PBS Criticized for Excluding Latino, Native Voices from WWII Documentary

[EFerrari]

Friday, April 13th, 2007


PBS Criticized for Excluding Latino, Native Voices from WWII Documentary


A coalition of Latino organizations have been criticizing PBS over a forthcoming documentary by Ken Burns on World War II because it ignores the role played by Latino soldiers in the war. The 14-hour film, “The War,” includes no interviews with any Latino veterans even though over 500,000 Latinos served in the war. The documentary also includes no interviews with any Native American veterans. We speak with Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, a University of Texas professor who has led the protests against PBS. MSNBC and CBS Radio have not been the only media networks facing protests recently. A coalition of Latino organizations have been criticizing PBS over a forthcoming documentary by Ken Burns on World War II because it ignores the role played by Latino soldiers in the war The 14-hour film, “The War,” includes no interviews with any Latino veterans even though over 500,000 Latinos served in the war. The documentary also includes no interviews with any Native American veterans.

In response to the protests, Ken Burns announced this week that he would create additional content that focuses on the stories of Latino and Native American veterans. Burns said he would not make any changes to the existing film but he vowed to create additional material to run in conjunction with the documentary. “The War” is scheduled to premier in September.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/13/1421225

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