''Frontline'' (stylized as FRONTLINE) is an investigative documentary program distributed by 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 ...

in the United States. Episodes are produced at

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

in Boston, Massachusetts. The series has covered a variety of domestic and international issues, including terrorism, elections, environmental disasters, and other sociopolitical issues. Since its debut in 1983, ''Frontline'' has aired in the U.S. for 39 seasons, and has won critical acclaim and awards in broadcast journalism. It has produced over 750 documentaries from both in-house and independent filmmakers, 200 of which are available online.

Format

The program debuted in 1983, with NBC anchorwoman Jessica Savitch as the show's first host, but Savitch died later after the first-season finale. '' PBS NewsHour''s Judy Woodruff took over as host in 1984, and hosted the program for five years, combining her job with a sub-anchor place on ''The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour'' when Jim Lehrer was away. In 1990, episodes of ''Frontline'' began airing without a host, and the narrator was left to introduce each episode. Most ''Frontline'' reports are an hour in length, but some are extended to 90 minutes, 2 hours, or beyond. ''Frontline'' also produces and transmits such occasional specials as ''From Jesus to Christ'', ''

The Farmer's Wife ''The Farmer's Wife'' is a 1928 British silent romantic comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis and Gordon Harker. It is adapted from a 1916 play of the same name by British novelist, poet an ...

'', and ''

Country Boys ''Country Boys'' is a 6-hour documentary film centered on Cody Perkins and Chris Johnson, two teenage boys from David, Kentucky. They attended the David School, a non-denominational alternative high school with a mission to serve underprivileged ...

''. Since 1995, ''Frontline'' has been producing deep-content, companion web sites for all of its documentaries. The program publishes extended interview transcripts, in-depth chronologies, original essays, sidebar stories, related links and readings, and source documents including photographs and background research. ''Frontline'' has made many of its documentaries available via streaming Internet video, from its website.

Will Lyman William Lyman (born May 20, 1948) is an American voice-over artist, actor, and musician. Being known for his polished, resonant voice, Lyman has narrated the PBS series ''Frontline'' since its second season in 1984 and played William Tell in the ...

is the distinctive voice who has narrated most of the installments of the program since its inception in 1983. However, certain reports have been narrated by David Ogden Stiers and

Peter Berkrot Peter Berkrot is an American voice actor, stage actor, director, producer, and freelance writer who has worked in television, the movie industry, video games, and theatre.

"The Choice"

Since 1988, ''Frontline'' has also aired "The Choice": a special edition aired during the lead-up to the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

every four years, focusing on the Democratic and Republican candidates contending for the office of President of the United States. An installment aired on October 14, 2008, using a dual-biography format for Barack Obama and

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

. The 2008 documentary, produced by Michael Kirk, generated favorable reviews from '' The New York Times'', which stated that the program helped viewers "gain perspective" about the "idea-oriented campaign", and '' Los Angeles Times'', which labeled it "refreshingly clear" and "informative". A subsequent episode aired on October 9, 2012, and featured the same dual biography tracing the lives and careers of incumbent President Barack Obama and his challenger,

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

. The following episode aired on September 27, 2016, and featured the biography of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. "

The Choice 2020 ''The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden'' is a 2020 television documentary film about the Republican Party (United States), Republican and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party nominees for the 2020 United States presidential election: Pre ...

" is the most recent installment and aired on September 22, 2020, featuring Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Production

The show is produced by the WGBH Educational Foundation, the parent company of WGBH-TV in Boston, which is solely responsible for its content. WGBH is the creator of the Documentary Consortium, with another four PBS stations, including WNET in New York and

KCTS KCTS-TV (channel 9) is a PBS member television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, owned by Cascade Public Media. Its studios are located at the northeast corner of Seattle Center adjacent to the Space Needle, and its transmitter is ...

in Seattle. In 2015, the creator and founding executive producer of ''Frontline'', David Fanning, retired after more than 32 years as executive producer of the program, and Raney Aronson-Rath succeeded him in senior grade. Fanning, however, remains

editor-at-large An editor-at-large is a journalist who contributes content to a publication. Sometimes such an editor is called a roving reporter or roving editor. Unlike an editor who works on a publication from day to day and is hands-on, an editor-at-large con ...

of ''Frontline'' as a founding member. On September 14, 2017, the program launched its first-ever podcast called ''The Frontline Dispatch''. The podcast is a production of PBS and

in Boston alongside PRX.

''Frontline/World''

''Frontline/World'' is a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

program from ''Frontline'', first transmitted on May 23, 2002, which was transmitted four to eight times a year on ''Frontline'' until it was canceled in 2010. It focused on issues from around the globe, and used a "magazine" format, where each hour-long episode typically had three stories that ran about 15 to 20 minutes in length. Its tagline was: ''Stories from a small planet''. Initially a co-production of

, Boston and

KQED KQED may refer to: * KQED (TV), a PBS member station in San Francisco * KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both ...

, San Francisco, ''Frontline/World'' was later based in part at the University of California Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, where the program's producers recruited a new generation of reporters and producers to the ''Frontline'' program. ''Frontline/World'' also streamed stories on its website, which won two Webby awards in 2008 for its original program of online videos called "Rough Cuts". In 2005, the

Overseas Press Club of America The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain a ...

gave the program its Edward R. Murrow Award for the best TV coverage of international events, citing producers David Fanning,

Stephen Talbot Stephen Henderson Talbot (born February 28, 1949) is an American TV documentary producer, reporter, writer, and longtime contributor to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the series ''Frontline''. His more than 40 documentaries include ...

, Sharon Tiller and Ken Dornstein. The program broke new ground in 2007 by winning two Emmys; one of these was for a broadcast story, "Saddam's Road to Hell", and the other was for an online video, "Libya: Out of the Shadow".

Critical reception

''Frontline'' has received generally positive reviews from television critics.

David Zurawik David Lee Zurawik (born October 26, 1949) is an American journalist, author, and professor. He has been the TV and media critic at ''The Baltimore Sun'' since 1989 and is an assistant professor of communications and media studies at Goucher Colleg ...

of '' The Baltimore Sun'' wrote that the episode "Inside the Meltdown", was "one of the finest hours of non-fiction TV that I have seen." Vern Gay of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' wrote that "The Card Game" episode, "bores down to the hard, cold truth" and is "journalism at its best." Tom Brinkmoeller of ''TV Worth Watching'' called it, "Indispensable." Sean Gregory of '' Time'' wrote about the episode, "

League of Denial ''League of Denial'' is a 2013 book, initially broadcast as a documentary film, about traumatic brain injury in the National Football League (NFL), particularly concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The documentary, entitled ''Le ...

", that it was "a first-rate piece of reporting." David Zurawik of ''The Baltimore Sun'' wrote about the episode "The Rise of ISIS", that it was "superb and daring work." Alasdair Wilkins of '' The A.V. Club'' wrote, "hardest-hitting show on television." Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist of '' The Washington Post'' wrote for the episode, "The Choice 2016", "utterly-fair and completely riveting." Vern Gay of ''

'' wrote that the show is "authoritative and comprehensive." David Zurawik of '' The Baltimore Sun'' wrote that the episode "Trump's Showdown", "is as good as long-form, non-fiction television gets." Chris Barton of the '' Los Angeles Times'' wrote for the episode, "The Facebook Dilemma" that ''Frontline'' has a "well-earned reputation for unflinching, in-depth examinations of social issues and current events."

Awards and results

The crew of FRONTLINE United States of Secrets at the 74th Annual Peabody Awards

Other ''Frontline'' reports focus on political, social, and criminal justice issues.

Ofra Bikel Ofra Bikel (born in Israel) is a documentary filmmaker, and television producer. For more than two decades she was a mainstay of the acclaimed PBS series FRONTLINE producing over 25 award-winning documentaries, ranging from foreign affairs to crit ...

, who has been a producer for ''Frontline'' since the first season, has produced a significant number of films on the criminal justice system in the United States. The films have focused on issues ranging from post-conviction DNA testing, the use of drug snitches and mandatory minimum sentencing laws, the plea system, and the use of eyewitness testimony. As a result of the films, 13 people have been released from prison. After the September 11 attacks, the White House requested a copy of "Hunting Bin Laden". In 1999, ''Frontline'' had produced this in-depth report about

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

and the terrorist network that would come to be known as

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

in the wake of the

1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, ...

. Following the September 11 attacks, ''Frontline'' produced a series of films about Al-Qaeda and the War on Terrorism. In 2002, the program was awarded the DuPont-Columbia gold baton for the seven films. In 2003, ''Frontline'' and '' The New York Times'' joined forces on "A Dangerous Business", an investigation led by reporter Lowell Bergman into the cast iron pipe making industry and worker safety. OSHA officials credit the documentary and newspaper report with stimulating federal policy change on workplace safety. In 2004, the joint investigation was awarded the

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...

. Producer Michael Kirk's ''Frontline'' documentaries have won multiple awards. These films include "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis" (

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

, 2013), "Cheney's Law" (Peabody Award, 2007), "The Lost Year in Iraq" (

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, 2006), "The Torture Question" (Emmy Award, 2005), "The Kevorkian File" (Emmy Award), and "Waco: The Inside Story" (Peabody Award). Director

Martin Smith Martin Smith may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Martin Seymour-Smith (1928–1998), British poet, literary critic, biographer and astrologer *Martin Cruz Smith (born 1942), American writer *Martin Smith (drummer) (1946–1997), British drummer ...

has produced dozens of films for ''Frontline'', and won both Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards. His 2000 film ''Drug Wars'' was the winner of the Outstanding Background/Analysis of a Single Current Story Emmy and the George Foster Peabody Award. Additionally, ''Separated: Children at the Border'', for which he was writer and correspondent, also won a 2018

. Other notable producers of multiple ''Frontline'' documentaries have included Sherry Jones,

Marian Marzynski Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

Miri Navasky ) , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = Division , subdivision_name2 ...

, Karen O'Connor, June Cross, Neil Docherty,

, Raney Aronson-Rath, Rachel Dretzin, James Jacoby and Rick Young. As of July 2016, ''Frontline'' has won a total of 75 Emmy Awards and 18 Peabody Awards. In 2020, ''Frontline'' was also awarded an Institutional Peabody Award.

Episodes

References

External links

* *
''Frontline/World''Full chronological list
on PBS/''Frontline'' site * * {{TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information 1983 American television series debuts 1980s American documentary television series 1980s American television news shows 1990s American documentary television series 1990s American television news shows 2000s American documentary television series 2000s American television news shows 2010s American documentary television series 2010s American television news shows 2020s American documentary television series 2020s American television news shows English-language television shows Peabody Award-winning television programs Television series by WGBH