A taped 25-minute panel discussion that is to follow a PBS documentary about Turkey's role in the massacre of Armenians during and after World War I, scheduled to air in April, has prompted protests by thousands of Armenian Americans and two congressmen.
But Angelenos will not get a chance to see either the one-hour film, "The Armenian Genocide" by filmmaker Andrew Goldberg, or the debate featuring two academics who deny that a genocide took place and two who maintain that it did, because KCET-TV does not plan to air them.
Instead, KCET-TV, the PBS station in Los Angeles, which has the largest ethnic Armenian community outside Armenia, will broadcast a French documentary, "Le Genocide Armenien," which the station selected in January, said Bohdan Zachary, executive director of programming.
KCET was not swayed by protests, Zachary said Monday. Station executives, he said, had never planned to air Goldberg's documentary because they preferred the French film's comprehensive take on the topic.
The Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1918 claimed the lives of about 1.2 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern republic of Turkey. The Turkish government disputes that a genocide took place. April has become a time to remember those killed.
"Our decision has nothing to do with the controversy whatsoever," Zachary said. "The approach of the documentary we've selected is much more interesting.... We're spending a lot of money to acquire this film. The easy thing would be to take the PBS film at no cost."
Joining the fray is Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). Schiff is collecting signatures for a petition asking PBS not to air the panel. Weiner held a news conference Saturday urging the same.
"It is a matter of journalistic ethics and academic excellence to hear the historical facts and not give equal time to air the spurious views of those who deny history," Schiff said Monday.
Although more than 14,000 people have signed an online petition urging PBS not to distribute the discussion produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting and taped a month ago, PBS executives have received only about 200 e-mails on the subject, said spokeswoman Lee Sloan. She said PBS has no plans to withhold distribution of the program, but several stations across the nation, including KOCE in Orange County, are choosing to air the documentary without the panel discussion.
