FRONTLINE, the award-winning PBS investigative documentary series based at GBH in Boston, today announced the selection of filmmakers for the Investigative Journalist Equity Initiative (IJEI), a new effort aimed at increasing diversity in the documentary filmmaking landscape.
The initiative is generously supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Abrams Foundation, PBS and GBH.
“We are proud to support these mid-career journalists and investigative documentary storytellers as they seek out compelling stories to bring to PBS audiences,” said Raney Aronson-Rath, editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE.
“We are grateful to The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Abrams Foundation for their generous support of this new enterprise; to GBH and PBS for continually championing FRONTLINE as it diversifies and expands its storytelling ranks; and to our partners at the National Multicultural Alliance,” Aronson-Rath added.
The journalist-filmmakers in the IJEI’s first cohort will receive support for the full trajectory of the documentary filmmaking process from FRONTLINE’s senior editorial team – collaborating with the journalists from the earliest stages of research and development, through production, distribution, and promotion. The journalists will also work inside production companies FRONTLINE works with, including The Documentary Group, Left/Right, Maxine Productions and Trilogy Films, expanding their expertise on the business side of documentary filmmaking, with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of production companies led by individuals from underrepresented groups.
The six journalists selected for the IJEI’s inaugural cohort:
· Juanita Ceballos is a documentary producer and filmmaker who has extensive experience working in the U.S. and abroad, with bylines in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Ukraine. She has covered sensitive topics, including Colombia’s civil conflict, police brutality in the United States, and the refugee crisis in Venezuela. Her work has appeared on VICE, HBO, Showtime, Telemundo, Al Jazeera, Univision, NBC News, TIME, Narratively, and The New York Times. Ceballos will partner with The Documentary Group, a two-time Academy Award-nominated production company.
· Jonathan Clasberry is an Afro-Tejano filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. He has produced documentary series for Netflix, CNN, and Epix, collaborating with journalistic outlets like The New York Times and world-renowned journalists such as Christiane Amanpour. He has also produced documentary features that have screened at film festivals around the world. His list of credits includes High on the Hog: How African American Food Transformed America; Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown; Fiasco, a documentary-series examining the Iran-Contra scandal; and, most recently, The 1619 Project, premiering this month on Hulu. Clasberry will work with the production company Left/Right.
· Lora Moftah is a reporter, producer and director with over a decade of journalism experience across print and television. Moftah’s work has appeared on ABC, Al Jazeera, CNN and most recently on The New York Times Presents, the award-winning documentary series from The New York Times, Left/Right, FX and Hulu. She produced multiple films for the series, including The Killing of Breonna Taylor, To Live and Die in Alabama, and They Get Brave. Her most recent film for the series, Superspreader, which she also directed, was about the proliferation of COVID vaccine misinformation online. Moftah also helped to develop, launch and produce The Weekly documentary series on FX and Hulu, where she worked on stories about U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the rise of Deepfake technology, and election disinformation campaigns. Moftah is currently working with Maxine Productions, a newly launched film and television production company in Sony Pictures Television’s nonfiction group.
· Serginho Roosblad is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker who is part of the Associated Press’ Global Investigations team. At the AP, he has worked on a variety of investigative short documentaries, including on police use of force on children, Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, and a contaminated former army base, which might have caused cancer in hundreds of veterans. As a lover of photography, Roosblad has also directed and produced a trio of award-winning films on prolific photographers in America. Prior to his work in documentary film, he spent much of his early career in journalism reporting on Africa, where he covered a wide range of topics such as drug addiction in Uganda, piracy in Somalia, and the musical heritage of Zanzibar. For his documentary, Roosblad will partner with the production company Trilogy Films.
· Patty Talahongva is a Hopi journalist, documentary producer, and news executive. She was the first Native American anchor of a national news program in the United States and is involved in Native American youth and community development projects. A past president of the Native American Journalists Association, she was the recipient of their Medill Milestone Achievement Award. In 2019, she was hired by Indian Country Today to create the first national television newscast produced by an all-Indigenous news staff and focused on Indigenous Peoples. As an independent journalist, she produced several documentaries including one for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on American Indian code talkers; a series of videos for the Native Voices exhibit at the Penn Museum; and Lady Warriors about a girl’s cross-country team at a high school on the border of the Hopi and Navajo reservations.
· Xinyan Yu is an award-winning video journalist and filmmaker based in Washington D.C. Yu began her journalism career working as a producer for BBC News, covering breaking news across Asia in Beijing. In 2018, she launched the North America video team for Hong Kong’s flagship English newspaper South China Morning Post in New York as its senior video producer. She later rejoined the BBC in 2020 as a senior video journalist covering the U.S. from Washington D.C. Yu has directed, produced and shot content from short news features to hour-long documentaries for the BBC, CNBC, NOVA (PBS) and Channel NewsAsia. She is a New America National Fellow, a Firelight Media Doc Lab fellow, a Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist fellow and an alumnus of the Yaddo Residency.
“We are inspired by the work that these talented filmmakers have already done and look forward to collaborating with them at FRONTLINE,” said Nina Chaudry, Senior Series Producer.
The IJEI is in partnership with the National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA), an alliance of five nonprofit organizations — Latino Public Broadcasting, Black Public Media, Vision Maker Media, Pacific Islanders in Communication, and the Center for Asian American Media — that are dedicated to bringing unique voices and perspectives from diverse communities to all aspects of public broadcasting.
“FRONTLINE is the gold standard when it comes to investigative reporting and editorial integrity,” said Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB. “CPB is proud to support the Investigative Journalist Equity Initiative ensuring that journalists from underrepresented communities have more opportunities to apply their talents to longform documentaries.”
“FRONTLINE continues to set the standard for journalistic excellence with their Investigative Journalist Equity Initiative,” said Paula Kerger, PBS President and CEO. “We are very focused on what stories are told on our screens, and by whom, and this initiative will help provide a wider range of voices and perspectives. PBS is proud to support this effort and we look forward to the work that will be done by the inaugural cohort of journalists. ”
“To tell accurate stories of our communities, we have to ensure all voices are heard,” said Susan Goldberg, president and CEO at GBH. “We are proud to advance this initiative to bring unique voices and additional perspectives to the long-form, investigative journalism that FRONTLINE does so well.”
###
ABOUT FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest-running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 104 Emmy Awards and 28 Peabody Awards. Today, pbs.org/frontline remains one of PBS’s most popular general-audience sites with over 300 full-length documentaries available free to stream anywhere, anytime. FRONTLINE stands alone in providing the breadth and depth of coverage needed to understand our world. Our long-form documentaries and approaches to innovative storytelling have bolstered the series’ reputation for fairness, accuracy, credibility, and transparency.
ABOUT CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit
cpb.org, follow us on Twitter
@CPBmedia,
Facebook and
LinkedIn and
subscribe for other updates.
ABOUT THE ABRAMS FOUNDATION
The Abrams Foundation, based in Boston, was founded by Amy and David Abrams in 1997. Its mission is to nurture creative, deeply informed communities, while promoting equity and fairness. Grant making is concentrated in three areas: journalism and narrative, arts and creativity, and access and opportunity.
ABOUT PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature, and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirms that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math, and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV — including a 24/7 channel — online at
pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps, and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at
PBS.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following
PBS on Twitter,
Facebook or through our
apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at
pbs.org/pressroom or by following
PBS Communications on Twitter.
ABOUT GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
High School Quiz Show is endorsed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and the Massachusetts PTA. Major funding for High School Quiz Show is provided by Safety Insurance. Additional funding is provided by the Museum of Science, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Xfinity, UMass Amherst, Eastern Bank and Subaru of New England.
For more information, visit highschoolquizshow.org and follow the show on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH’s local television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH WORLD and GBH Kids. With a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. From Boston to the Berkshires, from Worcester to the Cape and Islands, GBH is dedicated to connecting the Commonwealth through news, programming, learning tools and events. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
