itself then for new blogging topics. They have them... in abundance.
Current and archived segments can be found on the website (as can awesome educational resources and the NOW Election 2008 center) or by checking the schedule here.
Cheers,
Fallon
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
I understand the complaints about cable news, but these companies are privately owned and therefore have an agenda. As a concerned citizen, one needs to make it a point to seek out relevant news from a variety of sources so that the information is less biased and more, well, newsworthy. PBS is great for this, as you've said, and there are many, many more places for people to get their news-- if they're not too lazy to find it.
Doubly agreed on PBS. I freaking love the station; whether it's news, cartoons, musical things or classroom focused pieces. I'll probably never use most of what I've learned from the classroom focused pieces in my life.. but they always catch my interest. Much better to most of the crap on TV.
-----
Free books need new home.
~Fallon~
"If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams."- Pace
-----
Good blog. Just because you mentioned the show I will watch. Sounds pretty good.