http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/ombudsman/ en Copyright 2009 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:10:32 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/ombudsman/images/pbslogo-rss.gif http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/ombudsman/ Here's a sampling of mail from viewers reacting to recent PBS programs and decisions that have been the subject of ombudsman's columns in the past week dealing with broadcasts of NOW on PBS about anti-abortion actions, and about the PBS... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/07/the_mailbag_10.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/07/the_mailbag_10.html Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:10:32 -0500 http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/now_on_the_frontlines_1.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/now_on_the_frontlines_1.html Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:10:50 -0500 While I was away last week, the PBS Board reached an important decision. It was both a compromise, yet also uncompromising in an important way. On June 16, the Board approved, as a requirement for station membership, a recommendation from... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/a_nonsectarian_decision_mostly_1.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/a_nonsectarian_decision_mostly_1.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:14:31 -0500 I'll be away from the office until June 22, but will be checking in electronically from time-to-time and my assistant, Marcia Apperson, will be here to handle your inquiries. You can continue to contact us at ombudsman@pbs.org or 703-739-5290.... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/away_from_the_office.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/away_from_the_office.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:33:25 -0500 Some Not So Old Business What follows are some more letters and lengthier correspondence dealing with two recent programs that sparked both a good deal of interest and, unexpectedly, a fair amount of controversy. The first group consists of another... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/the_mailbag_9.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/the_mailbag_9.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:52:12 -0500 Last Wednesday, I posted a column dealing with viewer response to the Sunday night, May 24, nationally televised 20th annual National Memorial Day Concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The column focused, in particular, on a segment... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/more_on_that_concert.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/06/more_on_that_concert.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:18:35 -0500 Last Sunday evening, May 24, the annual National Memorial Day Concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., was broadcast live to the nation on PBS. It was the 20th anniversary of this 90-minute musical, dramatic... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/05/remembering_veterans_and_their_families_1.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/05/remembering_veterans_and_their_families_1.html Wed, 27 May 2009 16:46:32 -0500 This week's Mailbag brings something old and something new. The new stuff involves lots of e-mails that amount to pre-emptive strikes by viewers on both sides of a tough and touchy decision that faces the PBS Board of Directors next... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/05/the_mailbag_7.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/05/the_mailbag_7.html Fri, 22 May 2009 13:23:55 -0500 An ambitious and, I thought, powerful and illuminating five-part series on the relentlessly tragic yet often stirring history of the American Indian unfolded on PBS stations for 90 minutes on consecutive Monday evenings from April 13 through May 11. This... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/05/burying_some_questions_at_wounded_knee_1.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/05/burying_some_questions_at_wounded_knee_1.html Wed, 20 May 2009 11:59:46 -0500 This week's mailbag centers on responses and reactions to the last two ombudsman's columns. One of them was last week dealing with a report on FOX News about the use of material from the Al Jazeera English news network by... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_mailbag_5.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_mailbag_5.html Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:01:14 -0500 A story on FOXNews.com last week, headlined "Al Jazeera's Presence on PBS Alarms Some" by Eric Shawn, apparently did alarm some of those who saw the story. Although only four people wrote to me, and all of the e-mails appeared... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_al_jazeera_effect.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_al_jazeera_effect.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:05:53 -0500 Last week's Ombudsman's Mailbag included a segment on the March 31 broadcast of "Sick Around America" on PBS's flagship documentary series, Frontline. The program dealt with health care in this country and the letters to me were uniformly critical of... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_back_story_at_frontline.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_back_story_at_frontline.html Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:42:25 -0500 Note: This column contains a correction posted on April 6. Viewer response to two programs dominated the mailbag this week. Most of the mail and certainly the strongest sentiments - all of them critical - focused on last Friday's (March... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_mailbag_6.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/04/the_mailbag_6.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:25:43 -0500 March Madness means basketball for most Americans but it also means madness over Pledge Drive programming for some PBS watchers. I've written about this issue several times over the past three years and one of the viewers who wrote to... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/03/more_pledge_madness.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/03/more_pledge_madness.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:38:05 -0500 Here's a brief collection of observations from viewers that landed in our inbox this past week or so. The mail focused on two main issues: 1) further commentary on the two-part series broadcast on Masterpiece Classic in February of the... http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/03/the_mailbag_4.html http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/rss/redir/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/03/the_mailbag_4.html Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:50:15 -0500