Moyers on America Citizens Class

Are you an informed and engaged citizen? In October, Bill Moyers returns to investigative journalism with Moyers on America, a series of three documentaries on issues affecting democracy — money in politics, the environment, and internet neutrality. You can connect, reflect, and respond to these hotly-debated topics by joining the MOYERS ON AMERICA Citizens Class. This national dialogue will take a hard look at some of today's most pressing issues and ask: What do you think?

Timed to launch with the series, the MOYERS ON AMERICA Citizens Class will host an extensive, interactive curriculum designed to spark public discourse. The workshop offers multi-media discussion and reference material summarizing the key aspects of differing perspectives; posing questions for reflection, consideration and response; and stimulating a deep and thoughtful dialogue about the issues raised in the series.

About MOYERS ON AMERICA

MOYERS ON AMERICA takes on crucial issues facing the nation in three investigative documentaries airing Wednesdays, October 4, 11, and 18 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

On October 4 "Capitol Crimes" investigates 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?" looks at the implications of a debate among conservative evangelical Christians, a politically powerful group, over the handling of the environment. And on October 18 "The Net at Risk" reports on how mega-media corporations could restrict the democratic possibilities of the Web's new future.

"Capitol Crimes"

The fall of Jack Abramoff has exposed a huge web of corruption that still remains vastly unreported by the broadcast media, even as prosecutors continue to chase down leads and quiz insiders and witnesses. "It's a dizzying scope of perfidy and politics that boggles the imagination, and although Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay have been brought down, the system remains as vulnerable as ever," says Bill Moyers. He and his colleagues untangle emails, reports, interviews and facts on the record to provide viewers a coherent pattern of criminal and political chicanery. The documentary is followed by a discussion led by Moyers with leading thinkers about the possible solutions for America's political system.

"Is God Green?"

A new holy war is growing within the evangelical community, with stakes for the earth and American politics. For over a decade liberal Christians have made the environment a moral commitment. Now some conservative evangelicals as well are standing up for the earth as a Biblical imperative of stewardship. From a dynamic conservative church in Boise, Idaho to an evangelical activist group known as Christians for the Mountains in West Virginia, grassroots believers are speaking out. So are some conservative evangelical leaders at the national level who have called for action to stop global warming. But they are being met head-on with opposition from religious right political figures like Jerry Falwell and James Dobson, who are pillars of the right-wing coalition that adamantly supports the Bush administration in downplaying the threat of global warming. The political stakes are high: three out of every four self-identified white evangelical voters cast their ballots for George W. Bush in 2004. The program explores how a serious split among conservative evangelicals over the environment and global warming could reshape American politics.

"The Net at Risk"

The future of the Internet is up for grabs. Big corporations are lobbying Washington to turn the gateway to the Web into a toll road. Yet the public knows little about what's happening behind closed doors where the future of democracy's newest forum is being decided. If a few mega media giants own the content and control the delivery of radio, television, telephone services and the Internet, they'll make a killing and citizens will pay for it. America's ability to compete in the global marketplace, the unfettered exchange of ideas online, and broadband services that could improve quality of life for millions are at stake. Some say the very future of democracy itself may hang in the balance. In "The Net at Risk," Bill Moyers and journalist Rick Karr report on the wannabe "lords of the Internet" and examine how promises by the big tel-co companies of a super-high speed Internet in return for deregulation and tax breaks have gone unfulfilled while the public has paid the price. After the documentary, Moyers leads a discussion on media reform to explore the real-world impact of deregulation on communities and citizen participation in democracy.