No ‘Hand of God’ for you!
If you live in the Rio Grande Valley, that is. The local PBS affiliate there decided not to show the Hand of God episode of Frontline on Tuesday night, although it was broadcast on most other PBS stations around the country.* Instead, KMBH-TV ran last week’s episode of Frontline, which focused on the Taliban. Why would they pull the plug on Hand of God, a documentary about clergy sexual abuse that had received national attention and critical praise?
Could it have anything to do with the fact that KMBH-TV is owned by the Diocese of Brownsville? The Brownsville Herald reports:
Gerald Brazier, a member of the church reform group Call to Action RGV,
said people who called KMBH about the missing episode on Tuesday were
told that the station’s general manager, Monsignor Pedro Briseño,
wanted to watch “Hand of God” before it aired locally to see if it was
appropriate for local viewers.
snip
Viewers who called KMBH on Thursday were told “Hand of God” did not air
because PBS did not provide it to the station on time for the regular
“Frontline” time slot Tuesday night.
Yet the senior director of prime-time publicity for PBS said that Hand of God was delivered to local stations on January 11 for review, and again at the show’s regular time slot on Tuesday night–on time.
It’s also interesting, as the Herald story notes, that the KMBH Web site shows a ninety-minute block of time scheduled on January 16. Most Frontline episodes are sixty minutes long, but Hand of God runs for ninety minutes.
So, what’s going on here? Did Msgr. Briseno, president and CEO of the company that owns KMBH, decide that the subject of the film was inappropriate for local viewers? Does he think the Catholics in the viewing area are too fragile to safely absorb the unsettling film? Does he believe they’re blissfully unaware of the egregious misconduct of many church leaders in their handling of clergy abuse cases? That they’re illiterate? Easily misled? Easily confused?
And, why, I wonder, does a Catholic diocese own public television and radio affiliates? (HT Abuse Tracker.)
* I corrected this sentence to reflect the findings of the PBS ombudsman’s investigation.
I hate to use the over used word “censorship” but in this case that is the kindest description of Milord Briseno’s action.
Please note the press release from Msgr. Pedro Briseno, currently posted at this link:
http://www.kmbh.org/release1.htm
———
Note the four readers’ comments after the following article in the Brownsville Herald. I do not know the connection between the Herald and the Valley Morning Star.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=74803_0_10_0_C
Joe, The Herald and Valley Morning Star are sister newspapers. This media frenzy was sparked with a letter I wrote to the Valley Morning Star and the reporter, Bruce Lee Smith, did a story on it.
Go to the blog http://www.kanickers.blogspot.com
for information on the ongoing struggle between progressive Catholics in the diocese of Brownsville and the bishop
I might add that we have had a lot of trouble with Briseno before. He is lying (gasp!) in his press release. Hand of God was advertised on the KMBH website; I looked it up that night when I saw that the show was not being aired at the time scheduled. An anonymous employee at the station when called that night essentially said that Briseno ordered the documentary not to be aired until he could review it.
Once again, the good old Catholic maxim is at work in the Rio Grande valley:
If you can’t persuade, command.
If commanding doesn’t work, seize control.
If that doesn’t work, circle the wagons.
Or, when in wonder, when in doubt; run in circles, scream and shout.
Have folks within KMBH’s viewing area filed complaints with the FCC?
When is this station’s broadcast license up for renewal?
If I, as a Catholic, lived in the local area, I would be angry. If I were a non-Catholic, I’d be mad as hell!!! Those are MY airwaves, by god!