The first item that is the complaint. Concerning a birthday party which was filmed as part of the documentary Newman Edwin Newman who was the reporter as they called and also said every so often some public figure whines up and tells us that our children of the future. That's true. Of course. It's also true that by the influence we have on our children. We helped to shape that future certainly parents here in Marin County are helping to shape it by the ideas and attitudes and values that they are now passing along. This is a birthday party for two more encounter youngsters 110. The other eleven party was arranged by Mill Valley for on the Promises to make dreams come true at a price $225 at the fantasy these youngsters wanted to live out on their birthday. This is only a birthday party. These are only children and this is Only Make Believe to have learned their lesson about the power of money like the millionaires. I hope someday to be The complaint charge the party was staged for television as a promotion Venture the children with a sons of the two women who run the service called dream agent and there was a mistake at least no charge of $225. the complaint charge the to publicize their service and to think two of their boys who share a birthday the women's set up the Richie Rich comic book see my favorite character of the two boys invited the media in The Proprietors are Freemasons told the council staff. The party was arranged as a promotion of it all Bay Area media were invited Edition NBC one of the San Rafael Independent Journal came it ran a picture with a caption. One of the women went on to say the dream agent has arranged many birthday parties in the year. They've been operating some modest some expensive. She said this particular type of party stressing the money thing. I've never been tried before nor has anyone bought the service NBC reply. The birthday party was an event that would suppress was invited in order to publicize the availability of such a birthday party for dream agents is sponsoring firm something which is the local paper that the first carried in his boxers criticism. I take it or at least counter-attack the documentary Richie Rich birthday party was a real birthday party and according to the press release issued by dream agents of the time is commercially available for a fee so said NBC The conclusion the grievance committee was the council should State as follows. The Proprietors of dream agents told the council with the birthday party was staged for promotional purposes. NBC's producer say they did not know that the party was held subject to television coverage. The program's producers saw the part. He is fitting in with the program's thrust which was the title of the program. I want it all now. The council believes NBC should have been aware of the fact that this was a press promotion and the public should have been informed of that fact. Part 2 teacher Fred mid-tower appeared on camera immediately after the birthday party sequence saying I would describe these children as typical Marin County Children. Yes Newman at them and set up a school these youngsters attend. We spoke with their teacher Fred mid-tower with our went on 75% of our class is from single-parent home to this is definitely this anger are we deal with this in class all the time? One of the things we do is create an extended family environment for the children can express their feelings and deal with the feelings for their home life. The complaint was myth are compacted producer to Cole about filming his class a special one covering students in grades 3 through 5 of Penn Valley school in Mill Valley students join Methodist, unstructured class only by special request money because of problems with conventional schooling does mid-tower really believe his students are typically I mean, they're white their middle-class. They fit all the criteria. I meant tell her I said this week but they cut off a little smile. I had before that when they ask me the question the kids I teach him up to I don't treat them typical single parent figure of 75% is right for my class, but it would be lower for all the other classes. I spend considerable time and energy getting the children to be real about their feelings a lot more time. It's been in my classroom dealing with emotions than in any other classroom with Tan Valley a lot more Madara says adekola did not visit any other classroom in Marin County NBC replied that the fact that they put in a program is are to repudiate his statements to NBC's camera the Sun the paper quoted teacher mid-tower saying but they cut out the little smile I had before that when I asked me that question there for the sun suggest we delivered to the store to most metallic rock, we would like to assure the sun's because we did not remove Mr. Met Towers a little smile. We also assure them that he did say just what the camera showed him saying, I would describe these children as typical Marin County Children. Yes, 75% of our class. Recommendation to the council impression was left from the sequence that the 75% single parent homes with children come from Peter Bourjos told Council staff. He believes this sequence was dishonest. He said the average single parent figure for his school district is about 30% high school special class. They will only on Parental request in is designed for children having learning difficulties in normal class from the barn. Undo itself. The portion quilting master mid-tower was correct. The council believes that the NBC staff could have ascertained that the 75% that year was not representative of the school district and not representative of Marin a sequence in the documentary show with Kathy Burke Ernest rating of The esalen Institute was edited to make it appear that she left her four children alone while she went to estimate. In fact, she asked her mother to come up from Palm Springs to stay with the NBC replied Kathy Burke only when he had to leave that her mother come from Palm Springs. Grievance committee is are there any changes in plans have already been made for her husband to come and spend the weekend with this Thanksgiving with the totem the arrangements for her mother to come or subsequently made and BC was aware of both these factors that the council believes a quelle NBC might have included some background on what Arrangements were made for the children in Miss Burks absence. It was not Central to the point made in the documentary. She did say that she didn't know whether she would return or not and her son told her it was against the law if an impression was left that Miss Burke was deserting her children. It came from her actual words and those of her children in short what we're saying here is that NBC was not be faulted on the segment of the documentary. second all in favor of the recommendation say I love Nancy McKinley a new arrival in the ex-husband of the successful divorce sequence shown in the documentary McKinley was quoted in the documentary saying what yesterday the first day I was here. I heard Marin County had a 75% divorce rate with those seem incredible thing. I would guess that there's probably more divorces and there are births deaths and marriages together. The complaint said Nancy McKeon Lake cannot remember who gave her this figure. Neither the Marin County Planning Department the county clerk Northern demographer for the association of Bay Area governments say they supplied such a figure there is no agreement either on how a percentage divorce rate might be computed according to the San Francisco office the department of health education and Welfare divorce is measured in terms of occurrences 400,000 population. I pause to say here that there may be some mistake there that they may mean 1,000 contacts population using that standard system 1976 6.6 this place it in a tie for 10th among California counties with sucker tied for first where Shasta and don't know he was a rate of 8.3. NBC reply the son of Dax NBC because Nancy McKinley a recent arrival in Marin County from Ocean City New Jersey said they quoted and quote the statement to go on to say. Buy quibbling was Miss McKinley is a muster. Goco statistics the sun suggests that NBC distorted the facts and quotes in order to inflate. The divorce rate. NBC does not need to inflate that rate. It stands for itself has one of the highest in the nation for times that of California state regarded as having the highest divorce rate in the US Open was Miss McKinley are mr. Coco or NBC cannot change this unhappy reality. Any changes in the council the Council of the grievance committee recommendation for the vital statistics branch of the California Department of Health which compiles figures on marriage and divorce places the murder rate at 6.7 per 1000 population according to the vital statistics Branch. This was .07 higher than the I beg your pardon. It should be .7 higher. It wasn't 770 times that of California that stated by Mr. Crystal NBC News response. Neither are there currently more divorces than births deaths and marriages. All together is enough to go, come in a check of Statewide statistics reveals that in 1977. They were 1620 licenses to marry issued in Marin and that they were 1492 decrees of divorce or dissolution of marriage has lost even without birth cert. It was incorrect. The point out that nbcu's hearsay material from interviewees, which proved to be inaccurate it had an obligation to verify those statistics released place them in perspective, May I just did that which proved to be an accurate was the excise by the committee yesterday at the Crystal suggest to point out the NBC use hearsay material from interviewees. Limiting the words with prove to be an actor. Item five, I will change my vote. You want to come back into a Mexican animal? Okay. Adam 5 in a section 4 train what was characterized as the portrait of a successful divorce Sandra Robbins ex-wife discuss. It was taking the EST training. She says I did that. Yes teacher training shortly after I moved here and I think the probably made one of the biggest major jumps in my life came. Okay to do anything so long as you are honest about it. If you could tell the other person that you didn't like the hair growing on the end of their nose as you can tell them in any way as long as you can tell him the truth, Complaints holding this says they cut out a sentence in there quote in. Mrs. Robbins now, they cut out a sentence in there and it completely reverse the meaning of what I said. What I said was I took the training and I got a lot out of it. But the thing I have ject to is that after people finished the training all of a sudden that the game okay it to do anything as long as you are honest about it for other people and they changed it completely NBC replied after quoting the criticism. We have spoken to Miss Robbins on the phone and read to her the complete text of her remarks to us. She agree that know where they're in. Did she order the sentence she thought she remembered? For the more she also agreed that our editing did not distort the meaning of what she had said to us was Robin's confirm the counsel staff that is against the NBC transcript. She did say, however that in the course of lengthy conversation with NBC producer. She made the point about the lack of concern shown by EST graduates for others. Let me see if I understand that and that she she she now says again that she disagrees with NBC version. She's putting her version that she felt that there was a lack of concern and I didn't choose to use that material. What you sent tape or is she saying? But in addition as they could only I also talked about the lack of concern at the graduates and shown for others that was not used by NBC NBC said they had all of the tape and all of them everything that it was nothing said by her to this effect says I guess they didn't do what she said. However, they talk to me for a long time of year was on film for a long time. I said this now she can't verify where to buy how she said it was in DC says it's not on the table. All right, I'll wait we have established that this at any rate is the first paragraph of the groomsmen regulation. I read you the remaining and only other paragraph of the complaint Sausalito pharmacist Fred Meyer charge that he said many things complimentary about marine life, but that these were never used and BC responded that it's transcript showed that many of the things Mayer claims to have said we're never said by him. As in the as is the case. I think it's a type over as in the case. Of Miss Robbins the council believes NBC reported accurately, but selectively what mr. Mayor had to say I would really in this is typical of so many people weatherton print or broadcast. The reporter interviews people they are very free with their conversation the moment they see it in print or and broadcast it. It's totally distorted. That's not what I said and yet there it is either in the reporters notes or on tape recording or in the case of broadcast. There is no doubt. He said he's on tape. He's right there. Then when he sees people around Marin County come around in effect. Say hey Fred, what the hell did you say? Oh, I didn't say that. He's a damn liar. No television program. Is it open with an apparently nude woman being stroked by peacock feather. I'm talking about how quotes for the first time in my life. I completely I didn't give anything. She appears again later on the program. That's your new man describes the secret garden service. She was receiving Capital SMG the name of the service. He says it's a service given at a location chosen by the client on an $80 buys 4 hours of the pleasuring attentions of Ray Stubbs and Walter Wilde. Anal. Tell us that explicit sex is for later and talk about Secret Garden Newman says further massage parlors on the lake if I'm available for centuries, but there have been few opportunities for women to buy sensual Pleasures in Marin County Ford it and enough women who wanted to make such a service. Play complainant says stubs and Wilding have been Secret Garden Consultants part-time for 2 years during that time says stubs. I've had 60 clients of this 6032. We're coming from Marin and 38 from outside. The county from points is distillate Denver Los Angeles Chicago in New York. These clients were attracted by articles in Viva for one of the out-of-county clients with producers Accola who had a free get-acquainted session. I take it this this service is available to Sky Club from the record. Of the Marine women who have availed themselves of the service about half have received it in exchange for services such as bookkeeping and secretarial work. Stop. This is like the Johnny Carson show stub says they see the service not as an Indulgence of the idle rich, but as a nurturing experience for hard-driving professional women says wildin, we give it free to professional women. We know like doctors and counselors waterfalls with no streams behind them women who really put things out in the world close quote one hour session with stage 4 NBC she did not pay for it. Neither. Did she pay for the regular session? She had received six months earlier. That was a birthday present from her boyfriend. Who had her transported afterwards to a fancy restaurant where he was waiting for her with a bracelet in a bottle of champagne in something during a two-year period about half-a-dozen Marin women have paid for a secret garden session. It is not a common event of the life of the county. It is women from outside Moran who has made it a reality. NBC says the sun laborers over the statistics of how many women from within Marin County and how many non Mormon women have taken The Secret Garden in order. We assume to demonstrate that this is not a Marin County service. The sun suggest its popularity can be blamed on women from outside Marin presumably in the same way that outside agitators were seen coming into the American South to create trouble among the Nations. Though there may be trouble among the natives. Nonetheless. Secret Garden is a business that began and according to what its founder Ray Stubbs told us does well in my room coming The Secret Garden session. We film was clearly done with the Willing cooperation of Ms. Fruits and messrs stubs and wildling. When NBC astray stubs, if we could film a secret garden session, he recruited Ms. Fruit and after assuring us that she had in fact been app had been a secret garden client told us that what we filmed with allowances to avoid frontal nudity. It would be a genuine Secret Garden experience. What we showed was precisely identical to the service Miss Ruth had previously received as a paying customer and it was complete down to the last bunny firm it and peacock feather. Some attack suggest that NBC should not have mentioned Secret Garden as if it were such an aberrant activity. So beyond the usual carburetor publicity NBC would like to point out that we first learned of Secret Garden from the pages of the sun itself or a report on Secret Garden had appeared and then goes on to tease the sun. I guess I'll read this is entertaining. I'm not sure but we think the sons new sober approach to life is to be commended for a paper that has thrived on reporting the zany in the cookie. EG recent reports on the suggest opedia and equine acupuncturist Leo Sunshine seminars where wealthy people are urge to chew money in order to get over the guilt feelings. Any any shift in the sun's coverage of Marin County life away from trend mongering is refreshing. We hope for its readers sake that this new responsible attitude toward reporting is not a mere Poe's adopted just be able to hack NBC. Recommended for the council you would let the grievance committee has Courage the way it ended. It was clearly within NBC's judgment in the formulation of the documentary the show The Secret Garden experience, which besides being titillating is in fact, the Marin based service and has been patronized by people from Rent. The council rejects the complainants contention that the number of persons from within or from outside of the county who purchased it is essentially Jermaine. However, only in NBC's response not in the documentary do we learn that Miss Fruth the recipient of the treatment shown in the broadcast had agreed to recreate the experience. Nor did we learn anywhere except through our own inquiry that the original Secret Garden treatment was administered to her at the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco. And at the Garden shown in the documentary had never been used as the setting for a similar treatment. Council believes that the program should have said that this Secret Garden treatment while accurate was a replication going to the next point then .7 as detailed in the Sun the complaint takes issue with NBC's use of suicide statistics Edwin Newman said in the documentary, Marin County suicide rate is the national average cited statistics showing the Marin County suicide rate in 1976. The last year for which figures are available was 223.5 per 100,000 population compared to 12.5 which was the national average NBC replied by citing a rate that is 1% less than twice the national average. We think the sun is laboring with Statistics to distort a fact of life or more precisely if I could death in Marin County. The council action proposed to the grievance committee is to say simply both sides are guilty of laboring with Statistics. The NBC figure was closed, but the script went beyond accuracy when it opted for the phrase. Well over twice the national average. discussion those in favor say aye. Point eight the documentary has a segment concerning alcohol consumption in Marin Newman said we don't have the prior context of this but he said and there is more drinking probably this doctor gone. We're a psychologist the private service called New Perspective young people who have alcohol problem says on the documentary quoting the county has clearly from studies done as recently as two years ago the highest incidence of alcohol consumption per capita at also by the general kinds of things that are taking to be examples of problems with alcohol such as drunk driving arrest public drunkenness. Those kinds of things that do indicate alcohol problems in any county in California. I suppose by extrapolation probably in the country as well. Complaint says that John we're like quotes him. I beg your pardon then we're commenting on his statement agency deals with one point. She by any means associate producer. Jean Wilson said, how do you know that alcohol is a bigger problem in Marin than elsewhere? Well, that's not really my bag. That's your supplied by the California Highway Patrol was the exception of Napa County. Marin County has by far the lowest number of accidents associated with drunk driving in the nine counties of the Golden Gate division of the California Highway Patrol during 1977. Moran had 202 such accidents while not but with little freeway mileage. In terms of drunk driving arrest the California Highway Patrol figures show 477 show Napa again. The lowest was 466 Sonoma with 1073 in Marin with 1677 the remaining six counties average 3205 of roughly two times the number of Miranda rights according to California Highway Patrol public affairs officer Roland Miller all this. It was also given to NBC NBC replies if dr. John Weir who is a recognized expert on alcoholism was not sure of his facts when we interviewed and he did not tell us now that the broadcast is over he seems according to the sun's report to wish to retract some of what he told us that is his right, but it does not change what he did. In fact say at that time. Grievance committee recommends are there changes lead to wear an expert on psychological aspects of alcohol-induced disorder. And dr. Andrew Mecca director of Marin County is alcoholism program will also compiled statistics regarding the County's alcohol program Dr. Mankato Council staff that he had provided NBC with the following information that alcohol consumption in Marin was five times higher than the rest of the state on a per-capita basis. That problems resulting from this consumption. We're not equally High public drunkenness complaints were almost nonexistent and Marin stands in the center of the counties in the state on drunken-driving complain. Dr. Meka characterize. Dr. Where is presentation as grossly inaccurate and said the doctor we're had been interviewed in an area where he was at least competent to provide fact for those are told the council that at the time dr. Meka was interviewed. The NBC staff was not aware of the differences between the two viewpoints. You mean at the time after that interview and they still run away or journalists continuing golden the use of Statistics interviewees who used to tistics in a freewheeling form relying on memory can constitute such a fit small even official statistics in themselves are often suspect. Council believes that the NBC staff should have been more thorough and it's checking in this area. Is it for the discussion? All those in favor of the recommendation raise your right hand. oboz Okay, Anonymous next episode. They include complaints concerning the remarks of Judge Richard breiner the statistical evidence offered concerning the number of foreign cars owned by Maroon residence the price of new homes upper capita. Income of the County's residents the number of joggers and yacht clubs in the county. Probably about equal and the proper name for a Therapy Group. Do I hear a motion that that sort of combination points the adopted? So we're going to try this second discussion Distortion, but with a misleading credit. There was a portion of complaint which is concerned with so-called misleading credits. I want it all now is described as being reported by Edwin Newman reporting is generally understood to mean the collection of information on shaping of a news report. This Newman did not do the job was handled instead by producer Joseph Dakota and his associate producer Gene's frame Wilson on television, film and out of the San Francisco Examiner through journalistic skepticism to the winds and took the documentary at face value because of Newman who he said can be trusted. What effect does the complainant Newman had virtually nothing to do with creating the show to call us spent two months in Marin deciding his point of view lining up his subjects and shooting most of the footage then Lumen and his wife flew in from New York to settle into a suite at the Mark Hopkins in for a week made rental car sojourns into Moran. Mainly they shoot the voice overs and knobby's The people who appeared in the show did so because the coal up at either lined up the shops are already filmed. I'm curious as to what we all the way with the with the complaint but it does seem to make a point because I'm report. If this is correct, Edwin Newman was one of these. list of reporters the chief reporter really was a producer or go to the two producers. They were that they were the key people lined it all up is that an accurate? And is this the way television should be presented? It is not the viewer entitled to know who is chiefly responsible for this production. We are in the first place. He is listed as one of the three what writers of the show in the credits and in the second place, it was felt so that As it says here that the television documentary is an off to be in this is widely understood to be the product of a number of people rather than a single recorded with a pencil behind it gets the story. We didn't feel that NBC had really implied by saying Edwin Newman reporting that that was all together his work product. So we felt that the given the fact that he was listed as one of the three Riders and I might add that he has subsequently put his own reputation for integrity behind the validity of this linked him to the show. Listen to mad on the subject enough. Things connecting Newman with enough parts of it. He did do some of the interviews he was listed in the credits is one of the writers and the word reporting cannot be understood and ought not to be understood by reason with this viewer as meaning in the case of a television production quite what it would mean if it were a byline story. If not, the only recommendation for Council action figure display all in favor, raise your right hand. I'm wavering between opposing that's stating. How long is this likely to continue? I have stayed and are you going to be okay by them is the overall conclusion which has been revised. I expect you have it. It's add a new page 80. Here. We are all of the sub-divisional parts of the complaint and we come to this overall conclusion. Recommended for Council action by definition of documentary is a presentation which is based on a factual exposition of a subject. It may and usually does adopt the point of view within this framework. NBC's defense that it never claimed that this was all there was the life in Marin is not supported by the program's content and little relevant film showing anything other than the unusual. In the present case not only did the program present a point of view. But if I think you needed their point of view on information that was sometimes inaccurate. Additionally in order to bolster the overall point about Self Indulgence in Marin some scenes were misleading. Those portions of the documentary which leave the council to this conclusion include the unsupported assertion by persons interviewed about a 75% divorce rate in Marin that I take it that this is just list the ones on which subdivision least we had decided they were vulnerable to criticism the characterization of the suicide rate in Moran has been well over twice the national average and the unverified assertions about the consequences of alcohol consumption in the County Council also found the scenes depicting the birthday party in The Secret Garden sequence to be misleading the program stressed that Marin self indulgences and me. I'd like that to be me - is maybe a foretaste of something America will experience in the 1980s if this broadcast. Can find itself and had attempted to depict only as social commentary the forms that the self-absorption is taking with in Marin, it would have been on much firmer ground. The council combines its findings to what it believes. We're journalistic flaws not the broad indictment of the program made by the complainant it therefore finds the contention that the program was journalistically flawed at a central points to be warranted. Is there a motion to adopt that? Is there a second second of the discussion? Here, we have a complaint which invites the entire program was my understanding that was considered here in this finding. We kind of a duck that and say we find the unit picking on the floors. All those things to be warranted, but we don't address ourselves to the broad indictment of the program as a whole. Is it possible for substance? Is is not well or felicitously phrase II we are addressing ourselves quite specifically the whole program here and we are finding the program to to say and we were saying yesterday that we were not adopt a all of the perfervid language of the complaint about outrageous dishes and things of that sort. We were confining our finding To the specifics of points mentioned, but we considered those sufficiently Central the flow of the program as a whole. That's as I understand it. But I did you want to make us up well with what is a documentary? Why does food go to something here in an effort to clarify. The mobile definition of some of these are essential part of this discussion is one of definition. What is the purpose or frame of reference for a documentary The Classic study? This topic is a William blooms the documentary on American television take the subject both historically and conceptually to be as he States those kinds of communications which are formed by the documentary idea. I founded upon the conviction of the events and circumstances which shape man's life must not only be recorded or reported, but that such reporting must be made in his compelling a fashion as possible. Nepal documentary communication is to make a drama from Life boom continues documentary communication seeks to initiate a process information and to complete the process of making this presentation for swayzer documentaries 6 to inform but above all the documentary Bloom concludes is to inform and to persuade and this is the contacts we must deal with in this case. It was a persuasive effort. It was a collection of points are examples to reinforce a part of you. Naturally The Producers were seeking out the strongest and most graphic illustrations to build their case the flaws in the documentary or minor because they were individual eating gross errors and collectively they did nothing to reduce or dilute the basic message or argument of the program. Is there a second for the substitution? substitution fails for lack of a second