Created by David Fanning Production company(s) WGBH-TV | Country of origin United States Original network PBS | |
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Narrated by Will Lyman (1983–present) No. of episodes 600+ (list of episodes) | ||
Frontline (styled by the program as FRONTLINE) is a public affairs television program which produces and broadcasts in-depth documentaries about various subjects. Produced at WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, and distributed through the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States, the program has been critically acclaimed and received numerous awards. Some programs are made by independent filmmakers and broadcast as part of the Frontline series.
Contents
Since the debut of the series, there have been more than 500 films released. Traditionally viewed via the medium of television, today some of the program's episodes are available on the web.
Background
The program debuted in 1983, with NBC anchorwoman Jessica Savitch as the show's first host, but Savitch died later after the first season finale. PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff took over as host in 1984, and hosted the program for five years, combining their job with a sub anchor place on The MacNeil - Lehrer NewsHour when Jim was away. In 1990, episodes of Frontline began airing without a host, and the narrator was left to introduce each episode.
Since 1988, Frontline has also aired "The Choice" — a special edition aired during the lead-up to the presidential election every four years, focusing on the Democratic and Republican candidates contending for the office of President of the United States. "The Choice 2016" is the most recent installment, aired on September 27th, 2016, featuring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The previous version aired on October 9th, 2012, and featured a dual biography tracing the lives and careers of incumbent President Barack Obama and his challenger, Mitt Romney.
A prior installment aired on October 14th, 2008, using the same dual-biography format for Barack Obama and John McCain. The 2008 documentary, produced by Michael Kirk, generated favorable reviews from The New York Times, which stated that the program helped viewers "gain perspective" about the "idea-oriented campaign," and The Los Angeles Times, which labeled it "refreshingly clear" and "informative".
Most Frontline reports are an hour in length, but some are extended to 90 minutes, 2 hours, or beyond. Frontline also produces and transmits such occasional specials as From Jesus to Christ, The Farmer's Wife, and Country Boys.
Since 1995, Frontline has been producing deep-content, companion web sites for all of its documentaries. The series publishes extended interview transcripts, in-depth chronologies, original essays, sidebar stories, related links and readings, and source documents including photographs and background research. Frontline has made many of its documentaries available via streaming Internet video, from their website.
Will Lyman is the distinctive voice who has narrated most of the installments of the series since its inception in 1983. However, certain reports have been narrated by David Ogden Stiers and Peter Berkrot. Also sometimes the reporter puts their voice on some reports like Michael Kirk.
The show is produced by the WGBH Educational Foundation, the parent company of WGBH-TV in Boston, which is solely responsible for its content. WGBH is the creator of The Documentary Consortium, with another 4 PBS stations, including WNET in New York and KCTS in Seattle.
In 2015, the creator and founding executive producer of Frontline, David Fanning, retired after more than 32 years as executive producer of the series, and Raney Aronson-Rath succeeded him in senior grade. Fanning, however, remains editor-at-large of Frontline as a founding member.
Frontline/World
Frontline/World is a spin-off series from Frontline, first transmitted on May 23rd, 2002, which was transmitted four to eight times a year on Frontline till it was canceled in 2010. It focused on issues from around the globe, and used a "magazine" format, where each hour-long episode typically had three stories that ran about 15 to 20 minutes in length. Its tagline was: Stories from a small planet.
Initially a co-production of WGBH, Boston and KQED, San Francisco, Frontline/World was later based in part at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, where the program's producers recruited a new generation of reporters and producers to the Frontline series.
Frontline/World also streamed stories on its website, which won two Webby awards in 2008 for its original series of online videos called "Rough Cuts." In 2005, the Overseas Press Club of America gave the series its Edward R. Murrow Award for the best TV coverage of international events. The series broke new ground in 2007 by winning two Emmys; one of these was for a broadcast story, "Saddam's Road to Hell," and the other was for an online video, "Libya: Out of the Shadow."
Awards and results
Other Frontline reports focus on political, social, and criminal justice issues. Ofra Bikel, who has been a producer for Frontline since the first season, has produced a significant number of films on the criminal justice system in the United States. The films have focused on issues ranging from post-conviction DNA testing, the use of drug snitches and mandatory minimum sentencing laws, the plea system, and the use of eye-witness testimony. As a result of the films, 13 people have been released from prison.
After the September 11 attacks, the White House requested a copy of "Hunting Bin Laden." In 1999, Frontline had produced this in-depth report about Osama bin Laden and the terrorist network that would come to be known as Al-Qaeda in the wake of the 1998 United States embassy bombings. Following the September 11 attacks, Frontline produced a series of films about Al-Qaeda and the War on Terrorism. In 2002, the series was awarded the DuPont-Columbia gold baton for the seven films.
In 2003, Frontline and The New York Times joined forces on "A Dangerous Business," an investigation led by reporter Lowell Bergman into the cast iron pipe making industry and worker safety. OSHA officials credit the documentary and newspaper report with stimulating federal policy change on workplace safety. In 2004, the joint investigation was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Producer Michael Kirk's Frontline documentaries have won multiple awards. These films include "League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis" (Peabody Award, 2013), "Cheney's Law" (Peabody Award, 2007), "The Lost Year in Iraq" (Emmy Award, 2006), "The Torture Question" (Emmy Award, 2005), "The Kevorkian File" (Emmy Award), and "Waco--The Inside Story" (Peabody Award).
Director Martin Smith has produced dozens of films for Frontline, and won both Emmy and Writers Guild of America Awards. His 2000 film Drug Wars was the winner of the Outstanding Background/Analysis of a Single Current Story Emmy and The George Foster Peabody Award.
Other notable producers of multiple Frontline documentaries have included Sherry Jones, Marian Marzynski, Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor, June Cross, Neil Docherty, Stephen Talbot, Raney Aronson, Rachel Dretzin and Rick Young.
As of July 2016, Frontline has won a total of 75 Emmy Awards and 18 Peabody Awards.