The Focal Point Report: Show 5 in the can... Is it now game over for the show?

[Adam Greenfield]

On Friday 19th December, the fifth and possibly final (see later) episode of Focal Point became a reality, ending the current run of shows on a definite high point. But what will now become of Focal Point? I'll tackle these questions and more in this installment of The Focal Point Report.

The Run-Up
Shows 3 and 4, shot on the same day as you might remember, should have been Focal Point's final episodes. However, driven by our lust for more, the Focal Point team successfully pushed for a bonus taping session. We had a good 3 weeks or so to get ready. The clock was once again ticking. The first content meeting threw up the following possible shows:

1. Copyright in the new media age, featuring Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence Lessig is the figurehead for progressive discussion on culture in the internet age. I'm a fan and perhaps you are too. As Lawrence lives up the road at West Portal, we decided to see if he wanted to join Focal Point. First, we waited to get show 3 online, which would be our best tool yet in attracting him.

2. Journalism at what cost?, featuring Josh Wolf and somebody from the Center for Investigative Reporting
This was inspired by Josh Wolf's lengthy 226-day stint in prison after refusing to hand to the FBI footage of an anti-G8 protest in San Francisco. We thought it would be interesting to do a show on "journalism at what cost?" How far should journalists go to protect our democracy?

3. The top censored stories of 2008, featuring Project Censored
Every year, Project Censored publishes its top 25 censored stories of the year. This list, and Project Censored itself, has attracted controversy for years. We thought this list-based show would mark a refreshing departure from our other panel-based shows.

All these show ideas received pre-production but only one, the third item, made it. Lawrence Lessig never responded and neither did Josh Wolf. We tried to have someone from the San Francisco media join the Project Censored show to provide a third-party perspective but we were unable to find an available guest. Several people were interested but I suspect the show's proximity to Christmas plus our shooting time of 6:30pm worked against us. We probably could have pushed our guests harder a little earlier than we did.

In the end, episode 5 featured one guest: Peter Phillips from Project Censored.

Planning the show
Planning this show was challenging in a way unlike any other Focal Point episode. This time the focus rested upon Project Censored's top 25 censored stories list. We decided to cover the top 5 stories as 25 was far too many. But it was also essential to cover several thematic elements, including:
- The meaning of "censored" in the context of this list. Is Project Censored over-using the word for dramatic effect?
- Why don't some supposedly important stories get more exposure?
- The accusation made that Project Censored selects stories with a left-leaning bias.
- A criticism that Project Censored goes no further than criticizing the media.

I decided to structure the show thus:
1. Introductory discussion: the meaning of "censored", why some stories get under-reported.
2. Fifth most censored story: War protesters now vulnerable to seizure of property
3. Fourth most censored story: Is the US restarting dirty wars in Latin America?
4. Third most censored story: The FBI privatizes surveillance on Americans
3. Second most censored story: The Security and Prosperity Partnership: A New Militarized North America
4. Criticisms of Project Censored: Why certain types of stories are not more covered in the list, left-leaning bias, going no further than criticism.

I must say how much my conversations with producers Travis and Tommy helped me structure the show. This is a part of the pre-production process that we have improved at dramatically. I bring my ideas to the table, Travis and Tommy critique them, I revise my material, and possibly return to the team for more refinement. Specifically, two days before the show, a cellphone chat with Travis really clarified certain issues. Travis had already researched online and provided me with numerous links that fairly represented the controversies we needed to tackle. Me and Travis have argued many times at every stage of producing Focal Point, starting from when the show was just a discussion in a Mission district cafe. But our energies are always devoted to not to questioning the other person's abilities but to testing their points to either discard or strengthen them. This often necessitates a degree of devil's advocate. We have evolved this interaction to a point where great material can emerge from our interactions.

On the morning and afternoon of taping day, I sat down and put the show together based around this structure [to see my source materials, including those printed for the show itself, see the attached Word document: Show 5 - Project Censored.doc]. At the end of it, I had over 30 questions, almost double the number that is doable for a 30 minute show. Nevertheless, I kept these questions because I was unsure of how easy it would be to sustain conversation with just one guest.

As always, I had no idea whether or not this show would turn out lackluster, excellent, or somewhere between. Read on to find out...

Show-down
So there we sat: me and Peter Phillips, a grey-bearded man with an energetic but friendly demeanor. As we waited for the production team to get ready we talked and the chemistry required for a solid show seemed to be there. I had a good feeling.

But to make this show a success, I would have to successfully conquer the following challenges:
- Maintain constant conversation with just one guest. All our previous shows had had at least 2 guests, thus taking some weight off of my shoulders. No such luck this time.
- As we'd be dealing with certain stories and things that people have said, I'd be needing many specific quotes, facts, and figures. I would need enough of these but not too many that I wouldn't be able to find them quickly. I'd also need to reference this material without looking down at my sheets too much, which looks bad on television.
- More than previous shows, challenge the guest, put him on the spot, but still maintain neutrality.

Then, the time was right and the show was underway. You'll see the results for yourself soon but my verdict? This was perhaps our finest show yet. 30 minutes rushed by. We had so much to discuss that there simply wasn't enough time to go through it all. The conversation was dense, lively, often heated, but very watchable. I threw a lot of challenges to Peter and he fielded them all valiantly. I believe this is great for Project Censored, which receives a lot of criticism from across the media and works hard to respond to its critics.

Because of these qualities, I believe this was my best presenting yet. Only after 4 shows did I own the role enough to challenge my guests with vigor, pick out detailed facts from several sources in front of me, and structure the show so tightly. I'm very pleased with the results. It's also pleasing that this show, as with all our shows, has revealed to me many more areas upon which I could improve in the future. If Focal Point ever rises again, I hope to continue improving. Speaking of which...

Is Focal Point over?
The semester is over, many of our team is graduating, most of us have no time available for future Focal Point shows. Is this the end of Focal Point?

The short term, no; in the longer term, possibly yes. Regarding the former, Focal Point still has two episodes (4 and 5) to put online and one more episode (episode 5) to air. But I also intend to review and research how we can give Focal Point more exposure online by putting the show on appropriate and popular websites and by hopefully creating a unique Focal Point website. This could ensure many more viewers see the show.

But, yes, we have no more plans to make any more episodes. Nonetheless, there's a chance Focal Point may one day rise again. In fact, I will be working to see if this might happen. Although no research has begun, I'm pondering upon the idea of discussing the show with the many media contacts we've built up over the months and seeking out advice on how Focal Point might get picked up and turned into a funded ongoing show. This is big thinking stuff but these are big thinking times. We have nothing to lose. Watch this space...

That's it for this blog. I'll return with more reflections and updates. Have a fantastic festive break!

Adam