Current State of Journalism in Nonfiction and Controversial Programming

In this episode, host Edward Frumkin (he/him) and contributor Sean Naughton (he/him) analyze the findings of the Center for Media and Social Impact’s Report on the current State of Journalism in Documentaries, SXSW’s hypocritical stance on providing spaces for people with disabilities (18:45), and Sundance’s inclusion of Jihad Rehab (32:40). Then, Edward shares his thoughts on Random Acts of Flyness, Jessica Tifase’s recommendation (28:07). Finally, in today’s concluding thought, Edward discusses reelprint’s politics (01:12:13). Time Codes: 1:05 - Ep. 19 Introduction and the key findings of the Center for Media and Social Impact’s recent report 4:07 - Analyzing how people use documentaries as a source 8:25 - Conflict of Interest in funding documentaries 11:10 - Critiquing the journalistic coverage in documentaries 15:00 - Seeing how the doc industry is becoming more equitable, accountable and accessible 18:45 - Analyzing SXSW’s stance on providing spaces for people with disabilities as mentioned in Reid Davenport’s IDA Op-Ed 22:35 - SXSW’s film history towards stories about people with disabilies 25:30 - Critiquing SXSW’s listed accommodations for people with disabilities 28:08 - Edward’s take on Random Acts of Flyness 32:40 - Critiquing Sundance’s inclusion of Jihad Rehab 35:20 - Recognizing the efforts from a group of Muslim and Middle Eastern, North Africa, and South Asian (MENASA) filmmakers for holding several film organizations accountable for enabling an Islamophobic environment 39:20 - Explaining the reasons and limitations of this conversation 42:20 - The limits in the empathy model and critiquing Meg Smaker 48:45 - Recognizing Sundance’s history in problematic stories 51:05 - Analyzing the data on Sundance films in the documentary competition programs from the last 20 years about Muslims, MENASA-based people, or take place in MENA 55:38 - Assia Boundoui’s challenges in making The Feeling of Being Watched and acknowledging the backlash for speaking out 57:50 - #MyMuslimFilm 1:00:20 - Recognizing some of the co-signatories who are supporting the group 1:05:15 - The suggestions the Muslim and MENASA filmmakers list in their open letter 1:12:13 - Concluding Thought: reelprint’s politics Episode show notes available here