Jonathan Storm: Story behind WHYY's airing of 'The Surge'

On Friday at 10:30 p.m., WHYY TV12 airs "The Surge: The Untold Story," a 35-minute documentary about President Bush's 2007 troop buildup in Iraq.

Subtle in its political message, well-written and beautifully made, the film tells the story of the surge from the point of view of its commanders and some of the soldiers on the ground. It is a testament to the military and suited to a spot on the Independence Day weekend schedule.

But the untold story of "The Surge," and WHYY's plans to sponsor a live panel discussion featuring Elizabeth Cheney, the former vice president's daughter - which has since been called off - is in many ways more notable than the documentary itself.

And so is the presence of the film on a station that has little original prime-time programming.

The film was produced by communications companies that work predominantly for the GOP and was financed by an ambassador who served in the Bush administration.

Two of the film's producers, the Stevens and Schriefer Group and Red October Productions, boast on their websites that they helped turn New Jersey from blue to red with the campaign of Gov. Christie and produced the keynote video at the 2004 GOP convention.

To accompany the airing, the station planned a live panel discussion for Thursday hosted by the Lancaster philanthropist and former ambassador Marilyn Ware.

The panel, almost identical to one that accompanied the film's premiere in November at the National Press Club in Washington, was canceled; the station is considering revisiting it in the fall.

The decision to scrap the panel came in the second week in June, according to a publicist for the film, and followed a protest by retired psychology professor Curtis Thomsen of Doylestown, a member of the station's Mercury Society Silver Circle, open to those who donate at least $2,500 annually. Thomsen vowed to cut off his contributions and write the station out of a $200,000 bequest in his will, and he sent a mass e-mail to other WHYY supporters decrying a "Republican Takeover of WHYY."

Art Ellis, WHYY executive director of communications and brand management, said the decision was based on low response and not on any outcry.

Thomsen also called on the station to cancel the film.

That's not going to happen, said Christine Dempsey, WHYY vice president and chief content officer. She said there might be a case when the station removed a program from its schedule, but this wouldn't be it. "It depends on what the show is and how many viewers are protesting."

Dempsey said the film was brought to her attention by "a viewer," and that, unlike many works from local filmmakers, "it came to me as a completed program."

The major problem for most documentaries produced by small, independent filmmakers - many of whom are left-leaning - is money. Not so for "The Surge." In addition to SSG and Red October, Ware found the Institute for the Study of War to produce the film. It bills itself as a "non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization . . . committed to improving the nation's ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats.. . ."

It's much more difficult for local independent filmmakers to deliver a finished film, said Dempsey, who has worked with "a couple of different filmmakers, writing letters of intent to try to raise the funds that they need to finish their film."

"One of the things that I really want to do is give local filmmakers a place where they can show their work, but something has got to come to me as a completed program."

Dempsey said she liked "The Surge" because it was a "well-produced film with a nontraditional point of view that we don't really put on frequently." She said it should be judged in the context of the station's entire schedule, not just the programs aired individually by WHYY.

To the criticism that PBS's overall schedule contains several left-leaning series, she said, "I think it's important for PBS member stations to show many different views."

And "The Surge" presents one of them - that counterinsurgency missions primarily providing security and seeking to befriend the local citizenry should be the face of modern warfare.

Containing mostly footage and stills from Iraq and commentary by military commanders, the movie does have a few worshipful shots of President Bush, and it's filled with sensitively patriotic music that may help to diminish any possible negative response.

Ware, a longtime GOP supporter, said she gradually became aware of the importance and success of the surge strategy when she was ambassador to Finland. She said that even among some military people there was a "perceived lack of understanding of the rationale of the surge" and that she thought it important to tell the story of this "new military/diplomatic concept."

Thomsen and other critics contend that the station programmed "The Surge" because of ties between Ware and WHYY chief executive and president William Marrazzo, or because of a substantial contribution to the station by the former ambassador.

Ware and station executives deny both allegations.

Ware acknowledged that she has known Marrazzo "on and off for years." She said that was unrelated to the airing of the documentary. "I have less access to WHYY than half the people in the city of Philadelphia," she said.

Ware was formerly chairwoman of American Water Works. Marrazzo, who was commissioner at the Philadelphia Water Department before joining WHYY, serves on the board of a successor company to Ware's.

"I had absolutely nothing to do with that," Ware emphasized, saying Marrazzo's water company job occurred after her company was sold years ago and she had divested all her stock.

Ellis said Marrazzo would not comment on "The Surge" controversy.

WHYY acknowledged that Ware had offered to provide some of the money to pay for the public panel ("I was not a very generous donor. I was a small donor," she says), but Ellis flatly denied that she had contributed substantially to the station or its capital fund.

Jason Killian Meath, who cowrote and directed the film for SSG and now works for another Washington communications company, said viewers should not base judgments on the credentials of the filmmakers. "Washington is a little different from Hollywood or New York. People who touch films are likely to have some kind of political background."

Meath himself is an example. He has worked on programs for USA Network, the Discovery Channel, and ABC Family, and recently wrote an online piece saying President Obama could use Sarah Palin to work on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Of "The Surge," he said: "There was some great length taken by everyone involved to take as much of the politics as possible out of it."

In 2010 that may not be possible, but if WHYY had more original programming, documentaries would speak with many voices and a program such as "The Surge" might not seem so unusual - or become such a lightning rod. As one of the nation's major local public broadcasters, with a budget of well over $20 million, WHYY should go beyond simply taking well-made films, no matter how timely, and provide money itself for local filmmakers.

Television

The Surge: The Untold Story

10:30 p.m. Friday on WHYY TV12