Daniel Isaac Schechter (June 27, 1942 – March 19, 2015) was an American television producer, independent filmmaker, blogger, and media critic. He wrote and spoke about many issues including

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

, economics,

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

, journalistic control and ethics, and medicine. While attending the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

in the 1960s, Schechter became an anti-apartheid activist and made trips to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on behalf of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC). Later he would help musician

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

assemble other performers to form

Artists United Against Apartheid Artists United Against Apartheid was a 1985 protest group founded by activist and performer Steven Van Zandt and record producer Arthur Baker to protest against apartheid in South Africa. The group produced the song " Sun City" and the album ...

, who released the album '' Sun City'' in 1985. Schechter produced and directed six nonfiction films about

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

from the time Mandela was a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

to his election and service as

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence F ...

. Schechter's first job in media was with WBCN in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, during the 1970s where he became known as "Danny Schechter, the news dissector", a nickname that stuck throughout his life. He continued to work in media with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and the start-up

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

news station

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

until he abandoned corporate media and founded TV and film production company Globalvision with his friend and longtime associate Rory O'Connor. Globalvision produced ''South Africa Now'' which was a

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

that focused on the anti-apartheid struggle and news and culture from South Africa. He authored over 14 books.

Early life and education

Schechter was born in New York City, on June 27, 1942. His mother, Ruth Lisa Schechter (née Lubin), was a secretary and a published poet; his father, Jerry Schechter, was a garment center pattern maker and a sculptor. Grandson of

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrant socialists, Schechter grew up in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, in the garment union-sponsored

Amalgamated housing cooperative The Amalgamated Housing Cooperative is a limited-equity cooperative in New York City. Organized by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, Amalgamated Clothing Workers (ACW), a Manhattan-based socialist labor union, the co-op's original cluster of Tudo ...

development. He attended

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

, and graduated in 1964 from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where he wrote for ''

The Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, ''The Sun'' is the oldest continuously independent ...

'' and was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University, founded in 1893. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of unde ...

society. He later received a master's degree from the

and an honorary doctorate from

Fitchburg State University Fitchburg State University (Fitchburg State) is a public university in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It has 3,421 undergraduate and 1,238 graduate/continuing education students, for a total student body enrollment of 4,659. The university offers und ...

Career

During his time in London, Schechter was a Steering Committee member of the American anti-Vietnam war group The Stop-it Committee. He met

Ruth First Heloise Ruth First OLG (4 May 1925 – 17 August 1982) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar. She was assassinated in Mozambique, where she was working in exile, by a parcel bomb built by South African police. Family and ...

and other anti-

activists. He joined the

(ANC) as a part of the organization's "London Recruits", who were tasked with entering

undetected by authorities and conveying communication between exiled members of the ANC and members still in South Africa. While in South Africa Schechter attended the funeral of Albert Lutuli who was the President of the African National Congress from 1952 to 1967. Schechter was a civil rights worker and the communications director of the Northern Student Movement, and served as a community organizer in a War on Poverty program. He also worked as an assistant to the

Mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History of Detroit's executive authority During the earliest part of its history, Detroit was a ...

in 1966. He was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he taught in 1969, and an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. His media career began at

radio station WBCN-FM where he would start his show with the line, "This is Danny Schechter, your news dissector." The nickname was given to him by accident as he was introduced on-air by a colleague as "the news inspector, the news digester, the news dissector." Schechter recalled, 'News dissector' sounded pretty unique and good, so I basically latched onto it." He would eventually rise to the position of news director for WBCN-FM. To Schechter, "dissecting" the news meant he reported the facts of a story, laid the background for the issue, then asserted why media outlets failed to accurately report on the story. Schechter described himself as "a participatory journalist, a down-with-the-movement reporter, a manic media maven." Among his many interviews was one with

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

in June 1973. Schechter joined the start-up staff at

as a producer and later was a producer for the

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

'' 20/20'', responsible for 50 segments of the program; he won two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and was nominated for two others including for a 1983 investigation of President Reagan's plans to fight and recover from all-out nuclear war co-produced with Bill Lichtenstein. Schechter assisted musician

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Arthur Baker in creating

, which was a group of musicians who released a protest album in 1985 entitled '' Sun City''. After working in corporate media, Schechter decided to found Globalvision, a New York City-based TV and film production company, with Rory O'Connor. There, Schechter created and executive-produced the series ''South Africa Now''. According to O'Connor, the

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

declined to distribute the program because of its anti-apartheid advocacy. However, Globalvision circumnavigated PBS and went directly to individual

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

stations where it was carried in over 150 markets. Crew for ''South Africa Now'' were banned from South Africa itself, which made production more difficult. Schechter and O'Connor later co-produced ''Rights & Wrongs: Human Rights Television'', which aired on American public TV stations and in over 60 countries from 1992 to 1996. He was the recipient of the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

' 2001 Award for Excellence in Documentary Journalism. Schechter's film ''WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception'' won the Austin Film Festival's Documentary Film Award in 2004. From 1999 to 2010, Schechter was also executive editor and "blogger-in-chief" at the now-defunct MediaChannel.org, for which he wrote a nearly-3000-word daily blog on media and society. Known for his sharp criticism of corporate media, Schechter was just as scathing in his opinions of PBS, which rejected several of his ideas for documentaries including an ''

American Masters ''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the U ...

'' biography on economist

John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...

. In a 2002 column for ''

Current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hydr ...

,'' Schechter wrote, "PBS is a land of niches and bailiwicks, a Japanese-style employment system topped with execs who seem to have cushy jobs for life if they play it safe. They are thus very risk-averse and barely accountable to the public in whose name they are paid.”

Death

Schechter died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on March 19, 2015, in New York City.

Awards and honors

*2001 Award for Excellence in Documentary Journalism from the

(for ''Falun Gong's Challenge to China'') *2004 Austin Film Festival Documentary Film Award (for ''WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception'') *2008

James Aronson Award The James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism has been awarded since 1990 to honor Hunter College Professor, James Aronson. This award honors original, written English-language reporting from the U.S. media that brings to light widespread in ...

for Blogging *

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Nieman Fellowship The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...

in Journalism at

*Two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s, four nominations

Productions

Film and television

Schechter produced and directed many television specials and documentary films, including: * ''Beyond A Long Walk To Freedom'' (2014) * ''America's Surveillance State'' (2014) * ''DeWitt Clinton HS: The School That Can Teach Them All, on the fight for Public Education'' (2013) * ''Who Rules America?'' (2012) * ''Plunder: The Crime Of Our Time'' (2010) * ''Barack Obama: The People's President'' (2009) * ''Boob Tube: Sex, TV and Ugly George'' (2008) * ''Viva Madiba'' (2008) * ''A Work in Progress: Danny Schechter and the Journalism of Change'' (2007) * ''In Debt We Trust: America Before The Bubble Burst'' (2006) * ''WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception'' (2004) * ''Counting on Democracy'' (2004), about the 2000

Florida election recount The 2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida was a period of vote recounting in Florida that occurred during the weeks after Election Day in the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. T ...

, narrated by

Ossie Davis Ossie Davis (born Raiford Chatman Davis; December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, Film director, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He received num ...

and

Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, ...

* '' We Are Family'' (2002), about a benefit recording of the Sister Sledge song following the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

; shown at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

* ''Nkosi: A Voice of Africa's AIDS Orphans'' (2001), narrated by

Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...

* ''Falun Gong's Challenge to China'' (2001) * ''A Hero for All: Nelson Mandela's Farewell'' (1999) * ''Globalization & Human Rights'' (1998) * ''Beyond Life: Timothy Leary Lives'' (1997) * ''The World of Elie Wiesel'' (1997) * ''Sowing Seeds/Reaping Peace: The World of Seeds of Peace'' (1996) * ''Prisoners of Hope: Reunion on Robben Island'' (1995), co-directed by

Barbara Kopple Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work. She is credited with pioneering a renaissance of cinema vérité, and bringing the historic French style to a modern American audience. S ...

* ''Countdown to Freedom: Ten Days that Changed South Africa'' (1994), narrated by

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

and

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard ( ; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Scree ...

* ''Sarajevo Ground Zero'' (1993) * ''The Living Canvas'' (1992), narrated by

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American retired actor, novelist and painter. He has appeared in over 100 films and television roles over six decades. He is best known for portraying Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars ...

* ''Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy'' (1992), co-directed by

Marc Levin Marc Levin is an American independent film producer and director. He is best known for his ''Brick City (TV series), Brick City'' TV series, which won the 2010 Peabody award and was nominated for an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Fil ...

and Barbara Kopple * ''Give Peace a Chance'' (1991) * ''Nelson Mandela: Free at Last'' (1991), PBS national broadcast * ''Mandela in America'' (1990) * ''The Making of Sun City'' (1987) * ''Student Power'' (1968)

Books

Schechter's books include: * ''Surveillance A to Z'' (

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpor ...

, 2015, forthcoming). * ''When South Africa Called, We Answered: How the Media and International Solidarity Helped Topple Apartheid'' (Cosimo Books, 2015). * ''Madiba A to Z: The Many Faces of Nelson Mandela'' (

, 2013). * ''Occupy: Dissecting Occupy Wall Street'' (Cosimo Books, 2012). * ''Blogothon: Reflections and Revelations from the News Dissector'' (Cosimo Books, 2012) * ''The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street is Not Too Big To Jail'' (Disinformation Books, 2010) * ''Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal'' (Cosimo Books, 2008) * ''When News Lies'' (Select Books, 2006) * ''The Death of Media (and the Fight to Save Democracy)'' (Melville House Publishing, 2005). * ''Media Wars: News At A Time of Terror'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003) * ''Embedded: Weapons of Mass Deception: How the Media Failed to Cover the Iraq War'' (Prometheus Books, 2003) * ''News Dissector: Passions, Pieces and Polemics'' (Akashic Books, 2001) * ''Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spiritual Practice or 'Evil Cult'?'' (Akashic Books, 2000) * ''The More You Watch, The Less You Know'' (

, 1997)

References

External links

The News Dissector podcast
* *

April 24, 2015. ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''
Remembering Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector": Pioneering Journalist, Filmmaker & Activist
March 20, 2015, ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

''
Danny Schechter (1942–2015)
March 19, 2015, by Greg Palast * The African Activist Archive Project website includes a description and documents of th
Africa Research Group
(ARG) of which Schechter was a founder; some of the ARG documents are from a collection he donated to Michigan State University Libraries. The website also includes a description and material o
vision%20%28producer%20of%20South%20Africa%20Now%29 Globalvision (producer of South Africa Now)
including documents and video of the television show South Africa Now of which he was the Executive Producer. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schechter, Danny 1942 births 2015 deaths Film producers from New York (state) 20th-century American Jews American male journalists American media critics American non-fiction writers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American journalists Television producers from New York City Cornell University alumni Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Nieman Fellows People from the Bronx Radio personalities from Boston Journalists from New York City Alumni of the London School of Economics Film producers from Massachusetts 21st-century American Jews