People Who Get It: David Fanning

I'll start by saying that The Atlanta Press Club has dramatically exceeded my expectations in the last ten months. Tonight continued that excess.



Tonight I had the incredible opportunity to watch a taping of WSB's John Pruitt interviewing David Fanning, executive producer of the Public Broadcasting documentary series, FRONTLINE since its first season in 1983.

Frequently repeating the phrase, "Its pretty good, but we can make it better", Fanning described FRONTLINE's ongoing effort to make documentary films that are both fair and surprising. In his words, "When you have pictures, sounds and music- that can be the most manipulative form possible". Manipulation is what Fanning tries hardest to avoid. FRONTLINE conveys powerful stories with a minimum of dramatic scoring or outright emotion. He discussed the general acceptance of outright point-of-view in documentary film making and said that honesty of perspective combined with frequently asking, "Are you being fair to the other side?" allows FRONTLINE to secure the trust of its audience and its subjects.

In addition to the weekly PBS program, FRONTLINE has remained far ahead of the curve with its web presence. The FRONTLINE website was first launched in October of 1995 with a small number of video clips. The world's first deep-content website, the FRONTLINE website continues to lead the way in finding creative and effective ways to communicate its stories to an increasingly on-line audience. Fanning discussed the long-term commitment necessary to effectively use digital media online as well as the transparency it imposes on the journalistic process. On the website, viewers can not only watch the films, but can also read the supporting documents and essentially review the same materials used by the journalists producing the films.

When asked if he felt his upbringing outside of this country has helped his perspective on American media, Fanning replied that more than anything, he credits growing up without a television as having the greatest impact on his current career. "We had lots of books in our house, and my dad built little boats out of wood. When I finally made my first little film, I just had to make it up."

Below are two reccomended clips from FRONTLINE. The first is about the Ghana national baseball team. The second is a segment from the documentary "The Merchants of Cool",a piece focusing on the process of marketing to teenagers. Watch and enjoy.