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| Vol. 24, No. 18 | March 29, 1999 |
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| Vol. 24, No. 18 | March 29, 1999 |
BY VIRGIL RENZULLI
Using the admissions policies of a hypothetical university and a guest panel representing both ends of the political spectrum, the Fred Friendly Seminars broadcasted a one-hour special about affirmative action on PBS on March 23.
"Beyond Black and White: Affirmative Action in America" examined one of the nation's most emotionally and politically charged issues in the time-honored "Socratic" method of the Friendly Seminars.
The program, moderated by Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, included panelists Ward Connerly, anti-affirmative activist; Ruth Simmons, president of Smith College; U.S. Rep. Frank D. Riggs (R-Calif.); Ann F. Lewis, White House director of communications; Christopher Edley, Jr., senior advisor, White House Race Initiative, and representatives of black, Latino, Asian and Native American organizations.
The Fred Friendly Seminars, based at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, produced the program in association with the Century Foundation and WNET, New York. The seminar producers also partnered with IntellectualCapital.com and Policy.com, two of the leading politics and policy sites on the Web, to give a more in-depth view of the issues surrounding affirmative action.
Policy.com's "student union" will afford college students a resource designed to aid them in debating affirmative action, and IntellectualCapital.com, on March 18, published editorial analysis that will include essays by experts on affirmative action from both sides of the issue and a bulletin board for reader responses and dialogue.
In addition, the Television Race Initiative (TRI) contacted hundreds of civil-rights groups, community-based organizations and educational institutions around the country to watch the broadcast and use the program as a tool in their community problem-solving efforts on race relations.
The program's viewers guide, background information on the panelists and post-broadcast viewer feedback mechanism can be found on the TRI Web site-www.pbs.org/pov/tvraceinitiative.
The seminars were founded in 1974 by the late Fred Friendly, former president of CBS News and faculty member at the Graduate School of Journalism, to ease a growing conflict between journalists and judges. In the first series of conferences, which focused on the media, the law and public policy, Friendly developed a format known as the "Socratic Seminar."
Usually 12 to 18 people- often prominent judges, journalists and political figures including former Presidents-are seated around a U-shaped table and play roles within hypothetical situations posed to them by a moderator. The technique compels participants to make hard choices about complex and challenging situations.
A decade later the Fred Friendly Seminars debuted on PBS with a 13-part series entitled "The Constitution: That Delicate Balance," which explored contemporary cases that tested constitutional issues such as school prayer, capital punishment and gun control. Until his retirement in 1993, Friendly produced more than 600 conferences worldwide, more than 70 of them broadcast on national public television.
Friendly, who died last year at age 82, was well known as producer of Edward R. Murrow's "See It Now" in the 1950s and as the courageous president of CBS News in the 1960s.
The Fred Friendly Seminars, which have won numerous awards including Emmy, Peabody and duPont-Columbia awards, have continued under the direction of executive producer Richard Kilberg, executive director Barbara E. Margolis and senior editorial advisor Ruth W. Friendly.
Recent programs have included one focusing on Megan's Law and a second on Social Security. "Epidemic," which examines the legal and public information issues involved in an outbreak of infectious disease, is scheduled to be broadcast on PBS this June.