Introducing ‘FRONTLINE Short Docs’: A Note From Our Editor-in-Chief & Executive Producer

I’m writing today not just as FRONTLINE’s executive producer and editor-in-chief, but also as a mother of teens growing up in this incredibly challenging information age.

Every day, our kids are flooded with content on social media. A lot of it can be rumor, vitriol, conspiracy theory or outright misinformation. We’re seeing this right now, in real time, in relation to recent events in Israel and Gaza, but the proliferation of misinformation on social media platforms teens frequent is far from a new problem.

We’ve been working hard to develop an antidote.

Today, I’m proud to introduce you to FRONTLINE Short Docs, a new streaming series made for teens and young adults that’s in-depth yet digestible. Each 5- to 10-minute episode is aimed at cutting through the noise often found on social media, at stimulating curiosity — and at grappling with the difficult, important issues shaping our world in ways that are age-appropriate but, I think, will appeal to us all.

Episode one, chronicling a girl’s escape from the deadliest wildfire in California’s history, is out right now:

In additional FRONTLINE Short Docs released over the coming weeks, our pilot season will explore the story of a young artist facing imprisonment in Russia for protesting the war in Ukraine, the history of voter disenfranchisement in the U.S. and its impact on Black communities, and — a lifetime later — the enduring reflections of some of the last people to survive the Holocaust as teenagers.

Each episode will be released on YouTube and the PBS App, and also on PBS LearningMedia, where you’ll be able to find accompanying curriculum materials and digital learning resources developed and tested by our partners at GBH Education.

I am so thankful to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Laura DeBonis and Scott Nathan, for funding this new initiative; to GBH Education and PBS LearningMedia for their partnership; and to the teens and teachers who weighed in as our team developed this new series and the supporting classroom materials.

“Every single time we watched a video, I would just be shocked by the information on the topic,” a member of the FRONTLINE Short Docs Youth Advisory Council said during a PBS LearningMedia webinar. “It just truly opened my eyes to just how much other teenagers and I don’t really know about the news.”

As a journalist and a parent committed to media literacy and ensuring that the next generation has access to trustworthy and engaging news, I hope you will consider sharing FRONTLINE Short Docs with the young people and teachers in your lives, and encouraging them to subscribe on YouTube and visit PBS LearningMedia.

Thank you.