{"id":1756,"date":"2024-09-09T16:11:40","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T20:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/?p=1756"},"modified":"2024-09-12T06:44:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T10:44:29","slug":"pbs-execs-board-members-silent-on-glaring-wild-horse-errors-in-emmy-nominated-human-footprint-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/?p=1756","title":{"rendered":"PBS execs, board members silent on glaring wild-horse errors in Emmy-nominated “Human Footprint” series"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Immediate Release<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed Winters, Wild Beauty Foundation edward@winterstonepictures.com<\/a>
Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, emolvar@westernwatersheds.org<\/a>
Vickery Eckhoff, veckhoff@rcn.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 4, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hollywood filmmaker, enviros and journalists urge PBS to correct 
wild horse errors in \u201cHuman Footprint\u201d series<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A coalition of organizations and journalists has submitted a comprehensive 16-page report<\/a> to PBS, urging the network to correct significant factual errors in the first episode of its Human Footprint<\/a> series. The episode, titled Strangers in Paradise<\/a>, aired in July 2023 and has been criticized for its slanted portrayal of America\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashley Avis, Director of the award-winning documentary, Wild Beauty, Mustang Spirit of the West<\/a>; 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\u2019s airing on July 5, 2023. Despite their outreach, the episode was broadcast without any corrections, and further communication from the coalition was dismissed as \u201charassment\u201d by the production company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs 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,\u201d said Avis.  \u201cAiring false, inadequately researched, and damaging information only reinforces the narrative of the commercial livestock industry, as we watch our public lands fade away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the coalition sought intervention from the PBS Public Editor<\/a>, initiating a detailed ten-month investigation into the segment\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the Public Editor\u2019s April 4th column, titled Wild, Wild Horses<\/a>, which highlighted the segment\u2019s errors and omissions and stated that it \u201cfailed the audience,\u201d the program remains available for viewing on PBS\u2019s website and social media platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Public Editor\u2019s column is a rare and powerful example of media accountability, but without removing the wild horse segment, the errors will live on,\u201d said Vickery Eckhoff, an investigative journalist. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, paradoxically, the \u201cHuman Footprint\u201d series was nominated for a national Emmy in the Outstanding Science and Technology category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that our group of experts alerted PBS before this episode even aired \u2014 and that \u201cStrangers in Paradise\u201d still stands erroneously and shockingly unaltered for public consumption today \u2014 is profoundly disappointing,\u201d adds Avis. \u201cMisinforming not only adults, but children who watch this content, is wholly unacceptable, and we are calling on PBS to a better ethical standard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coalition believes that viewer trust, a cornerstone of PBS\u2019s reputation, is at stake. \u201cViewer trust is earned. We\u2019re counting on PBS\u2019s board and executives to restore that trust and do the right thing,\u201d added Eckhoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere 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,\u201d said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a West-wide conservation nonprofit. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coalition hopes that PBS will recognize that Strangers in Paradise not only failed its audience but also failed to uphold PBS\u2019s standards of editorial integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A copy of the show storyboard can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wild Beauty Foundation<\/a> is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to illuminating key issues wild horses, wolves, and wildlife are facing today \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Watersheds Project<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release Media Contact: Ed Winters, Wild Beauty Foundation edward@winterstonepictures.comErik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, emolvar@westernwatersheds.orgVickery Eckhoff, veckhoff@rcn.com September 4, 2024 Hollywood filmmaker, enviros and journalists urge PBS to correct wild horse errors in \u201cHuman Footprint\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s airing on July 5, 2023. Despite their outreach, the episode was broadcast without any corrections, and further communication from the coalition was dismissed as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[170,26,27,169,171,163,172,83,165,174,173,23],"class_list":["post-1756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-human-footprint-series","tag-blm","tag-bureau-of-land-management","tag-days-edge-productions","tag-emmy-awards","tag-pbs","tag-pbs-public-editor","tag-public-lands-ranching","tag-shane-campbell-staton","tag-strangers-in-paradise","tag-the-wild-horses-of-nevadas-deserts","tag-wild-horses"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/PBS-Human-Footprint.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p54Vzk-sk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1756"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1764,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756\/revisions\/1764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypitchfork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}