PBS Bombarded by Protests over Father-Bashing Show

NOW Counters by Urging Members to Fight Fatherhood Activists

by Pat Cangelosi

Feminists are enthused and fatherhood activists are fuming over a controversial documentary on family law airing tonight on Public Broadcasting Service stations across the country. The film, Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories, asserts that many fit mothers are losing custody of their children to husbands who battered them or molested their children. According to the filmmakers, most fathers who contest custody after divorce are abusers.

Calling Breaking the Silence distorted and one-sided, fatherhood and shared parenting advocates have bombarded PBS with over 2,000 calls and letters protesting the film. The protesters say that fathers rarely win custody of their children, and are frequently victims of false accusations of abuse or molestation. They demand that PBS allow them a chance to present their side of the issue.

Ned Holstein, President of Fathers and Families of Massachusetts, one of the leaders of the campaign, says:

“A few groups are concerned about the accelerating trend towards joint custody of children, and are striking back by accusing most fathers who seek custody of being batterers and child abusers. It’s a shame PBS has dispensed with objective reporting and chosen to air an extremist point of view without looking at the political motives of the advocates it features.”

Activists had been writing PBS in the weeks leading up to the show but the campaign kicked into high gear on October 19 when Los Angeles-based newspaper columnist Glenn Sacks urged his readers to call and write PBS. Within the next day and a half nearly 2,000 people contacted PBS through his website. Sacks has led several successful, high-profile protest campaigns in the past.

The campaign, which has also received support from the American Coalition for Fathers & Children, Help Stop PAS Inc., and others, has drawn criticism from feminist groups.

The National Organization for Women sent out an Action Alert urging its members to fight “bogus ‘fathers’ rights’ activists” and support the film. Irene Weiser of Stop Family Violence urged supporters to counter the protests by calling PBS and urging them to run the program. Toni Troop of Jane Doe Inc./The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence warned against the protesters, saying that film angers the “mad dads whose tactics and efforts to further the abuse through the court systems are exposed.”

PBS has responded to many of the protesters with a letter from the filmmakers, producer Dominique Lasseur and director Catherine Tatge, who wrote:

“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.”

Michael McCormick, Executive Director of the ACFC, believes that the filmmakers made little effort to obtain the objectivity they claim they sought. He says:

“The film’s producer’s called ACFC in April indicating they wanted an interview in an effort to provide balance to the piece. Subsequently they backed out of the scheduled interview indicating they had enough footage and would ‘get back to us’ if they needed anything further. I can only assume that ‘balance’ was sacrificed to the political agenda of the sponsors on this one.”

The fatherhood activists’ campaign website can be found here. NOW’s Action Alert can be found here. The film producers’ press release is here.

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