The View From Abroad: U.S. Criticized on Terrorism Policy and the Environment but Finds Support for Election Process

The View From Abroad: U.S. Criticized on Terrorism Policy and the Environment but Finds Support for Election Process

Acclaimed Journalists Provide International Perspective on America

PBS 'GLOBAL WATCH' Special Premieres, April 9 at 10:30 PM PT/ET Anchored by Daljit Dhaliwal

LOS ANGELES, April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- GLOBAL WATCH, a hard-hitting international news show produced by KCET/ Los Angeles for PBS premieres this Wednesday with international perspective on America's involvement in key issues-from the war on terrorism to the environment.

GLOBAL WATCH comes at a time when support for the U.S. around the world has reached record lows. The influential Pew Survey of Global Attitudes found that of the 33 countries it surveyed last year -- support for the US had dropped in 26 of those countries between 2002-2007.

International broadcaster Daljit Dhaliwal (ITN, BBC, PBS) anchors GLOBAL WATCH, which features reporting from BBC security correspondent, Gordon Corera in London; acclaimed reporter Judy Muller of NPR's Morning Edition and ABC News, and chief Asia correspondent for NBC News, Mark Mullen from Beijing. Emmy-award winning news producer Bret Marcus, formerly of both ABC and NBC News is the executive producer. The program also includes Internet reporting from Iraq, Iran and China.

"There is a tremendous need for all of us to understand the critical role America plays in the world," says Dhaliwal. "Everything from politics to popular culture has an impact on how the rest of the world views the United States."

   Among the themes featured in the April 9 broadcast are:   --  The War on Terrorism: Why has support for America's war on terrorism       eroded, even among our traditional Western European allies, who       themselves have been targets of terrorism?    --  The Race for the Presidency: GLOBAL WATCH follows some of the foreign       journalists covering the presidential campaign here, a record number       this year. What do they think of the candidates? What does the race       mean to their countries?    --  Global Warming and the Environment: As China's economy grows, so does       pressure to clean up its environment. Among the critics is the United       States. But the Chinese question America's right to criticize when the       United States is one of the chief polluters in the world and has       itself rejected worldwide environmental cleanup efforts.    

In addition to traditional broadcast reporting, GLOBAL WATCH is a television and digital media initiative, using new and emerging media to go beyond the headlines to provide multiple perspectives.

On pbs.org/globalwatch, where the program will also be available for viewing online after broadcast, viewers will be able to share their opinions and suggest topics for possible future shows. Future plans for GLOBAL WATCH include a cross-platform TV/Internet/Mobile approach to telling and gathering stories from across the globe working in partnership with professional and "citizen" journalists.

About Dhaliwal

As the current anchor of public television's international discussion program FOREIGN EXCHANGE, Dhaliwal brings more than 10 years of broadcast experience to GLOBAL WATCH. She co-anchored CNN International's "Your World Today," a live two-hour news program. She has also worked for BBC World in London, New York and Washington, as well as for the U.K.'s Independent Television News (ITN) and ABC News Now, ABC's digital platform. She has interviewed numerous newsmakers including the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto, Israel's Ehud Olmert and Shimon Peres, and Mexico's Vicente Fox, among many others. Dhaliwal is well-known in public broadcasting through her work with WORLD NEWS, the PBS series WIDE ANGLE, and guest appearances on public radio's "On The Media" and "The Brian Lehrer Show."

About the Producer

The executive producer of GLOBAL WATCH is Bret Marcus, KCET's vice president of programming, promotion and publicity. Marcus, most recently served as executive producer of California Connected, KCET's award-winning statewide newsmagazine, and California at War, a documentary special about how World War II changed California and how California changed the war. A former NBC News and ABC News executive producer and 12-time Emmy(R) winner, Marcus' distinguished career has spanned more than two decades of award-winning news production. Prior to joining KCET in 2005, he was executive producer for special projects at NBC News where he conceived, developed and coordinated projects for NBC News. Prior to that, he was executive producer of The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC and CNBC. His credits as senior executive producer also include CNBC Primetime, where he helped create Upfront Tonight with Geraldo Rivera. At ABC News, Marcus was executive producer of World News Now and Good Morning America Sunday as well as the broadcast producer of the highly acclaimed documentary series, Turning Point. In addition to his five National Emmy awards and seven regional Emmy awards, Marcus has earned three duPont-Columbia Awards and the George Foster Peabody Award, among many other prestigious awards.

Funding for GLOBAL WATCH is provided by the Orfalea Family Foundation, through a grant made to the PBS Foundation.

GLOBAL WATCH is a production of KCET / Los Angeles. Executive producer is Bret Marcus; executive in charge of production is Mary Mazur. Supervising producers are Dana Millikin and Justine Schmidt. Producers are June Molgaard and Rick Wilkinson. New York producer is Joseph Angier. Beijing producer is Adrienne Mong. Line producer is Susan Sherayko. Anchor is Daljit Dhaliwal. Field correspondents are Gordon Corera, London; Mark Mullen, Beijing; and Judy Muller, Los Angeles. Director is Steven Hirsen.

About KCET

KCET, the West Coast flagship station of PBS, produced the PBS series WIRED SCIENCE in association with WIRED magazine. KCET's other national series productions include three-time NAACP Award winner TAVIS SMILEY and the Peabody Award-winning series A PLACE OF OUR OWN and its Spanish-language companion LOS NINOS EN SU CASA. KCET is also co-producing SID THE SCIENCE KID with The Jim Henson Company, slated for launch in fall 2008. Throughout its more than 40- year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children's programs, and its outreach and community services. KCET New Media, now in its seventh year, has produced over 35 Web sites, extensive web original programming, educational DVDs and has won numerous awards from around the world. For additional information about KCET, please visit kcet.org.

About PBS

PBS is a media enterprise that serves 355 public noncommercial television stations and reaches nearly 73 million people each week through on-air and online content. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is a leading provider of digital learning content for pre-K-12 educators and offers a broad array of other educational services. PBS' premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (www.pbskids.org ), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at (www.pbs.org ) one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: KCET

CONTACT: Desiree Gutierrez of Maven Image, +1-310-753-8503,
desiree@mavenimage.com, or Laurel Lambert, +1-323-953-5246, llambert@kcet.org,
Cathy Williams, +1-323-953-5243, cwilliams@kcet.org, both of KCET

Web site: http://www.kcet.org/
http://www.pbs.org/
http://www.pbskids.org/
http://www.pbs.org/globalwatch

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Profile: International Entertainment