NOW on PBS

NOW
Genre	News/Documentary
Created by	John Siceloff
Presented by	Bill Moyers (January 18, 2002 - December 17, 2004) David Brancaccio Host (January 7, 2005 - April 30, 2010, previously co-host 2003-2005) Maria Hinojosa Senior Correspondent
Theme music composer	Douglas J. Cuomo
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Siceloff
Running time	52 minutes (2002-2004) 23 minutes (2005-2010)
Broadcast
Original channel	PBS
Original run	January 18, 2002 (2002-01-18) – April 30, 2010 (2010-04-30)
External links
Website

NOW was a Public Broadcasting Service newsmagazine that focused on social and political issues.

History

First airing in January 2002, and originally called NOW with Bill Moyers, the program was launched as a collaboration between NPR news and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The program featured documentary reporting, interviews and commentary on current events. Bill Moyers served initially as sole host of the program while NPR reporters and commentators produced individual segments for the hour long-program.

In the autumn of 2003, David Brancaccio was introduced as a co-host. In 2004, Kenneth Tomlinson, the Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, paid an outside consultant $14,000 to watch NOW with Bill Moyers and analyze the politics of the show. The study was not approved by the CPB. After the study became public in 2005, the CPB-funded NPR, among other organizations, criticized the resulting study as being full of errors and a waste of money.^{[1] [2]}

In the summer of 2004 the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that it would no longer provide funding for NOW. Moyers subsequently announced that he would leave the show after the 2004 U.S. elections and appeared for the last time on December 17, 2004. After his departure, the show was reduced to a half hour.

Maria Hinojosa is credited as a senior correspondent for the show while presenting many investigative pieces. She and Brancaccio are the only two presenters and usually alternate segments.

In November 2009 it was announced that the program had been canceled, and its last episode aired on April 30, 2010.^[3]

Awards

In 2008 NOW was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award, Overseas Press Club for a story on child brides. NOW on PBS was also awarded a National Business EmmyAward in 2007 and a National News Emmy Award for best newsmagazine segment in 2004.

References

1. ^ David Folkenflik (2005-06-30). "CPB Memos Indicate Level of Monitoring". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4724317. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
2. ^ "Bill Moyers Responds to CPB’s Tomlinson Charges of Liberal Bias: “We Were Getting it Right, But Not Right Wing”". Democracy Now. 2005-05-15. http://www.democracynow.org/2005/5/16/bill_moyers_responds_to_cpbs_tomlinson. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
3. ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (November 21, 2009). "Bill Moyers to Leave Weekly Television". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/arts/television/21arts-BILLMOYERSTO_BRF.html. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 

External links

• Official website
• NOW 2005
• NOW at TV Guide
• NOW at the Internet Movie Database
• NOW at TV.com