Over 2,000 Protesters Call, Write PBS over Anti-Father Film Breaking the Silence

Within the first 48 hours of our new campaign, over 2,000 people called or wrote PBS to protest their anti-father film Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories. The film, which aired on some PBS affiliates on October 20 and will air on many others in the coming weeks, is a direct assault on fatherhood. The film portrays fathers as batterers and child molesters who steal children from their mothers.

I launched the campaign in order to provide popular support for efforts by Fathers and Families, Help Stop PAS Inc., the American Coalition for Fathers & Children, and the Coalition of Fathers and Families NY, Inc. (FaFNY) to get PBS to allow both sides of this issue to be heard.

What I Want You to Do

As you will see in this enewsletter and on the campaign page, we have gained PBS's attention as well as that of the National Organization for Women and other feminist groups. Progress is being made towards resolving the problem. However, the final outcome of this is still very much in doubt, and feminist groups are rallying their supporters to contact PBS to counter us.

I urge you to join us and take action--to do so, click here.

Our objective is simple and reasonable--we want PBS to provide fatherhood and shared parenting advocates a meaningful opportunity to present our side. What PBS's Houston affiliate is doing is an example of what we want.

Again, I urge you to join us by clicking here.

Houston PBS Affiliate Agrees to Air Opposing Views on Breaking the Silence

To its credit, Houston PBS has agreed to air opposing views of Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories and Parental Alienation Syndrome on its round-table discussion show The Connection on Friday, October 28 at 8 PM CST and on Sunday, October 30 at 5 PM CST.

Dr. Reena Sommer, an expert on Parental Alienation Syndrome, will be appearing, along with guests of various views. To write to Ken Lawrence, the Director of Programming for PBS of Houston, to commend him for his evenhandedness, click here.

Sommer is an articulate voice on PAS. She and Judy Jones of Help Stop PAS Inc appeared on His Side with Glenn Sacks last year to discuss the tragic Lohstroh PAS case--see The Lohstroh Case: Alienating Mother Pushes 10 Year-Old Boy to Kill Father (10/31/04).

PBS Internal Memo Tells Affiliates to Stonewall Protesters

A source at PBS sent us this confidential internal memo on Friday. The memo is an instruction sheet that PBS's national office has dispensed to their affiliates to instruct them as to how to deal with the thousands of people who have called or written them to protest Breaking the Silence. As you'll notice, the common theme of this memo is to stonewall protesters.

Breaking the Silence: Credibility Problems

American Psychological Association Says Breaking the Silence Misrepresents Its Position on PAS

A spokeswoman for the American Psychological Association says that PBS's new documentary Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories distorts the APA's position on Parental Alienation Syndrome.  The film criticizes PAS, which arises when one parent tries to turn his or her children against the other parent during a divorce or separation.

In the documentary Joan Meier, a professor of clinical law at George Washington University and one of the film's chief spokespersons, states that PAS  "has been thoroughly debunked by the American Psychological Association." Connecticut Public Television, one of the film's producers, put out a press release promoting the film which stated that PAS had been "discredited by the American Psychological Association."

However, according to Rhea K. Farberman, Executive Director of Public and Member Communications of the American Psychological Association, these claims are "incorrect" and "inaccurate."  Farberman says that the APA "does not have an official position on parental alienation syndrome--pro or con." She adds:

"The Connecticut Public Television press release is incorrect.   I have notified both Connecticut Public Television and their PR firm of the inaccuracy in their press release." 

To learn more, click here.

Leader of Domestic Violence Shelter Which Helped Fund Breaking the Silence Criticizes Film

Calling Breaking the Silence imbalanced and focused on extreme cases, Pam Kallsen, executive director of the Marjaree Mason Center, a domestic violence shelter in Fresno, California, contacted her local PBS affiliate and told them she was distressed that her shelter's name and logo were associated with the program.

Kallsen had been a staunch supporter of the film project, even helping to secure funding for it, but says she changed her mind after seeing the film.

To learn more, click here.

The National Organization for Women Attacks Our PBS Campaign, Urges Followers to Contact PBS

The National Organization for Women's national office and several other feminist groups have sounded the alarm over our campaign. According to the MND Newswire story PBS Bombarded by Protests over Father-Bashing Show:

"The National Organization for Women sent out an Action Alert urging its members to fight 'bogus 'fathers' rights' activists' and support the film. Irene Weiser of Stop Family Violence urged supporters to counter the protests by calling PBS and urging them to run the program. Toni Troop of Jane Doe Inc./The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence warned against the protesters, saying that film angers the 'mad dads whose tactics and efforts to further the abuse through the court systems are exposed.'"

MND Newswire Story Gives Overview of Campaign

For an overview of campaign events, see MND Newswire's piece PBS Bombarded by Protests over Father-Bashing Show (MND Newswire, 10/20/05).

Two New Leving/Sacks Columns Criticize Breaking the Silence 

Family law attorney Jeff Leving and I have co-authored two opinion columns on Breaking the Silence.

PBS' Breaking the Silence: Family Law in the Funhouse Mirror

Jeff Leving and I debated Breaking the Silence supporter Betty Wade Coyle in today's Norfolk Virginian Pilot. Breaking the Silence airs tonight in Norfolk. The debate was called "Two Views on Parental Child Abuse Rulings" and featured Coyle's column, "Our Courts Just Don't Get It" and ours, "Family Laws in the Fun House Mirror." Neither is available at the Virginian Pilot's website, though ours can be seen on my website here.

To write a Letter to the Editor to the Virginian Pilot, a 225,000 circulation newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, click here.

Our column PBS' Breaking the Silence: Family Law in the Funhouse Mirror (10/20/05) also appeared in the Albany Times Union.

Albany is a battleground for this issue. The previous Sunday the Times Union had printed Bob Port's long, sympathetic word piece Custody fight: Documentary sheds light on system that lets children suffer at the hands of abusive fathers (10/16/05). Much of Breaking the Silence was filmed in Albany, including many clips from the Battered Mother's Custody Conference in January.

One of the themes of Breaking the Silence is mothers losing custody of their children for making accusations of child sexual abuse. The two most famous cases of mothers losing custody for false allegations--those involving Bridget Marks and Dr. Amy Neustein--were both in New York.

In addition, the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women and the Coalition of Fathers and Families NY, Inc. (FaFNY) often do battle at the state capitol there.

Some of you may recall that I debated Marcia Pappas, the president of New York NOW, on Fox News' Day Side with Linda Vester earlier this year. We discussed comments by a New York judge that family courts are biased in favor of women. We invited Marcia to continue our debate on His Side with Glenn Sacks but she declined our invitation.

To write the Times Union, a 100,000 circulation paper, about our column ("Film gives distorted view of family law"), click here.