2001 66 min 1-893521-37-0 This film has subtitles English

Framing An Execution

The Media & Mumia Abu-Jamal
Narrated by Danny Glover

or

Synopsis

Narrated by Danny Glover

The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist on Pennsylvania's death row in connection with the death of a police officer, had become by the late 1990s a global symbol of inequities in the U.S. judicial system. The mainstream media could no longer ignore it, but how would they cover such a hotly disputed case and the questions of judicial bias that it raises?

ABC, on its newsmagazine show "20/20," set the journalistic tone for how to cover this controversial story in a special report, "Hollywood's Unlikely Hero." While characterizing the defense as "passionate" and uninformed, ABC star reporter Sam Donaldson claimed to provide the "facts" based on ABC's "four-month investigation of the case."

Framing an Execution examines how Donaldson's framing of the case stands up to the available facts and how it measures up to basic journalistic standards of fairness, balance, and accuracy. This video offers some answers, but also raises disturbing questions about media and judicial ethics.

Introduction | The Eyewitnesses | The Ballistics | The Confession | Outside the Frame | Why the Rush to Execution?

Release Date:2001
Duration:66 min
ISBN:1-893521-37-0
Subtitles:English

Trailers

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Filmmaker Credits

Director
Sut Jhally
Producers
Sut Jhally
Producers
Tom Gardner
Narrator
Danny Glover
Production Manager
Kelly Garner
Camera
Robbie Leppzer
Camera
Kelly Garner
Editors
Sut Jhally
Editors
Kelly Garner
Graphics
Kara Gregson-Goodhind
Music Scoring
Thom Monahan
Research and Script
Tom Gardner
Research and Script
Sut Jhally
Interviewer
Tom Gardner

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