Making the News Fit
Directed by Beth Sanders. Written by Randy Baker.

Examines American media coverage of the war in El Salvador in the early 1980's and provides a concise case study of how journalists cover a war in which the U.S. is deeply involved. Interviews with media critics, journalists and the foreign editors of NBC News, CBS and The New York Times are interspersed with archival footage from El Salvador and TV newsclips. The program exposes the role of the U.S. Government in defining the news and the political pressures journalists encounter from their own news organizations when their reports contradict U.S. Government accounts. Includes the example of New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner, whose front page story of the 1982 elections was rewritten by editors in New York because, "it didn't fit" and then was pulled out of El Salvador after his reporting was attacked by the U.S. State Department.

Silver Apple, National Educational Film Festival, Regional Emmy Award, Chicago NATAS

"OUTSTANDING"
-- Village Voice

"...well-researched...thought-provoking posture for journalism students and public library and community group viewers."
-- Booklist (American Library Association)

"Well produced, not only technically but in the manner in which it presents the issue of media bias, this videotape has a message that is subtle yet striking...Recommended."
-- Choice (American Library Association)

MAKING THE NEWS FIT.
1986, 28 minutes. Purchase: $25 for home use, $45 for high schools and public libraries.

Order this video on our order page.