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ABOUT THE SERIES: BILL MOYERS

Bill Moyers, one of America's foremost journalists, returned to PBS in 2006 with two series. BILL MOYERS ON FAITH & REASON, a seven-part series focused on the question: in a world where religion is poison to some and salvation to others, how do we live together? MOYERS ON AMERICA took on crucial issues facing the nation in three investigative documentaries. "Capitol Crimes" investigated the Abramoff lobbying scandal revealing the web of relationships, secret deals and political manipulation and opening a disturbing window on the dark side of American politics. On October 11 "Is God Green?" looked at the implications of a debate among conservative evangelical Christians, a politically powerful group, over the handling of the environment. And "The Net at Risk" reported on how mega-media corporations could restrict the democratic possibilities of the Web's new future.

During his three decades in broadcasting, Moyers has pursued a broad spectrum of journalism. In presenting Moyers with the prestigious Gold Baton, the highest honor of the Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award, Columbia University President Michael Sovern called him "a unique voice, still seeking new frontiers in television, daring to assume that viewing audiences are willing to think and learn." The International Conference on Thinking, an annual gathering of scholars and researchers dedicated to improving critical and creative thinking, honored Moyers as a broadcaster "whose contributions to public awareness of the value and processes of thinking span multiple areas: helping the American public understand how we think, the influences that impact our thinking, and the joy and contributions that result from thinking effectively." In 2005, Moyers received the PEN USA Courageous Advocacy Award for his passionate, outspoken commitment to freedom of speech and his dedication to journalistic integrity.

A survey of television critics by TELEVISION QUARTERLY, the official journal of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, placed Moyers among the ten journalists who have had the most significant influence on television news. The Academy has also recognized his work with more than 30 Emmy Awards for excellence. In the first year it was awarded, he received the prestigious Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by the American Film Institute. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has also received the Career Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association and has been honored by the Television Critics Association for outstanding career achievement. He was elected to the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and a year later received the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal) from the National Endowment for the Humanities "for outstanding contributions to American cultural life."

Before establishing Public Affairs Television in 1986, he served as executive editor of BILL MOYERS JOURNAL on public television, senior news analyst for the CBS Evening News, and chief correspondent for the acclaimed documentary series, CBS REPORTS. Two of his public television series, CREATIVITY (1982) and A WALK THROUGH THE 20TH CENTURY (1984), were named Outstanding Informational Series by the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

With his wife and partner, Judith Davidson Moyers, who is CEO of Public Affairs Television, he has produced hundreds of hours of programming for public television including: FACING EVIL, IN SEARCH OF THE CONSTITUTION, THE SECRET GOVERNMENT...THE CONSTITUTION IN CRISIS, GOD AND POLITICS, JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE POWER OF MYTH, A WORLD OF IDEAS, THE PUBLIC MIND, A GATHERING OF MEN WITH ROBERT BLY, AMAZING GRACE, THE SONGS ARE FREE WITH BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON, PROJECT CENSORED, SPORTS FOR SALE, THE ARAB WORLD, ALL OUR CHILDREN, THE POWER OF THE WORD, BEYOND HATE, THE HOME FRONT, SPIRIT AND NATURE, SPECIAL REPORT: AFTER THE WAR, 20 YEARS OF LISTENING TO AMERICA, CIRCLE OF RECOVERY, FACING HATE WITH ELIE WIESEL, MINIMUM WAGES, HATE ON TRIAL, FAMILIES FIRST, LISTENING TO AMERICA (AN ELECTION-YEAR SERIES), THE GREAT HEALTH CARE DEBATE, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT VIOLENCE?, THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE, THE WISDOM OF FAITH WITH HUSTON SMITH, GENESIS, CLOSE TO HOME: MOYERS ON ADDICTION, AND MOST RECENTLY, FACING THE TRUTH, FREE SPEECH FOR SALE, FOOLING WITH WORDS, THE SOUNDS OF POETRY, ON OUR OWN TERMS, TRADE SECRETS, EARTH ON EDGE, TRADING DEMOCRACY, and AMERICA'S FIRST RIVER: MOYERS ON THE HUDSON.

For three years beginning in January 2002, Public Affairs Television also produced the acclaimed weekly newsmagazine NOW WITH BILL MOYERS.

In addition to his 1971 best-selling book, LISTENING TO AMERICA, four of Moyers' books based on his television series have also become bestsellers. His body of work includes the titles: JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE POWER OF MYTH, A WORLD OF IDEAS I AND II, HEALING AND THE MIND, REPORT FROM PHILADELPHIA (celebrating the Bicentennial of the Constitution), THE SECRET GOVERNMENT, GENESIS, and FOOLING WITH WORDS: A CELEBRATION OF POETS AND THEIR CRAFT. His most recent work is MOYERS ON AMERICA, a collection of speeches published in 2004.

Before entering broadcasting, Moyers was Deputy Director of the Peace Corps in the Kennedy Administration and Special Assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1963-1967, including two years as White House press secretary (a recent survey of readers of American Journalism Review named Moyers "the best White House press secretary of all time.") He left the White House in January 1967 to become publisher of NEWSDAY, was for 12 years a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and now serves as president of The Schumann Center for Media and Democracy. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Organization of American Historians.

Born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas, Moyers began his varied career as a cub reporter on the MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER at age 16. He is a graduate of the University of Texas, which has presented him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award, and holds the Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Married for more than fifty years, Judith and Bill Moyers have three grown children and five grandchildren.

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