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 the anti-father documentary Breaking the Silence. As you'll notice, the common theme of this memo is to stonewall protesters.

As you may know, a men's and fathers' issues columnist named Glenn Sacks has asked his readers to contact PBS and member stations regarding BREAKING THE SILENCE, which is scheduled to air tomorrow, October 20.  Mr. Sacks believes that this documentary on domestic violence is unfair to fathers. His call to action can be found at http://www.glennsacks.com/pbs/.

In order to prepare you for any phone calls, letters or email you might receive, we have provided in this document an array of materials.  We will also put it in Connect, in Systemwide Information and in Communicate/Promote – under Announcements and Viewer Services.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything further.

Below this message you will find:

1. contact information for PBS Media Relations, in case a reporter calls;
2. the program blurb;
3. basic phone responses and the producer email;
4. a viewer response letter;
5. the full statement from the filmmakers;  and
6. the program press release.

Breaking the Silence

Media Calls

Please refer media calls to PBS Media Relations:
Lea Sloan – 703-739-5021, lsloan@pbs.org

Blurb for Program

Airdate: 10/20/05
Time: 10:00 – 11:00 pm

This powerful documentary chronicles the impact of domestic violence on children. From adult children of abuse to families re-victimized by the court systems to children experiencing the trauma today, the special offers moving and unforgettable profiles of those struggling to put their lives back together. The program also documents the disturbing frequency with which abusers are winning custody of their children in family court cases, and explores why this miscarriage of justice continues to occur. The documentary features interviews with New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, who dealt with domestic violence as a child and in 2003 started the Safe-at-Home Foundation to help educate people about the issue; and Walter Anderson, chairman and CEO of Parade magazine, who recounts the emotional and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic father.

Phone Call Message Points

We recommend not trying to convince the callers of the program’s validity, but simply to listen to their complaints and assure them that they’re comments are being taken seriously and will be shared.  Some basic responses are below.

If they ask for contact information for the producers, they can email director Catherine Tatge at tatgeprod@tatgeprod.com.

• PBS stands by the broadcast of this program, which is an independent film that provides insight on various aspects of this very complicated and emotional topic.
• The purpose of the film was to chronicle the impact of domestic violence and children and the recurring failings of family courts across the country to protect the children they are meant to serve.
• We appreciate your taking the time to call us about your concerns.  I will forward your comments to our President and CEO [or GM], programming executives as well as the filmmakers themselves.

Viewer Response Letter:

Thank you for taking the time to write to PBS about your concerns regarding BREAKING THE SILENCE: CHILDREN’S STORIES.  Comments from our viewers - both positive and negative – are the best guides we have to make future programming decisions.

We have forwarded your observations to the filmmakers - producer Dominique Lasseur and director Catherine Tatge - who have asked us to share their thoughts about the documentary with you.

“When we began this project over a year ago, our goal was to produce a documentary about domestic violence and children. We had no preconceived notions about the issue … no specific agenda to prove or disprove. The finished documentary is simply a result of where countless hours of extensive research and interviews took us. These are the real stories of real women who lost custody of their children when Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) was used as scientific proof in their family court cases. These were the stories we found over and over again.

There have been a number of concerns raised regarding Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) and how it is addressed in the piece. We do not make the assertion that the phenomenon of alienation does not exist, simply that PAS is wrongly used as scientific proof to justify taking children away from a protective parent. We as filmmakers are in no position to determine the scientific validity of PAS. However, the fact remains that the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have not recognized PAS as legitimate science.  

Some individuals have expressed concern that the documentary only features the stories of women as the victims of domestic violence. Research shows that “while women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner.” (U.S. Department of Justice, Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, March 1998). If we had featured the stories of one man and five women who had been victims of domestic abuse, statistically we would have grossly overstated the problems of men in this area. Nevertheless, we recognize that men are also victims and men are also sometimes victimized by family courts, but it is overwhelmingly women who are victims. In all cases, the children are the victims. 

These are difficult and controversial issues that stir human emotions. Nothing can galvanize one’s passion like the welfare of a child. We understand certain individuals will never be completely satisfied with the information presented in the documentary. All we can do is offer, in the most open and transparent manner, the reasoning and research that went into this program.”

We appreciate your interest in PBS programming and hope that you will continue to enjoy and support your local PBS member station.

Sincerely,
PBS Viewer Services

Full Statement from the Filmmakers

It has come to our attention that some stations are receiving comments from individuals and organized groups involved in domestic violence and child custody regarding the issues raised in Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories. We wanted to explain to you our approach to this work.

When we began this project over a year ago, our goal was to produce a documentary about domestic violence and children. We had no preconceived notions about the issue…no specific agenda to prove or disprove. The finished documentary is simply a result of where countless hours of extensive research and interviews took us. These are the real stories of real women who lost custody of their children when Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) was used as scientific proof in their family court cases. These were the stories we found over and over again.

There have been a number of concerns raised regarding Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) and how it is addressed in the piece. We do not make the assertion that the phenomenon of alienation does not exist, simply that PAS is wrongly used as scientific proof to justify taking children away from a protective parent. We as filmmakers are in no position to determine the scientific validity of PAS. However, the fact remains that the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have not recognized PAS as legitimate science.  

Some individuals have expressed concern that the documentary only features the stories of women as the victims of domestic violence. Research shows that “while women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner.” (U.S. Department of Justice, Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, March 1998). If we had featured the stories of one man and five women who had been victims of domestic abuse, statistically we would have grossly overstated the problems of men in this area. Nevertheless, we recognize that men are also victims and men are also sometimes victimized by family courts, but it is overwhelmingly women who are victims. In all cases, the children are the victims. 

We have received some questions regarding the statistics quoted in Breaking the Silence: Children Stories. For instance, attorney Joan Meier makes a statement that in custody cases where the mother alleges battery by the father, the father is awarded custody two-thirds of the time. This came from “Domestic Violence, Child Custody, And Child Protection: Understanding Judicial Resistance and Imagining the Solutions” by Joan Meier, Journal of Gender, Social Policy & The Law [Vol. 11: 2]. Information contained in the program also came from a 2004 study by the Harvard School of Public Health that examined litigation in Massachusetts family courts involving a sample of battered women. They found that the courts consistently dismissed or minimized the relevance of the male partners’ abuse in awarding custody of children to such men. ([ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press05272004.html] www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press05272004.html). Furthermore, Tatge/Lasseur Productions has decided to post some of the studies and documentation we used in the program on our web site at [ http://www.tatgelasseur.com ]www.tatgelasseur.com beginning on October 12.

These are difficult and controversial issues that stir human emotions. Nothing can galvanize one’s passion like the welfare of a child. We understand certain individuals will never be completely satisfied with the information presented in the documentary. All we can do is offer, in the most open and transparent manner, the reasoning and research that went into this program.

Sincerely,
Dominique Lasseur, Producer
Catherine Tatge, Director

Program Press Release

It is no secret that domestic violence has devastating, long-term effects on children. For the past two decades, the evidence has been mounting in psychological studies and academic journals. What is less known is that many domestic batterers are successfully using custody and visitation litigation to abuse their families further.

One of the most effective ways an abusive father can inflict pain and declare his dominance is to take custody of his children away from their mother. As Joan Meier, an attorney and professor of clinical law, explains, “To win custody of the kids over and against the mother’s will is the ultimate victory … short of killing the kids.” While there may be a perception that the family court system favors mothers, statistics show that, in the past 20 years, fathers are more often awarded custody. Furthermore, in family court cases where mothers allege battery, fathers are given custody two-thirds of the time.

The documentary presents several shocking stories of abuse further complicated by the courts. Karen’s suspicions of her husband’s sexually abusive behavior toward their three children were confirmed through a medical exam. However, when the custody case came to trial, a court-appointed psychologist, or evaluator, testified that Karen was using Parental Alienation Syndrome to turn her children against their father. The psychologist never read the medical and police reports of the case and never interviewed the children. Custody of all three children was awarded to their dad. 

BREAKING THE SILENCE: CHILDREN’S STORIES also features interviews with New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre, who dealt with domestic violence as a child and in 2003 started the Safe-at-Home Foundation to help educate people about the issue; and Walter Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Parade magazine, who recounts the emotional and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic father.

Director Catherine Tatge and producer Dominique Lasseur produced several programs for PBS, including THE QUESTION OF GOD: C.S. LEWIS & SIGMUND FREUD; DANCES OF LIFE; “Holo Mai Pele” for GREAT PERFORMANCES “Dance in America”; CECE WINANS: A GOSPEL CELEBRATION; and BREAKING THE SILENCE: JOURNEYS OF HOPE. With Bill Moyers, Tatge and Lasseur co-produced GENESIS: A LIVING CONVERSATION; and JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE POWER OF MYTH, for which Tatge earned an Emmy Award.

CONTACT: Lee Newton, Connecticut Public Television, Tel.: 860/275-7285; Fax: 860/275-7438; lnewton@cptv.org