The World Is Watching

Directed by

Peter Raymont

Genre

documentary film

Country

Canada

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary looks at how an ABC News crew covered the Nicaraguan Revolution in the 1980s. It shows the production deadlines and other pressures that limited what the network could report about a key announcement from President Daniel Ortega.

informativeobservationalthoughtfulstraightforwardfocusedanalyticalgroundedneutral

What happens

The World Is Watching is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Peter Raymont and released in 1988. The film examines media coverage of the Nicaraguan Revolution through the lens of an ABC News crew on the ground in the country, documenting the various production pressures and limitations that can hamper the efforts of journalists to fully and accurately report a story; its thesis hinges in part on the fact that Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega's key announcement that he would negotiate with the Contras was made only after the network's news production deadline for the day, leaving the network's initial reports on ABC World News Tonight able to report that he had made a speech but almost completely unable to say anything informative about it. The film was made with the full participation and support of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings. Produced for TVOntario and Britain's Channel 4, the film premiered at the 1988 Festival of Festivals. It was subsequently screened at the 1989 Berlin Film Festival, where it received an honorable mention for the Peace Award. It won the Genie Award for Best Short Documentary Film at the 10th Genie Awards in 1989. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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