CPB Ombudsman Agrees with CAMERA

During the dog days of summer, PBS aired two anti-Israel documentaries, back to back, as part of its POV series. CAMERA analyzed them in the article, “PBS Doubles Down on Anti-Israel Films.” Many letter writers and callers contacted their local PBS stations, the PBS ombudsman and the ombudsman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which administers your tax dollars for public broadcasting.

In October, CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan addressed viewers’ concerns:

In August I wrote about numerous complaints I received from PBS viewers who were upset that POV was running two documentaries, “5 Broken Cameras” and “The Law in These Parts” that appeared to be sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians at the expense of the Israelis. Much of the criticism was prompted from a request by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA)—to complain to the CPB ombudsman as well as PBS ombudsman Michael Getler.

At the time I urged those complaining to at least wait until the documentaries were broadcast before lodging any complaints.

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Since I also received so many complaints I too decided to watch the documentaries and must say that I agree with many of those who, in my view, prematurely complained. I found both films to be one-sided, particularly “5 Broken Cameras.” That film doesn’t even give lip service to the Israeli point of view and its filmed interactions with the Israeli army appear to be edited to place the Israelis in the worst possible light.

In the past I have defended public broadcasting against criticisms that various reports were not objective nor balanced when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by pointing out that much of the balance comes in other news reports.

But in the case of POV, that is simply not the case. Of all its documentaries for its new season, there are two that can be portrayed to varying degrees as anti-Israel. But there are no corresponding documentaries that portray the Israeli point of view.

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To select these two films given the ongoing conflict and controversy surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian relationship is only going to provoke those who already feel as though anti-Israel sentiment is the rule rather than the exception when it comes to public broadcasting. There is little to no objectivity and balance in these two films and POV should not be citing a film from three years ago about a Jewish family who travels to China to adopt a child as an example of balance.

To the extent that I was critical of those who complained before the films ran, I now say that I agree with much of that criticism.

Thank you to all the dedicated CAMERA members who made your voices heard. You are making a difference.