Some of you have contacted me concerning donations to our PBS campaign. It is certainly true that this campaign has been costly both in terms of money and time. If you'd like to donate to support our efforts, click here. Thanks to those of you who have already donated.

To learn more about our campaign, click here. To learn more about the way Breaking the Silence portrays a known child abuser as a heroic mom, click here.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Report: 'No Hint of Balance in PBS's Breaking the Silence'

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting released a report yesterday which endorsed the central charges made by fatherhood advocates protesting PBS's film Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories. CPB Ombudsman Ken A. Bode declared that there is "no hint of balance in Breaking the Silence." Bode noted:

"The father's point of view is ignored as are new strategies for lessening the damage to children in custody battles. There is no mention of the collaborative law movement in which parents and lawyers come to terms without involving the court, nor of the new joint custody living arrangements.

"The producers apparently do not subscribe to the idea that an argument can be made more convincing by giving the other side a fair presentation. To be sure, one comes away from viewing the program with the feeling that custody fights are a special hell, legally, emotionally, psychologically. But this broadcast is so slanted as to raise suspicions that either the family courts of America have gone crazy or there must be another side to the story."

CPB's report praised PBS's decision to put the program under official review, noting that the film "needs to be reviewed for accuracy, fairness and balance."

The report also criticized the Mary Kay Ash Foundation, which gave $500,000 towards the production of the film and is reportedly "providing a stipend so that every battered women's organization in the country can put on private screenings of this film for their local judges and legislators." Bode noted:

"If so, PBS may find it has been the launching pad for a very partisan effort to drive public policy and law."

Bode's decision was praised by two of the protest campaign's leaders, newspaper columnist Glenn Sacks and Ned Holstein, president of Fathers and Families. Sacks noted:

"Breaking the Silence is so flawed and extreme that any fair reviewer will see the merits of our claims. Bode looked at the information objectively, instead of ideologically, and got it right."

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the largest single source of funding for public television and radio programming. Most CPB-funded television programs are distributed through the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

CPB's full report can be read here. For more information on the campaign against Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories, click here. To contact Ken A. Bode, click here.

Fox News Covers Campaign Again

Fox News columnist Wendy McElroy wrote another column on our PBS campaign and the Loeliger revelations--see PBS Film Controversy Continues (Fox News, 11/22/05).  McElroy noted:

Public Broadcasting Publication Covers PBS Campaign

[Late note: After being contacted by some of my readers, Everhart, to her credit, sent me a note apologizing for the error and removed "right-wing" from the description of our Breaking the Silence campaign. Everhart said "I agree that fathers' rights issues transcend the polarized politics of left and right."]

Courageous Kids Network Rallies Around Child Abuser, Kills Its Own Credibility

The Courageous Kids Network is the source of much of the material in Breaking the Silence. The network purports to be composed of children who were placed in the custody of abusive fathers by the family law system.  However, the site contains far more anti-father politics than it does the purported experiences of children. Much of the material on the site is questionable, and certainly was not written by children.

Fatima Loeliger, the alienated daughter of Scott Loeliger, is part of the network, and a statement written for Fatima was placed on the site in her name in April of last year. The Courageous Kids Network has greatly harmed its credibility by its unfortunate decision to rally around Sadia Loeliger, an abusive mother.

Sadia has placed a large quantity of documents on the site here,  but the documents don't do anything to show that she isn't an abuser. As Boston Globe columnist Cathy Young noted, "some pretty damning information emerges from the documentation posted." To learn more, click here.

Just as I was surprised that feminist blogger Trish Wilson chose to alibi Sadia Loeliger, I am also surprised that the angry women who run the Courageous Kids Network have chosen to do so. If they support an abusive mother like Sadia Loeliger, what does this say about the credibility of the other alleged abuses they describe?

One more note--while both the Courageous Kids Network and Trish Wilson have been explicit in their criticism of my information on the Loeliger case, neither of them has linked to my materials even once. On the other hand, my enewsletters and web pages have dozens of links to their materials--what does that say about their credibility?

More Problems with Sadia's Counterattack

We have previously discussed the successful alienation campaign waged by Sadia Loeliger against Scott Loeliger--see The Alienation of Fatima Loeliger. We have also critiqued Sadia's defense of herself--see Sadia Loeliger Strikes Back--and Strikes Out.

We have now added some new items to our critique which deal specifically with some of the allegations Sadia makes in the second statement she wrote for Fatima and placed in her name. Our critique can be found here. To read Sadia's statement for Fatima, click here.

Airliners Ban Men from Sitting Next to Children on Flights

From the New Zealand Herald (11/29/05):

"Air New Zealand and Qantas have banned men from sitting next to unaccompanied children on flights, sparking accusations of discrimination.

"The airlines have come under fire for the policy that critics say is political correctness gone mad after a man revealed he was ordered to change seats during a Qantas flight because he was sitting next to a young boy traveling alone.

"Auckland man Mark Worsley says an air steward approached him after take-off on the Christchurch to Auckland flight and told him to change seats with a women sitting two rows in front. The steward said it was the airline's policy that only women were allowed to sit next to unaccompanied children.

"'At the time I was so gobsmacked that I moved. I was so embarrassed and just stewed on it for the entire flight.'

"The 37-year-old shipping manager, who has 2-year-old twins, followed the incident up with the airline and was told Qantas wanted to err on the side of caution."

Read the full story here. There was a similar incident on a British Airways Flight in 2001, and the man targeted demanded and won an apology from the airline. The issue is discussed on pages 172 and 173 of Jack Kammer's If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules. Kammer correctly noted that the protesting business executive "won a victory for us all."

Swiss Santas are Banned from Sitting Children on their Laps

According to the Telegraph, apparently Santa Clauses in Switzerland are having similar problems,