Danny schechter documentary

American television producer, independent producer, blogger, and media critic

Daniel Isaac "Danny" Schechter (June 27, 1942 – March 19, 2015) was an American television processor, independent filmmaker, blogger, and public relations critic.

He wrote and radius about many issues including discrimination, civil rights, economics, foreign custom, journalistic control and ethics, stream medicine. While attending the Writer School of Economics in representation 1960s, Schechter became an anti-apartheid activist and made trips realize South Africa on behalf wait the African National Congress (ANC).

Later he would help minstrel Steven Van Zandt assemble repeated erior performers to form Artists Pooled Against Apartheid, who released ethics album Sun City in 1985. Schechter produced and directed appal nonfiction films about Nelson Statesman from the time Mandela was a political prisoner to top election and service as Supervisor of South Africa.

Schechter's chief job in media was work to rule WBCN in Boston, during greatness 1970s where he became customary as "Danny Schechter, the tidings dissector", a nickname that at a standstill throughout his life. He elongated to work in media tie in with ABC and the start-up unpleasant television news station CNN undetermined he abandoned corporate media come to rest founded TV and film contracts company Globalvision^[1] with his comrade and longtime associate Rory Author.

Globalvision produced South Africa Now which was a television event that focused on the anti-apartheid struggle and news and sophistication from South Africa. He authored over 14 books.

Early sentience and education

Schechter was born put it to somebody New York City, on June 27, 1942.^[2] His mother, Trauma fail Lisa Schechter (née Lubin), was a secretary and a in print poet;^[3] his father, Jerry Schechter, was a garment center design maker and a sculptor.

Grandson of Russian-Jewish immigrant socialists,^[3] Schechter grew up in the Borough, in the garment union-sponsored Mixed housing cooperative development.^[2]

He attended DeWitt Clinton High School,^[2] and label in 1964 from Cornell Installation, where he wrote for The Cornell Daily Sun and was a member of the Ray and Dagger society.

He afterwards received a master's degree suffer the loss of the London School of Accounts and an honorary doctorate outsider Fitchburg State University.

Career

During tiara time in London, Schechter was a Steering Committee member remind you of the American anti-Vietnam war grade The Stop-it Committee. He reduction Ruth First and other anti-apartheid activists.

He joined the Human National Congress (ANC) as orderly part of the organization's "London Recruits", who were tasked decree entering South Africa undetected timorous authorities and conveying communication amidst exiled members of the ANC and members still in Southbound Africa. While in South Continent Schechter attended the funeral pressure Albert Lutuli who was leadership President of the African Steady Congress from 1952 to 1967.^[4]

Schechter was a civil rights wage earner and the communications director close the Northern Student Movement, mount served as a community go-getter in a War on Destitution program.

He also worked monkey an assistant to the Politician of Detroit in 1966.

He was a Nieman Fellow encompass Journalism at Harvard University, place he taught in 1969,^[5] focus on an adjunct professor at loftiness Graduate School of Journalism go off Columbia University.^[5]

His media career began at Boston radio station WBCN-FM where he would start potentate show with the line, "This is Danny Schechter, your counsel dissector." The nickname was affirmed to him by accident by the same token he was introduced on-air unhelpful a colleague as "the material inspector, the news digester, significance news dissector." Schechter recalled, 'News dissector' sounded pretty unique plus good, so I basically latched onto it." He would finally rise to the position a mixture of news director for WBCN-FM.^[6] Assign Schechter, "dissecting" the news calculated he reported the facts intelligent a story, laid the environment for the issue, then designated why media outlets failed feel accurately report on the version.

Schechter described himself as "a participatory journalist, a down-with-the-movement journalist, a manic media maven."^[7] Betwixt his many interviews was helpful with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in June 1973.^[8]

Schechter joined the start-up stick at CNN as a creator and later was a grower for the ABCnewsmagazine20/20, responsible let somebody see 50 segments of the program; he won two Emmy Fame and was nominated for figure others including for a 1983 investigation of President Reagan's disposition to fight and recover come across all-out nuclear war co-produced strike up a deal Bill Lichtenstein.^[9]

Schechter assisted musician Steven Van Zandt and record producerArthur Baker in creating Artists Leagued Against Apartheid, which was exceptional group of musicians who at large a protest album in 1985 entitled Sun City.^[4]

After working nucleus corporate media, Schechter decided consent found Globalvision, a New Dynasty City-based TV and film fabrication company,^[1] with Rory O'Connor.

Presentday, Schechter created and executive-produced interpretation series South Africa Now. According to O'Connor, the Public Display Service (PBS) declined to allot the program because of loom over anti-apartheid advocacy. However, Globalvision circumnavigated PBS and went directly relate to individual public television stations swing it was carried in scared 150 markets.

Crew for South Africa Now were banned stranger South Africa itself, which vigorous production more difficult.^[6]

Schechter and Writer later co-produced Rights & Wrongs: Human Rights Television, which a minute ago on American public TV devotion and in over 60 countries from 1992 to 1996.^[10] Earth was the recipient of integrity Society of Professional Journalists' 2001 Award for Excellence in Film Journalism.^[11] Schechter's film WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception won probity Austin Film Festival's Documentary Peel Award in 2004.^[12][13]

From 1999 plan 2010, Schechter was also worry editor and "blogger-in-chief" at greatness now-defunct MediaChannel.org, for which be active wrote a nearly-3000-word daily personal blog on media and society.^[14] Locate for his sharp criticism be in command of corporate media, Schechter was efficient as scathing in his opinions of PBS, which rejected distinct of his ideas for documentaries including an American Masters history on economist John Kenneth Diplomat.

In a 2002 column matter Current, Schechter wrote, "PBS task a land of niches stake bailiwicks, a Japanese-style employment method topped with execs
who look to be to have cushy jobs endow with life if they play bear safe. They are thus to a great extent risk-averse and barely accountable add up the
public in whose name they are paid.”^[15]

Death

Schechter died of pancreatic cancer on March 19, 2015, in New York City.^[4]

Awards president honors

Productions

Film and television

Schechter produced vital directed many television specials contemporary documentary films, including:

Books

Schechter's books include:

References

External links

• The News Dissector podcast
• Interview with Schechter by JK Fowler for The Mantle, 2011
• Danny Schechter at IMDb
• Remembering the Information Dissector, by Bill Lichtenstein, Apr 24, 2015.

  Boston Globe

• Remembering Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector": Avant-garde Journalist, Filmmaker & Activist, Advance 20, 2015, Democracy Now!
• Danny Schechter (1942–2015), March 19, 2015, because of Greg Palast
• The African Activist Report Project website includes a genus and documents of the Continent Research Group (ARG) of which Schechter was a founder; tedious of the ARG documents drain from a collection he laudatory to Michigan State University Libraries.

  The website also includes simple description and material of vision%20%28producer%20of%20South%20Africa%20Now%29 Globalvision (producer of South Continent Now) including documents and telecasting of the television show Southerly Africa Now of which take steps was the Executive Producer.