PBS execs, board members silent on glaring wild-horse errors in Emmy-nominated “Human Footprint” series
The below press release is part of a year-long effort by myself and three other experts to get PBS to correct what it got wrong in calling wild horses an "invasive species" in episode one of "Human Footprint." If we — the public — can't hold PBS accountable, who can?
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Ed Winters, Wild Beauty Foundation edward@winterstonepictures.com
Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, emolvar@westernwatersheds.org
Vickery Eckhoff, veckhoff@rcn.com
September 4, 2024
Hollywood filmmaker, enviros and journalists urge PBS to correct
wild horse errors in “Human Footprint” series
A coalition of organizations and journalists has submitted a comprehensive 16-page report to PBS, urging the network to correct significant factual errors in the first episode of its Human Footprint series. The episode, titled Strangers in Paradise, aired in July 2023 and has been criticized for its slanted portrayal of America’s wild horses. The episode incorporated numerous instances of misrepresentation and erroneous reporting, including more than quadrupling the number of wild horses on western public lands and mischaracterizing wild horses as an invasive species causing ecological destruction that is properly attributable to the more numerous cattle and sheep that are permitted to graze on public lands, according to government data.
Ashley Avis, Director of the award-winning documentary, Wild Beauty, Mustang Spirit of the West; the executive director of Western Watersheds Project and two journalists initially alerted PBS executives and the production team to these inaccuracies prior to the episode’s airing on July 5, 2023. Despite their outreach, the episode was broadcast without any corrections, and further communication from the coalition was dismissed as “harassment” by the production company.
“As a journalist and filmmaker deeply vested in protecting wild horses, and other species critical to our ecosystem, I was startled to see such flippant inaccuracies in this production,” said Avis. “Airing false, inadequately researched, and damaging information only reinforces the narrative of the commercial livestock industry, as we watch our public lands fade away.”
In response, the coalition sought intervention from the PBS Public Editor, initiating a detailed ten-month investigation into the segment’s production. This investigation included examining research and government data, as well as filing four Freedom of Information Act requests. The findings have been compiled into a detailed report, which has been shared with PBS executives.
Despite the Public Editor’s April 4th column, titled Wild, Wild Horses, which highlighted the segment’s errors and omissions and stated that it “failed the audience,” the program remains available for viewing on PBS’s website and social media platforms.
“The Public Editor’s column is a rare and powerful example of media accountability, but without removing the wild horse segment, the errors will live on,” said Vickery Eckhoff, an investigative journalist. “We urge PBS to edit out the nearly 12-minute wild horse segment from the episode and make a public statement about the corrective action taken.”
In July, paradoxically, the “Human Footprint” series was nominated for a national Emmy in the Outstanding Science and Technology category.
“The fact that our group of experts alerted PBS before this episode even aired — and that “Strangers in Paradise” still stands erroneously and shockingly unaltered for public consumption today — is profoundly disappointing,” adds Avis. “Misinforming not only adults, but children who watch this content, is wholly unacceptable, and we are calling on PBS to a better ethical standard.”
The coalition believes that viewer trust, a cornerstone of PBS’s reputation, is at stake. “Viewer trust is earned. We’re counting on PBS’s board and executives to restore that trust and do the right thing,” added Eckhoff.
“There is a lot of deliberate misinformation about wild horses being promoted by the livestock industry, and it is disheartening to see PBS drawn into this through their airing and promotion of the Human Footprint series,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a West-wide conservation nonprofit. “The American public relies on fact-based journalism to inform public policy, and while the wild horse segment in Human Footprint is a major stumble in this regard, PBS has an important and ongoing responsibility to provide objective reporting on this issue.”
The coalition hopes that PBS will recognize that Strangers in Paradise not only failed its audience but also failed to uphold PBS’s standards of editorial integrity.
A copy of the show storyboard can be viewed here.
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The Wild Beauty Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to illuminating key issues wild horses, wolves, and wildlife are facing today — while bringing the natural world and the importance of its protection to people of all ages. Through the power of our unique entertainment platform, WBF is devoted to launching films, educational programs, advocacy campaigns, and protecting animals in need.
Western Watersheds Project is a nonprofit conservation group with over 14,000 members and supporters, as well as field offices across the western U.S. WWP works to influence and improve public lands management throughout the West with a primary focus on the negative impacts of livestock grazing on 250 million acres of western public lands.
Stunned by the flagrant disregard for the truth PBS has shown its true colors. Because of the refusal to set the record straight by PBS executives I no longer donate to them instead my donation dollars are going directly towards Wild Horse and Burro nonprofit organizations that are working diligently and proactively to ensure that the truth about wild horses and burro’s is being reported to the American public.
Shame on PBS for this miscarriage of information and the skewed media narrative of the Cattle and Livestock industry, Extraction industries and the federal government agencies such as the BLM that have targeted our nation’s Wild Horses and Burro’s along with wildlife and keystone predators.
Not only do I no longer financially support PBS but I no longer trust that they are providing investigative journalism and reporting based upon facts and the truth.
Rewrite the damn thing and apologize for lying.no Emmy for PBS
From PBS website:
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Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor:
https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.”
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“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)
Do not lie. The tx of wild horses and burros is horrific and unnecessary
I,too, will be terminating my subscription and monetary support of PBS.Horses have been blamed for degradation of grazing lands which were more than fine before cattle and sheep were given access. Horses are not an invasive species, they are a self-substaining,wild animal that is also a prey animal. Before the introduction of cattle the grazing land was also self sustaining because of the way they process and eliminate foods. We need to let nature be nature and remind cattle ranchers that they should only produce the number of cattle they can support on THEIR own property
“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)
Integrity is a value organization’s strive for.
When it comes to light errors have been made, it
Is honorable and expected the error would be corrected.
Continuing to air these is detrimental to your audience adults and child.
There are consequence for such behavior. America’s Wild Horses belong to all of us. Unfortunately your decision contributed to the total demise and extinction of Wild Horses that have lived and survived on these lands for hundreds of years.
It is not harassment when experts prove their point with documentation and science. PBS is losing their integrity.
Just a bias company.
“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)
PBS has been a huge part of my life for so many years. But if I cannot trust PBS to tell the truth, then I’ll stop my support & tell everyone I know to stop also.
Is this an example of infiltration of power /money/lies of the meat industry and corporate ranching techniques? You should know that a LOT of people support wildlife being on our public lands. More & more people also know that corporate ranching of cattle and sheep is NOT sustainable. Neither is our water. Corporate ranching will take & take until there is nothing left. Then where will we be??
PBS stop supporting lies ( get rid of those damn republicans who need to stop being so damn selfish).
“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)
Lifetime contributer to PBS here , and I’m disgusted by your misrepresentation of wild horses and burros . PBS is known for it’s documentaries and for it’s shows about nature . Words are extremely important and often parroted .I can’t guess why you would use the term invasive species to describe America’s horses .
A quiet retraction or apology is not enough.
Do the right thing . Publicly refuse the Emmy nomination , support our horses and burros , or lose my support forever.
I couldnot quite believe what I hearing on the PBS program “Human Footprint”. Did the filmmaker not bother to do any research or just look on the Bureau of Land Management. Shoddy, ill-researched, heavy footprint, lazy program. I will recommend anyone I meet not to watch this show. After enjoying much on the TV channel because of this I now question everything I see on PBS. Airing this program did you a great disservice. An Emmy not in anyway deserved.
“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)
I too will no longer View PBS as I cannot support a station that does not investigate what it reports. Emmy for false reporting to please their ranching donator. Took in over 800k from cattleman’s asso this year, surprise surprise.
“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)
“Have a comment related to the journalistic integrity of PBS content? Send an E-mail to the Public Editor: https://www.pbs.org/publiceditor/feedback/
The public editor does not replace viewers’ long-standing ability to contact stations, producers and PBS.” (from PBS website)