One of the more disturbing Frontline episodes we've seen, AIDS, Blood & Politics is a hard-hitting exposé of foot-dragging and gross negligence in the blood bank industry which led to the loss of many lives to AIDS through blood transfusions. Filmmaker Carole Langer traces the history of AIDS (originally known as GRID, or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency), citing medical cases as early as 1982 that demonstrated that the HIV virus was transmitted through the blood. "1983 and 1984 were the lost years," says Donald Francis, formerly of the Center for Disease Control. Francis and others were strong proponents--to no avail--in the early 80s for having blood banks screen potential donors for hepatitis-B (which had an 88% correlation with HIV-infected patients) until a more specific antibody test could be designed. In 1985, the HIV antibody test finally became available, but due to either indifference, stinginess, or incredible oversight, blood banks were not required to test inventory, only new donors. Contaminated blood continued to find its way into hospitals throughout the late 1980 (the video interviews one elderly man who contracted the HIV virus from a transfusion in 1989). Repeated violations of federal regulations by blood banks resulted in the FDA winning an injunction against the American Red Cross (which now operates under stricter laws), yet some blood banks are scoring miserably on inspections, even today. An excellent piece of investigative reporting.Behind the Badge, presented by journalist Jack Newfield, looks at police culture in New York, focusing on two recent high profile cases. One was the controversial shooting of Jose Garcia by detective Michael O'Keefe who claimed that he shot Garcia in self-defense during a struggle. The incident sparked riots over police brutality which were fed, in part, by irresponsible reporting (the Daily News ran a headline reading: "He Begged For Life," an incendiary remark that proved to be false), and poor politics on the part of then mayor David Dinkins (who let New Yorkers foot the funeral bill, and later discovered that Garcia was a drug-dealing felon). It's a rather frightening case of the new "people power" that responds quickly and emotionally to instantaneous news (for more on this, see Michael O'Neill's illuminating 1993 book The Roar of the Crowd). The second case deals with Sgt. Joseph Trimboli's constantly thwarted campaign to uncover corruption in the NYPD. Although the two stories don't really mesh together, Behind the Badge does offer insights into the volatile triangle of police, people, and press."I'm bad," crooned Michael Jackson on the title cut of his 1987 bestselling album. And, over the holiday season of 1993, the tabs--both newspaper (National Enquirer, News of the World, etc.) and TV (Hard Copy, a Current Affair) had a heyday asking "how bad?" In the wake of accusations by a 13-year-old boy concerning Jackson's alleged sexual abuse, a journalistic feeding frenzy of mega proportions ensued. The first half of Tabloid Truth: The Michael Jackson Scandal basically traces the one-upmanship amongst the various scandal mongerers to dig up new and ever juicier details. Around such new journalistic credos as "a story is just a headline, a headline that has to sell," and "we'll take a shred of evidence and turn it into a story," the program follows the burgeoning Jackson scandal and its ever increasing roster of players. The worst of it is that we already know that the tabs are a racket (does anyone honestly turn to National Enquirer as their first source for the news?), so there's no real shock here and we also already know that money is the most popular behind the scenes lubricant there is, so the fact that tabs pay for stories doesn't faze us either. Where Tabloid Truth redeems itself, however, is in the second half, when the connections with the major networks are explored. Here, some of the more serious questions are asked, like: has truth truly taken a backseat to commodity?. As the police investigated the Jackson case, they found themselves following the tabs and the networks because witnesses such as the Quindoys or LeMarques who worked as domestic helpers for Jackson came forward to the press first, selling their story to the highest bidder. Eventually Jackson himself settled out of court for some $20 million. Whether justice was served may never be known; the more frightening question is whether justice can ever be served when alleged criminal offenses are treated as entertainment. a strong second half saves Tabloid Truth from being little more than a rehash of the obvious.AIDS, Blood & Politics is highly recommended. Behind the Badge and Tabloid Truth: The Michael Jackson Scandal are recommended. (R. Pitman)
Frontline: AIDS, Blood & Politics; Frontline: Behind the Badge; Frontline: Tabloid Truth--The Michael Jackson Scandal
(1993) 60 min. $69.95. PBS Video. PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned. Vol. 9, Issue 3
Frontline: AIDS, Blood & Politics; Frontline: Behind the Badge; Frontline: Tabloid Truth--The Michael Jackson Scandal
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