Bill Moyers Returns to Investigative Reporting With Moyers on America Airing in October on PBS

Bill Moyers Returns to Investigative Reporting With Moyers on America Airing in October on PBS

Three Documentary Series Investigates Key Issues Facing Democracy

NEW YORK, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Journalist Bill Moyers returns to investigative reporting in October with three documentaries taking on important issues facing the nation in the upcoming elections for control of Congress. In Moyers on America, airing Wednesdays, October 4, 11, and 18 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), Moyers and his team travel the nation to report on political corruption, Christians and the environment, and democratic access to the Internet.

On October 4, "Capitol Crimes" investigates the Abramoff lobbying scandal examining the web of relationships, secret deals and political manipulation that reveals the shadowy underbelly of American politics. On October 11, "Is God Green?" looks at the significant implications of a debate among politically powerful conservative evangelical Christians over the handling of the environment. And on October 18, "The Net at Risk" reports on if a few mega-media corporations get their way in Washington, they could restrict the democratic possibilities of the Web's new future.

"We're looking at three issues that deserve to be at the center of the debate this fall, not just because they are important topics, but because together these stories reveal a powerful and sometimes disturbing picture about how our government works," says Bill Moyers. "The way these issues are playing out should serve as a wake-up call for citizens."

Moyers on America
"Capitol Crimes"

PBS Airdate: Wednesday, October 4 at 9 p.m. (check local listings). 120 minutes.

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 with 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.

Moyers on America
"Is God Green?"

PBS Airdate: Wednesday, October 11 at 9 p.m. (check local listings). 60 minutes.

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.

Moyers on America
"The Net at Risk"

PBS Airdate: Wednesday, October 18 at 9 p.m. (check local listings). 90 minutes.

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.

Moyers on America is supported by an extensive companion Web site at http://www.pbs.org/moyers where visitors can interact, give feedback, and participate in an online workshop designed to inform, engage, and spark public discourse on the issues presented in the documentaries. After the broadcast, each episode will be available in its entirety for viewing online.

Moyers on America is funded by the Park Foundation and our sole corporate funder Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Press materials and photos available for download at http://www.pbs.org/pressroom. Screeners and transcripts upon request.

Press Contacts:
Rick Byrne Diane Domondon
Public Affairs Television Public Affairs Television
212.560-8406 212.560.8530
byrner@thirteen.orgdomondond@thirteen.org

Source: Public Affairs Television

CONTACT: Rick Byrne, +1-212-560-8406, byrner@thirteen.org, or Diane
Domondon, +1-212-560-8530, domondond@thirteen.org, both of Public Affairs
Television

Web site: http://www.pbs.org/moyers

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