PBS Forced Producer By Harut Sassounian

[Gavur]

California Courier Online, March 23, 2006

Commentary
PBS Forced Producer to Revise
Content of Genocide Documentary
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier



The Ombudsman for PBS, Michael Getler, revealed in a commentary last week
that unnamed "top PBS officials" were involved in editing and revising the
content of Andrew Goldberg's documentary on the Armenian Genocide that most
PBS stations plan to air on April 17.

Getler quoted these PBS officials as saying: "We worked with the producer
[Goldberg] through his final editing to ensure that the program met our
standards. We, through Oregon Public Broadcasting, vetted its content with
a historian and journalist unconnected with the show." These officials were
also quoted as saying that they "were in contact with him [Goldberg]
requesting script revisions" as he "was finishing" the documentary.
This alarming revelation becomes even more ominous when coupled with the
fact that PBS officials decided to supplement the show with a 25-minute
debate on the Armenian Genocide with the participation of two genocide
deniers.

These PBS officials and producer Goldberg should disclose to the public
which segments of the documentary were added, deleted or altered as a
result of such outside intervention. Could it be that the two Turkish
denialists who were interviewed within the documentary were added at the
insistence of PBS? What else was changed due to the censorship of the work
of an independent producer? Furthermore, PBS should reveal the names of the
"historian and journalist unconnected with the show" who "vetted" the
documentary. Who are these two individuals and what changes did they
recommend?

Getler stated in his lengthy commentary (4 times as long as this column)
that PBS has received more than 6,000 e-mails protesting the panel
discussion. More than 18,000 individuals have also objected by signing an
online petition. As a result, Getler reported that PBS stations in 8 of the
10 largest American cities do not plan to air the panel. This proves that
the executives running the largest PBS stations nationwide disagree with
those at PBS headquarters who decided that there was a need for such a
panel! The programming directors of these major PBS stations said that the
panel discussion did not add anything to the documentary.

The Ombudsman made one serious factual error in his commentary. He wrongly
claimed that "a resolution [on the Armenian genocide] has not made its way
through the full House or the U.S. Senate." Both in 1975 and 1984 the full
House adopted resolutions to observe "a day of remembrance for all the
victims of genocide, especially the 1.5 million people of Armenian ancestry
who were the victims of the genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and
1923."

Jacoba Atlas, the Senior Vice President of PBS programming, and her
colleagues, by insisting on the airing of the panel discussion, have caused
significant damage to the reputation and operations of PBS, making it the
target of criticism by members of Congress, major newspapers such as the
New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, TV
stations, and tens of thousands of viewers who signed petitions and sent
letters and e-mails to PBS.

On March 9, the Los Angeles Times published a commentary by Aris Janigian
titled: "PBS' Perverse Genocide Debate." He accused Atlas and PBS of being
"complicit in a murderous lie" by providing airtime and a forum to
"deniers" and "falsifiers" of the Armenian Genocide. The L.A. Voice
published an editorial on March 9, ridiculing both Atlas and PBS for
treating the Armenian Genocide as a myth.

Current magazine published a lengthy article in its March 6 issue, titled:
"Panel show riles rather than soothes genocide furor." The magazine quoted
Atlas as making yet another nonsensical statement as to why the panel
discussion was necessary: "Our own presidents - both Bush and Clinton - did
not call it genocide. Because they have declined to call it genocide, it
raises questions. The Turkish government does not call it genocide." This
is the same official who recently announced that PBS considers the Armenian
Genocide "settled history!" If PBS acknowledges the facts of the Armenian
Genocide, why then question it and put on the air deniers who say that it
is a myth? Regarding statements made by U.S. presidents on the Armenian
Genocide, one wonders why Atlas is ignoring the fact that Pres. Ronald
Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation in 1981 in which he used the term
"Armenian Genocide"? Must every U.S. president utter the words Armenian
Genocide before Ms. Atlas is satisfied
that it is genocide? So what if the Turkish government does not call it
genocide? The President of Iran does not recognize the Holocaust. Is that
enough reason for Atlas to dispute the facts of the Holocaust and air a
debate on PBS with neo-Nazis?

Prof. Dennis Papazian, who initially was reluctant to support the campaign
against the panel discussion, sent the following e-mail to this writer
after watching the tape of the debate between Omer Turan and Justin
McCarthy (genocide deniers) and Peter Balakian and Taner Akcam: "I have
just previewed the post documentary discussion and it made me sick to my
stomach to see Justin McCarthy and the Turks come out with blatant lies and
deceptive assertions. I thought Taner and Peter 'won the debate,' but the
denialists undoubtedly would plant doubt in the minds of innocent American
viewers." He then told this writer: "You did right to lead the attack
against the showing of the 'discussion.' I personally would rather have
neither shown than to show the discussion."
In a new twist to his long-standing denialist views, Prof. McCarthy was
quoted by WNBC-TV in New York City as saying on March 1 that he would
classify the events of 1915 as "mutual genocide," with both sides killing
each other. McCarthy has gone from being completely wrong to being half
right! He is for the first time accusing the Turkish leaders of committing
genocide against the Armenians! One wonders what his Turkish handlers would
think of his new admission?

Two weeks ago, in an e-mail to this writer, Wayne Godwin, the then Acting
President and Chief Operating Officer of PBS, made a lame, but
understandable, attempt to come to the defense of Ms. Atlas, claiming that
the decision on the panel was reached by "the entire senior content team."
If that is true, then "the entire senior content team" at PBS has made a
grave error, thus making it even more problematic than a mistake by a
single executive.

Finally, around 20 members of Congress have signed a joint letter to PBS
asking that the panel discussion not be aired. As Congress provides a
significant portion of the PBS budget, PBS executives can ill afford to
ignore such letters from those who hold the purse strings.
Please continue to sign the online petition and circulate it to everyone in
your e-mail address book or organization. Here is the link to the petition:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/pbspanel. Also, send an e-mail to Ms. Atlas
at: [email protected] as well as to the new president of PBS: Paula Kerger at:
[email protected].

[Gavur]

Professor Peter Balakian Responds To The Pbs Ombudsman

March 22, 2006 Dear Mr. Getler, I would like to correct the misrepresentation of my involvement with the Armenian Genocide documentary in your Ombudsman column of 3/11, “ Coming Soon to Viewers Like You: “The Armenian Genocide.” You write “PBS threatened to pull the documentary if he [Balakian] and another genocide scholar declined to participate in the panel discussion.” That is false. What I have told several journalists in the past month is the following: I was told (in fact three times) by Oregon PBS producer David Davis that PBS would not run the documentary if a post-show panel with deniers were not made. Mr. Davis made it clear that this was the direct word from Jacoba Atlas at national headquarters. (I had sent her a letter in November appealing to her to drop the idea of a post-show on ethical and historical grounds.) I never said nor implied that the documentary would not air if I—personally—were not on the panel. That would be, of course, absurd. Naturally, PBS would find someone else to take my place. I decided to go forward with the “debate” after all my efforts to convince PBS to not make it failed because I have experience on TV and radio with this subject and felt I could help shape the conversation in an ethical way –and perhaps a way that would expose Turkish denial more fully for what it is. The fact remains that PBS would not run a fair and rich documentary about the Armenian Genocide-- one that included nearly a dozen Turkish voices--without running what many in the genocide studies consider to be an unethical privileging of denial. This is not a free speech issue—as much of the scholarly community has made clear. The deniers are free in this country to express themselves without fear of prosecution or harm—but this does not guarantee them right to an elite forums. The leading authority on Holocaust and genocide denial, Professor Deborah Lipstadt has written: “Denial of genocide—whether that of the Turks against the Armenians, or the Nazis against the Jews—is not an act of historical reinterpretation. Rather, the deniers sow confusion by appearing to be engaged in a genuine scholarly effort. The abundance of documents and testimonies that confirm the genocide are dismissed as contrived, coerced, or forgeries and falsehoods. The deniers aim at convincing innocent third parties that there is ‘another side of the story.’ Free speech does not guarantee the deniers the right to be treated as the ‘other side of a legitimate debate,’ when there is no credible ‘other side’; nor does it guarantee the deniers space in the classroom or curriculum, or in any other forum.” Like many others, I fear that PBS resorted to the post-show panel as a kind of fire insurance because of the negative experience of harassment it had with the Turkish government in 1988 after airing an Armenian Genocide documentary, as you note in your column. While this was no doubt an uncomfortable experience, many of us hoped that PBS would not feel that sense of intimidation this time. Many institutions and organization around the world in recent years have ceased paying attention to Turkish harassment. Lastly, I find Ms. Atlas’ explanation for the post-show program a bit disingenuous. She claims that its goal was not to provide a “platform for those who deny the genocide,” but to “explore how serious historians do their work and look at evidence.” However, by inviting two professional deniers (who have worked closed with the Turkish government) on to PBS, a large platform was provided for the repulsive lies, known as denial. And, in the twenty-five minutes we had there was not even a remote possibility that the show could explore how historians work. As fine a job as Scott Simon did hosting it, the post show is a staged “bake-off” and sadly a forum that abused the reality and memory of one of the major human rights crimes of our time. Having made these points, I still applaud PBS for putting on “The Armenian Genoicde,” which is a landmark documentary. Sincerely, Peter Balakian

http://turkishdenial.com/_wsn/page3.html

[TurQ]

I'm wondering how popular is this Horut Sumsukyan among the diasporan Armenians, and how popular is his revenge-calling extremist style.

I search for the internet for his name, his name showed up with some terror events in US, firebombing Turkish consulate etc an ex-Asala. I'll be suprised if that militant Haut and this Calfornia Courier's Sumsukyan are different individuals.

California Courier Online, March 23, 2006

Commentary
PBS Forced Producer to Revise
Content of Genocide Documentary
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier


[email protected].

[phantom]

I'm wondering how popular is this Horut Sumsukyan among the diasporan Armenians, and how popular is his revenge-calling extremist style.

I search for the internet for his name, his name showed up with some terror events in US, firebombing Turkish consulate etc an ex-Asala. I'll be suprised if that militant Haut and this Calfornia Courier's Sumsukyan are different individuals.

TurQ, if telling it like it is means being militant, then he's militant. But in my view, just because you don't sugar coat something doesn't mean that you are militant.

You should be surprised that so many Armenians are meek and relatively quiet in the face of 90 years of Turkish denial. You should be surprised that not more of us are like Harut.

[TurQ]

He is not only telling, look at his style, he has more intentions than telling, I think I have read quite of his (press release like)articles, he's more than telling his ideas.

Look at this (From Rand Corporation)

MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base

http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=3112

"...Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide attacked Diplomatic target (Jan. 28, 1982, United States)

".....
The group, which has claimed responsibility for other terrorist attacks against Turkish diplomats, is based in Beirut where Harry Sassounian was born. Harry Sassounian's brother, Harout Sassounian, is also in custody charged with the October 6, 1980, firebombing of Arikan's Bel-Air home. The federal indictment charges him with using Molotov xxxxtails to firebomb Arikan's home...."

TurQ, if telling it like it is means being militant, then he's militant. But in my view, just because you don't sugar coat something doesn't mean that you are militant.

You should be surprised that so many Armenians are meek and relatively quiet in the face of 90 years of Turkish denial. You should be surprised that not more of us are like Harut.

[TurQ]

Thats good to know Phantom

His style is really bothering sort, more like slogans etc. and he openly advocates for taking eastern Anatolia. I think he prefers the problems to continue between Turks and Armenians in order to attract more readers.

You should be surprised that not more of us are like Harut.

[phantom]

Thats good to know Phantom

His style is really bothering sort, more like slogans etc. and he openly advocates for taking eastern Anatolia. I think he prefers the problems to continue between Turks and Armenians in order to attract more readers.

I'm confused. Do you have a problem with his style now, or are you complaining about what he may have been doing 25 years ago?

I think he is just frustrated like many of us Armenians about Turkish government barbarity as it stands today. Example: requiring Turkish primary school children to do reports on why it was not Genocide, even in Armenian private schools. This is a government that should be apologizing, at the very least. Instead, it is unimaginable resources on denial and on blaming the victims.

[TurQ]

Well from his articles it is obvious that he is not condemning his past, so I think it is normal to complain about it.
Yes his revenge-calling style just sounds like a press release of a terrorist group.

I'm confused. Do you have a problem with his style now, or are you complaining about what he may have been doing 25 years ago?

I think he is just frustrated like many of us Armenians about Turkish government barbarity as it stands today. Example: requiring Turkish primary school children to do reports on why it was not Genocide, even in Armenian private schools. This is a government that should be apologizing, at the very least. Instead, it is unimaginable resources on denial and on blaming the victims.

[Gavur]

I think Turq got his sassounians mixed those 2 are not the same persons.

[Gavur]

VP Leaves PBS after Providing Airtime to Genocide Deniers

Publié le : 20-06-2006


By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier




The New York Times reported on June 14 that Jacoba Atlas, the Senior Vice President of Programming at PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), would be leaving her post at the end of this month. She told the newspaper that she “did not know what she would do next.”

Her departure should not come as a surprise to those who have been following the recent controversial developments at PBS. As Senior Vice President of Programming, Ms. Atlas was the PBS executive that arranged the airing of a debate on the Armenian Genocide with the participation of two genocide denialists after the broadcast of Andrew Goldberg’s documentary on the Armenian Genocide on April 17.

By doing so, Ms. Atlas not only raised questions about the veracity of the Armenian Genocide, but also caused serious harm to PBS itself by antagonizing a large number of its viewers and supporters as well as many members of Congress who provide a major portion of its budget.

Ms. Atlas completely mishandled this highly controversial situation. When more than 30,000 viewers sent e-mails and signed a petition asking her not to provide a national platform to genocide deniers, she ignored them. When a major Armenian-American organization -- the ANCA – wrote her asking for a meeting in order to discuss this serious matter, she turned down its request. When 30 members of Congress sent a joint letter expressing their strong objection to the airing of the panel discussion, she dismissed their concerns, knowing full well that the Congress could cut the millions of dollars it provides in federal funding to PBS every year. She also ignored the dozens of articles on this nationwide controversy that appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications.

All attempts to explain to Ms. Atlas that it was wrong to put genocide denialists on the air in order "to balance" a documentary on the Armenian Genocide, fell on deaf ears. Goldberg’s documentary did not need any balancing, as it already included comments by notorious denialists Yusuf Halacoglu and Gunduz Aktan. Furthermore, as the PBS Ombudsman revealed in a lengthy report, "top PBS officials," most probably including Ms. Atlas, were involved in editing and revising the contents of the documentary and “requesting script revisions.”

If Ms. Atlas was truly interested in further exploring the issue of the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government, all she had to do was to convene a panel of experts who could have intelligently explained why and how mass murderers engage in the denial and cover up of crimes against humanity!

Finally, in early March, out of exasperation, this writer called for the dismissal of Ms. Atlas from PBS after she insulted the victims of the Armenian Genocide by stating that the Armenian and Jewish genocides were "not analogous." She made that offensive comment in response to persistent questions on whether she would also organize a debate on the Holocaust that would include Neo-Nazis or Holocaust revisionists to be aired after the broadcast of a documentary on the Holocaust!

According to reliable PBS sources, Ms. Atlas was let go after top management at PBS concluded that she mishandled the panel discussion and the resulting controversy, alienating many longtime PBS viewers and supporters.

To make matters worse, the House Appropriations Committee voted last week to substantially cut federal funding for Public Broadcasting for 2007 and none at all for 2009. Even though the Committee took this action mostly due to partisan politics, nevertheless, it was not helpful to PBS that one of its top executives had antagonized more than 30 members of Congress at a time when PBS is in desperate need of every single congressional vote and every dollar of revenue.

Following the departure of Ms. Atlas, Armenian-American community leaders should meet with Paula A. Kerger, the newly installed president of PBS, and patch up their differences. PBS provides a valuable service to the community at large and deserves to be fully supported. The poor judgments of a former executive should not leave a lasting rift between the Armenian-American community and public broadcasting. After all, most PBS viewers ended up not seeing the panel discussion that Ms. Atlas had gone out of her way to put together. The programming directors of most PBS stations nationwide, and particularly those in the largest cities, felt that the panel was unnecessary and did not add anything to the documentary!

After relations with PBS are patched up, the Armenian-American community should ask the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues -- more than 150 House members -- as well as the U.S. Senate, to reinstate the budget for public broadcasting when the proposed bill involving this issue reaches the House and Senate floors.