Karolyi: a slick example of sports propaganda whitewash
Jack Felling “Karolyi” (NBC Sports, 2016) Here is a very slickly produced documentary made for the NBC television network as part of a series of sports…
Television Series
Australian and New Zealand Films
No Justice, No Peace: no justice done to Black Lives Matter and George Floyd by shallow news program
“No Justice, No Peace” (Foreign Correspondent, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 16 June 2020) Remarkable for what it fails to say and do, this episode purports to investigate…
Redacted Tonight (Season 4, Episode #271): covering the most under-reported news stories of 2018 – 2019
“Redacted Tonight (Season 4, Episode #271)” (RT America, 14 December 2019) In this episode, Redacted Tonight host Lee Camp runs through several stories picked up by…
Father Brown (Episode 29: The Truth in the Wine): reconciliation and forgiveness win the day
Ian Barber, “Father Brown (Episode 29: The Truth in the Wine)” (2015) Being laid up with flu recently restricted me to watching re-runs of old TV…
Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 2): an attractive visual experience spoilt by repetitive propaganda police-state stereotypes
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 2)” (2018) In this second and final episode, Michael Palin ventures outside Pyongyang to spend a few days…
Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 1): Western insistence on stereotyping a country ruins a striking travelogue
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 1)” (2018) At least two years in the making, this 2-part travel documentary follows comedian / world traveller…
Redacted Tonight (Season 3, Episode #226): rehashing stories ignored by US mainstream news media
“Redacted Tonight (Season 3, Episode #226)” (RT America, 6 January 2019) The first episode of “Redacted Tonight”, hosted by Lee Camp, is a review of the…
The Lobby (Episode 4: The Takedown): exposing a brazen suggestion to get rid of a politician
Clayton Swisher, “The Lobby (Episode 4: The Takedown)” (Al Jazeera, 2017) In the last episode of Qatar TV station Al Jazeera’s series on Israeli infiltration of…
The Lobby (Episode 3: An Anti-Semite Trope): how small-minded cult-like behaviour threatens democracy and citizens’ rights to free speech
Clayton Swisher, “The Lobby (Episode 3: An Anti-Semite Trope)” (Al Jazeera, 2017) In this third episode of the four-part series focusing on the Israeli government’s infiltration…
The Lobby (Episode 2: The Training Session): undercover investigation reveals fanaticism and sociopathy
Clayton Swisher, “The Lobby (Episode 2: The Training Session)” (Al Jazeera, 2017) Continuing on from Episode 1 “Young Friends of Israel”, in this episode Al Jazeera’s undercover…