CBS Reports explained

CBS Reports is the umbrella title used for documentaries by CBS News which aired starting in 1959 through the 1990s. The series sometimes aired as a wheel series rotating with 60 Minutes (or other similar CBS News series), as a series of its own, or as specials. The program aired as a constant series from 1959 to 1971.

Origin

CBS Reports premiered on October 27, 1959.[1] It was intended to be a successor to Edward R. Murrow's influential See It Now, which had ended 15 months prior, and employed several members of the See It Now production staff. For the remainder of 1959 and through 1960, CBS Reports was broadcast on an irregular basis as a series of specials.

The network gave CBS Reports a regular primetime slot in January 1961, at 10 p.m. (EST) on Thursdays. That placed it against two "tremendously popular" established shows, The Untouchables on ABC and Sing Along With Mitch on NBC.[2] Consequently, CBS Reports was pre-empted by a high number of CBS affiliates that aired local programming in its timeslot.

When the networks announced their Fall 1962 schedules, Sing Along With Mitch and The Untouchables had been moved from the Thursday 10 p.m. timeslot. However, CBS also decided to move CBS Reports to Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (EST), explaining that "the earlier hour will permit more young people to watch the program." But that move again put the program up against two "consistent rating leaders," The Virginian on NBC and Wagon Train on ABC.

CBS Reports continued to lead the network's Wednesday primetime line-up until Fall 1965, when the network placed Lost In Space in the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday timeslot and moved CBS Reports to Tuesday at 10 p.m., opposite The Fugitive on ABC and NBC's Tuesday Night at the Movies.[3]

Notable episodes

CBS Reports received a Peabody Award in 1960 for the episode "Harvest of Shame", which examined the lives of migrant workers in the United States.[4] CBS Reports also received Peabody Awards for Storm Over the Supreme Court, KKK - The Invisible Empire, The Poisoned Air, Hunger in America, The Battle for South Africa, The Boston Goes to China, The Vanishing Family - Crisis in Black America, D-Day, and, in 1979, Roger Mudd's interview with Ted Kennedy.[5]

1961's Biography of a Bookie Joint, which documented an illegal bookmaking establishment in Boston, was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Program of the Year.[6] Boston Police Commissioner Leo J. Sullivan was forced to resign after the episode, which showed members of his department visiting the gambling establishment.[7]

, which aired in 1967, was the first time homosexuality was presented on a national network broadcast.[8] "The Homosexuals" was praised for debunking negative stereotypes, but also condemned for generalizations and promoting other stereotypes.[9] [10] LGBT activist Wayne Besen called "The Homosexuals" "the single most destructive hour of antigay propaganda in our nation's history."[11] Gay Power, Gay Politics, which aired in 1980, was also criticized for unfairly misrepresenting a number of sexual issues, reinforcing stereotypes, and making homosexuals appear as threats to public decency.[12] CBS later apologized for manipulating the soundtrack of a speech made by San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein[13] the first time that the LGBT community had received an apology from a major news organization.[12]

In 1982, General William Westmoreland sued George Crile III, Mike Wallace, and CBS for libel after the network aired The Uncounted Enemy, which contended that Westmoreland had manipulated intelligence reports about enemy strength in order to create the impression of progress.[14] Westmoreland dropped his lawsuit, Westmoreland v. CBS; however, CBS lost its libel insurance over the case.[15]

Revivals

The CBS Reports banner was brought back into use in 2009, with the series CBS Reports: Children of the Recession. Instead of being a stand-alone documentary, the new incarnation consisted of reports across all CBS News platforms. Katie Couric led coverage. The series of reports won the a Columbia School of Journalism Alfred DuPont Award. In January 2010, a second Couric-led series aired, CBS Reports: Where America Stands.

In 2016, CBSN streaming service launched CBSN Originals, a documentary series sponsored by pharmaceutical company Pfizer.[16] Adam Yamaguchi, who before joining CBSN served as an executive producer and a correspondent for award-winning[17] Vanguard series on Current TV, became executive producer and a correspondent for the project.[18] Yamaguchi noted in an interview that unlike linear TV, streaming television allows the stories to be as short, or as long, as they need to be and provides incredible creative freedom. The same journalistic rigor is applied to the reporting irrespective of the format and platform.[19]

In 2022, the CBSN Originals project was rebranded as CBS Reports.[20] Each CBS Reports documentary "takes a deep dive into key issues driving national and global conversations. The stories cover a wide range of topics such as the ripple effects of America’s culture wars, climate change, the rise in extremism, the economic shifts impacting communities to countries and the ways technologies are both saving and threatening humanity".[21]

CBSN Originals/CBS Reports episodes

Source:[22]

Season 1

For the first season Paramount+ website shows four episodes,[22] TV Guide shows five episodes,[23] while CBSN YouTube playlist shows six episodes.[24] The latter has been used for the list below.

Episode Number Stream date Episode title Correspondent Description Duration
1 N/A Les Banlieues: Seeds of Terror 8 min
2 March 18, 2016 Molenbeek: Terror recruiting ground Vladimir Duthiers 8 min
3 April 11, 2016 Terror in Brussels: Hiding in Plain Sight Vladimir Duthiers 11 min
4 June 2, 2016 Why some Latinos are supporting Donald Trump 49 min
5 November 6, 2016 Big Pot: The Commercial Takeover 33 min
6 N/A Haiti: A Homegrown Recovery Vladimir Duthiers 16 min

Season 2

Episode Number Stream date Episode title Correspondent Description Duration
1 February 9, 2017 America's CEO: The 45th President Panel of experts 52 min
2 February 27, 2017 America: Manufacturing Hope 20 min
3 March 27, 2017 Gender: The Space Between N/A 31 min
4 May 7, 2017 Nepal : The Lost Girls 21 min
5 June 19, 2017 America: Redefining Hope Jamie Yuccas 1 hr 2 min
6 September 12, 2017 Thicker Than Water N/A 22 min
7 October 9, 2017 Darien Gap: Desperate Journey to America Adam Yamaguchi 28 min
8 October 30, 2017 Portland: Race Against the Past N/A 29 min
9 November 8, 2017 Playing God Adam Yamaguchi 24 min

Season 3

Episode Number Stream date Episode title Correspondent Description Duration
1 January 29, 2018 The Wall: A Nation Divided 26 min
2 February 26, 2018 Weaponizing Social Media: The Rohingya Crisis Adam Yamaguchi 29 min
3 March 24, 2018 Grassroots in Alabama: An Emerging Women's Movement N/A 25 min
4 April 29, 2018 Replacing Humans: Robots Among Us Adam Yamaguchi 35 min
5 May 19, 2018 Adapt or Die Adam Yamaguchi 22 min
6 June 7, 2018 Seeking Asylum: An Immigrant's Journey to America Adam Yamaguchi 24 min
7 June 21, 2018 Expedition Antarctica N/A 27 min
8 July 22, 2018 Out of Aleppo ByKids 26 min
9 August 24, 2018 Cryptocurrency: Virtual Money, Real Power 21 min
10 September 21, 2018 Puerto Rico: The Exodus After Hurricane Maria 22 min
11 October 24, 2018 Burmese Python Invasion: Fighting Invasive Species Adam Yamaguchi 27 min
12 November 16, 2018 North Korea: The Art of Surviving Sanctions Adam Yamaguchi
13 December 20, 2018 Esports: The Price of the Grind Errol Barnett 23 min

Season 4

Episode Number Stream date Episode title Correspondent Description Duration
1 January 17, 2019 Families in crisis: Illegal immigration Adam Yamaguchi 23 min
2 February 21, 2019 Priced out: L.A.'s hidden homeless Adam Yamaguchi 25 min (YouTube version: 10 min)
3 March 8, 2019 Zika: Children of the outbreak Elaine Quijano 23 min
4 March 29, 2019 Border business: Inside immigration Adam Yamaguchi 38 min
5 April 12, 2019 (Un)Welcome: Sweden's rise of the right Adam Yamaguchi 23 min
6 April 26, 2019 Sex. Consent. Education 23 min
7 May 10, 2019 Clinging to coal: West Virginia's fight over green jobs Adam Yamaguchi 24 min
8 May 23, 2019 Period. Half the population has one. But no one talks about it. 22 min
9 June 6, 2019 Trophy hunting: Killing or conservation? Adam Yamaguchi 24 min
10 June 27, 2019 Fake news, real consequences: The woman fighting disinformation Adam Yamaguchi 23 min
11 July 11, 2019 Powerless: The high cost of cheap gas23 min
12 July 26, 2019 A climate reckoning in the heartland Adam Yamaguchi 23 min
13 August 23, 2019 Kid influencers: Few rules, big money 23 min
14 Sept 5, 2019 Drinking culture: American kids and the danger of being cool 23 min
15 Oct 4, 2019 The perils of private prison health care 25 min
17 Oct 24, 2019 Speaking Frankly: Non-monogamy 23 min
18 Oct 31, 2019 Speaking Frankly: Child Marriage 23 min
19 Nov 14, 2019 Speaking Frankly: Porn 23 min
20 Nov 21, 2019 Speaking Frankly: Title IX 23 min
21 December 5, 2019 Speaking Frankly: Raising Boys 23 min

See also

Notes and References

  1. [Tim Brooks (television historian)|Brooks, Tim]
  2. Harding, Henry. (1962, April 28-May 4). For The Record. TV Guide, New York State Edition, p. 14-1.
  3. [Tim Brooks (television historian)|Brooks, Tim]
  4. Web site: Peabody Awards - CBS Reports, The Harvest of Shame . CBS.
  5. Web site: List of Peabody Award winners (1990-1999) . PeabodyAwards.com . 2018-03-18 . 2013-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130425060054/http://peabodyawards.com/past-winners/peabody-search/?pb_query=199*&pb_year=1&pb_search=1&submit=Search+Now . dead .
  6. Web site: Emmys.com – list of Nominees & Winners. https://web.archive.org/web/20180318123451/http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=&field_celebrity_details_field_display_name=&field_show_details_field_nominee_show_nr_title=&field_show_details_field_network=All&field_show_details_field_production_company=All&field_nominations_year=1949-01-01+00:00:00&field_nominations_year_1=2015-01-01+00:00:00&field_nomination_category=25133&submit=Search . 2018-03-18 .
  7. News: Wysocki, Ronald. Bonner Delivers Sullivan's Letter. The Boston Globe. March 16, 1962.
  8. Castañeda, Laura, and Campbell, Shannon B. (2005). News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity. SAGE.
  9. Johnson, Phylis, and Keith, Michael C. (2001). Queer Airwaves: The Story of Gay and Lesbian Broadcasting. M. E. Sharpe
  10. Tropiano, Stephen (2002). The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV. Hal Leonard Corporation
  11. Besen, p. 1 Besen, Wayne R. (2003). Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-gay Myth. Haworth Press
  12. Alwood, Edward (1998). Straight News. Columbia University Press
  13. News: Harris. Harry. Media Bites Back: It's not all applause for watchdog agency. St. Petersburg Independent. 12-B. Knight-Ridder. 1980-12-01. 2008-12-01.
  14. Book: Christianson, Stephen G. 1994. Great American Trials. Visible Ink Press. Detroit, MI. 738–740. 0-8103-9134-1.
  15. Encyclopedia: Uncounted Enemy, The . 2007-11-14 . Tom Mascaro . The Encyclopedia of Television . . https://web.archive.org/web/20020620063845/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/U/htmlU/uncountedene/uncountedene.htm . 2002-06-20 . dead .
  16. Web site: Keys. Matthew. 25 November 2019. Documentaries to air regularly on streaming news channel CBSN.
  17. http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/the-oxycontin-express 69th Annual Peabody Awards
  18. Web site: Adam Yamaguchi (LinkedIn). 2021-03-11.
  19. Web site: Katz . A.J. . CBSN journalists love storytelling for digital— 'It provides incredible creative freedom' . TVNewser . March 8, 2023 . May 20, 2018.
  20. Web site: Steinberg . Brian . CBS Raises Stakes in TV's Broadband News Battle: Top Anchors Will Tackle New Streaming Shows . Variety . January 24, 2022 . January 24, 2022.
  21. Web site: About CBS Reports. Paramount+.
  22. Web site: CBS Reports . 22 June 2023 . CBS.
  23. Web site: CBSN Originals Season 1 Episodes.
  24. Web site: CBSN Originals : Season 1 (YouTube). .