The FRONTLINE Dispatch
The FRONTLINE Dispatch
FRONTLINE PBS, WGBH
An award-winning, original, investigative series made by the team behind the acclaimed PBS documentary show, FRONTLINE. From the long and deadly arm of 9/11, to a police shooting in West Virginia with a startling twist, to what life is really like for children living in a Kenyan refugee camp, each episode follows a different reporter through an investigation that sometimes is years in the making. The FRONTLINE Dispatch – because some stories are meant to be heard. Produced at FRONTLINE’s headquarters at WGBH in Boston and powered by PRX. The FRONTLINE Dispatch is made possible by the Abrams Foundation Journalism Initiative.
Stuck in a ‘Fractured’ System
Working as a health care reporter in North Carolina, WFAE’s Dana Miller Ervin heard about jail inmates living with serious mental illnesses who cycled for years between jails and psychiatric hospitals. The courts deem them too sick to stand trial – incapable to proceed or ITP – but they often wait months to get the care they need just so their cases can move forward.  Ervin detailed her investigation in an 11-part WFAE radio series, “Fractured,” made with support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative. Now, a documentary by the same name follows Ervin as she chronicles the plight of ITP inmates. Fractured is directed by Débora Souza Silva, a 2023 recipient of the FRONTLINE/Firelight Media Investigative Journalism Fellowship. Ervin and Silva joined Raney Aronson-Rath on The FRONTLINE Dispatch to discuss making the film; how long waits for care affect these defendants as well as others in the criminal justice system; and potential solutions to the problem. The “Fractured” documentary is streaming on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube, and the PBS App. Read and listen to more from WFAE and FRONTLINE’s series Fractured.
Mar 15
19 min
Democracy on Trial, Part Four: Inside the White House on Jan. 6
FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss in a special audio version of the new documentary Democracy on Trial. In this final installment, the Jan. 6 Select Committee examines what happened inside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021. What was former President Donald Trump doing for 187 minutes during the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, when some in the crowd were chanting, “Hang Mike Pence”? What did Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to then-President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testify that she witnessed that day? Plus: As a potential criminal trial looms, how will it differ from the Jan. 6 Select Committee’s hearings? And what are the trial’s implications for democracy? Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.
Mar 1
30 min
Democracy on Trial, Part Three: An “Invitation” for Jan. 6
FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss in a special audio version of the new documentary Democracy on Trial.  In part three, the Jan. 6 Select Committee examines the pressures mounting on the Justice Department and then-Vice President Mike Pence to intervene on Trump’s behalf. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recalls a phone call in which the former president tells him, “I just want to find 11,780 votes” — the number of votes needed to win the 2020 presidential election in the state. And the former president sends a now-famous tweet inviting supporters to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest the results of the 2020 election, saying it “will be wild.”  Tune in next week for the fourth and final installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.
Feb 23
39 min
Democracy on Trial, Part Two: A Pressure Campaign and a Warning
FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss in a special audio version of the new documentary Democracy on Trial.  In part two, Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling issues a stark warning about the potential for violence. Rusty Bowers, former Arizona House speaker and a lifelong Republican, testifies in front of the Jan. 6 Select Committee about former President Donald Trump’s campaign of pressure on local officials. And two Georgia election workers, Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, face racist threats after being named in a conspiracy theory about stolen votes.  Tune in next week for the third installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.
Feb 16
33 min
Democracy on Trial, Part One: A Blueprint For the Case Against Trump
With the 2024 presidential race underway, FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. In this special audio version of Democracy on Trial, veteran political filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team examine the House Jan. 6 committee’s evidence, the historic charges against Trump and the threat to democracy. In this first installment, former President Donald Trump is charged with crimes in office — an unprecedented event in American history. The Jan. 6 Select Committee report starts to build a case against former President Donald Trump, which will go on to become a blueprint for special counsel Jack Smith. And a central question emerges for the committee: What did former President Trump know about the 2020 election results, and when did he know it? Tune in next week for the second installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.
Feb 9
45 min
‘Democracy on Trial’ Director on the Roots of Federal Charges Against Trump
Democracy on Trial is a 2.5-hour documentary special from FRONTLINE that examines the roots and implications of the unprecedented charges against former president Donald Trump in connection with the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Drawing on interviews with elected officials, former government lawyers, House Select Committee witnesses and former committee staffers, authors and journalists, the documentary — which is being released in audio form via The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast in the coming weeks — shows how the work of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack forms a blueprint for the federal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Director Michael Kirk, a longtime FRONTLINE filmmaker, joins host Raney Aronson-Rath, editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE, to talk about the case against Trump; the defense strategy of the former president, who has pleaded not guilty; and reporting this story in a deeply divided country. As this unusual election year unfolds, watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App, and listen to the multi-part audio version of the documentary starting today on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.
Feb 9
19 min
Reconstructing the Uvalde Shooting Response
The May 2022 gun massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas left 19 children and two teachers dead. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Inside the Uvalde Response, a recent documentary from FRONTLINE, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, probes the chaotic police response to the shooting and sheds new light on law enforcement’s thoughts and actions as the tragedy unfolded. Among the revelations: Students and teachers at the school had practiced active shooter drills and knew what to do, but scores of law enforcement officers who responded that day did not. Lomi Kriel, a reporter with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Unit, and director Juanita Ceballos join The FRONTLINE Dispatch to discuss how they used hundreds of hours of body cam footage and officer interviews to reconstruct one of the most criticized mass shooting responses in recent history, and examine what went wrong. “I think one thing that makes this very different is that for prior mass shootings — Parkland, Pulse, others — we just don't necessarily… have this kind of information, both body camera footage, 911 calls, interviews with officers — to actually know how those responses happened.” Kriel says that while the Uvalde community awaits fuller answers from the district attorney investigating the law enforcement response, FRONTLINE, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune’s  reporting provides at least “one comprehensive accounting of what happened that day” You can watch Inside the Uvalde Response on FRONTLINE’s website, FRONTLINE’s YouTube Channel, and the PBS App. Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.
Jan 4
17 min
Underage Workers in New England’s Seafood Processing Industry
Journalists with The Public’s Radio, a station serving Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, spent two years investigating teen labor in the local seafood processing industry. Their investigation, supported by FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism initiative, reveals flaws in systems designed to protect migrant teens, who’ve arrived at the U.S. southern border in unprecedented numbers in recent years. The investigative team interviewed migrant teens and their families, and uncovered that the U.S. Department of Labor was investigating at least two New Bedford, MA, seafood processors, as well as a Rhode Island staffing agency, for possible child labor, overtime pay, and anti-retaliation violations. In this episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch, reporters Nadine Sebai and Nina Sparling from The Public’s Radio join FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath to discuss their findings. Sebai and Sparling say they sought to illustrate the complexities of what happens to underage migrants after they arrive on the nation's southern border — especially the challenges they face.  Sebai says, "We've all seen... the waves of kids migrating to the border, unaccompanied minors coming to the border. But they actually end up somewhere in the U.S.” For more, read and listen to The Public Radio’s investigation “Underage and Unprotected,” supported by FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative. Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.
Dec 14, 2023
23 min
Documenting the Siege of Mariupol (re-release)
20 Days in Mariupol is an unflinching, first-hand account of the early days of Russia’s invasion of the port city of Mariupol, which remains under Russian occupation to this day. Ukrainian-born director and journalist Mstyslav Chernov and his colleagues from the Associated Press were the last international journalists to remain in Mariupol as Russian troops attacked. His new film, from FRONTLINE and the AP, draws on Chernov’s news dispatches and his reflections as he documented the devastation of his home country for the world to see. Chernov sat down with FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath and editor and producer Michelle Mizner in February 2023, as we marked the grim anniversary of the war in Ukraine. In this episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch, recorded at the Boston Public Library, Chernov recounts the decision to go to Mariupol, how he and Mizner created a documentary feature from his Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism, and what he hopes people will take away from the film — today, and in years to come. “I know that we form our understanding of the current events of the world around us by watching news and consuming news,” Chernov said. “ But [we] form our understanding of our past with documentary films… Film is a medium which carries meaning across time, for generations to come.” An earlier version of this episode was published in July. You can watch 20 Days in Mariupol on FRONTLINE’s website, FRONTLINE’s YouTube Channel, the PBS App, and the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel. Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.
Nov 30, 2023
22 min
The Big Dig, Part 1: We Were Wrong (GBH News)
The FRONTLINE Dispatch presents The Big Dig, Part 1: “We Were Wrong.” The Big Dig is a new 9-part podcast series from GBH News, hosted by Ian Coss. There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure — whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind — it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore. No one project embodies that cynicism quite like Boston’s Big Dig. Infamous for its ever-increasing price tag, this massive highway tunneling effort became a symbol of waste and corruption. Yet the project delivered on its promise to transform the city. So how did the narrative go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can the Big Dig offer for the ambitious projects of today? You can listen all nine episodes of The Big Dig at GBH News, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Nov 23, 2023
53 min
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