“THE
LITTLE CABLE ACCESS SHOW THAT COULD”
Full Disclosure Network® : The First Ten Years
MAKING
HISTORY WHILE TACKLING “RULE OF LAW”
ISSUES AT THE LOCAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL.
Emmy Award-winning cable access show Full Disclosure Network®
marks its 10th Anniversary on Sunday September 29, 2002 with a special
breakfast celebration at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey. Full Disclosure Network® Producer/host Leslie Dutton
welcomes the prominent law enforcement officials who appeared in the
Award-winning multi-part series "L.A.'s War Against Terrorism" as
Full Disclosure Network® looks back on the achievements of the past ten years and forward
for a move to broadcast TV.
Over the past decade, "the little cable access
show that could" has been making history.
From investigating illegal immigration and street vendors, LAPD policies
and reforms, California election/voter fraud, to the American Presidency, the
Full Disclosure Network® program with Leslie Dutton has regularly tackled the tough
"Rule Of Law" issues that the regular news media outlets rarely
touch. The program has captured pivotal
leaders on videotape, challenging them with in-depth interviews and discussions
as history unfolds.
The Full Disclosure Network® ™ was founded in 1992 by
Leslie Dutton, who, as a veteran civic activist, felt a desperate need for
community and public affairs programming, especially from the grassroots
perspective. Starting on one Santa
Monica cable channel, Full Disclosure Network® has expanded its base and distribution
throughout California and is now seen regularly on over 40 cable channels from
Orange County to Sacramento.
Emphasizing issues facing the LAPD, Full Disclosure Network®
has focused on reforms sparked by the 1992 Riots and the Christopher Commission
Report. Full Disclosure Network® has featured
interviews with every recent L.A.P.D. Chief from Ed Davis to William Bratton.
Dutton has also interviewed most of the Deputy Chiefs, including the late Jesse
Brewer, who was the first and highest ranking African-American to serve as LAPD
Assistant Chief. She has also
interviewed numerous Police Commission Presidents and produced a special series
of interviews on the role of the LAPD Inspector General, which was chosen to be
included in the Los Angeles City Archives as part of the city's historical
record.
Other Full Disclosure Network® guests have included elected
and appointed officials from federal, state and local government as well a
prominent civic leaders and community groups.
Some other notables who have appeared on Full Disclosure Network® are: National and local journalists, State
Senators, Assembly members, California Secretary of State, California Superior
Court Judges and Administrators, University of California Administrators, a UC
Regent, L. A. and Orange County Sheriffs, ACLU Attorneys, Civil Rights
Activists/Attorneys, Immigrant Rights Activists/Attorneys, Police Officers,
Social workers, Fraud Investigators and countless concerned citizens.
Operating on a shoestring budget, a majority of the
362 Full Disclosure Network® programs were produced in "public access"
studios. The Federal Communications
Commission created Public Access by compelling cable television operators to
offer the general public, at no charge, access to their cable channels. Unfortunately, what the Government gives, it
can take away. In recent years public access operators have started restricting
the channels to educational institutions or selected political favorites of
those in power. In spite of
bureaucratic and political obstacles, thanks to word of mouth and viewer
dedication, Full Disclosure Network® continues to expand distribution.
The show has consistently worked to offer in-depth
coverage on "the news behind the news," providing a platform for
local and federal leaders to conduct an open dialogue for the benefit of
Californians. Demonstrating strength
and perseverance, Leslie Dutton moved this California community program to a
national level when Full Disclosure Network® tackled a Presidential "Rule of
Law" issue.
Traveling across the United States throughout 1999,
Dutton interviewed former U. S. Attorneys General and Special and Independent
Prosecutors in an on-going project to uncover the facts behind how America investigates
the Presidency - from Watergate to Whitewater and beyond. All but one U.S. Attorney General and one
Independent Counsel have been interviewed.
Still in post-production, this special series has yet to air.
In March 2000 the first Full Disclosure Network® Forum was
held in Washington D. C. with the U. S. Attorneys General and Presidential
Prosecutors. The Forum production
evolved from the interviews and was entitled "The Prosecutor and The
Presidency". Panelists on hand to
question the participants were Bob Woodward, Hon. Shirley Hufstedler,
Chesterfield Smith (ABA Pres. 73-74) and Leslie Dutton. Videotaped clips from Dutton's 1999
interviews were featured with special highlights from Attorneys General Elliot
Richardson and Richard Kliendienst. These were the last interviews before their
deaths in 1999/2000.
On June 29th, 2002, history was made by FULL
DISCLOSURE when it became the first independently produced and privately funded
cable series to be awarded an Emmy by the Academy of Television Arts and
Sciences for excellence in the field of Informational/Public Affairs
programming. Winning over NBC4's
"News Conference: Movers & Shakers", KTLA's "Minority
Success Stories" and KOCE's "Real Orange," Full Disclosure Network® once
again lived up to its reputation as "the little cable access show that
could."
The Emmy Award-winning multi-part series,
"L.A.'s War Against Terrorism," investigated local and regional
anti-terror measures in the wake of 9/11.
Featuring interviews with local law enforcement, labor leaders, and
elected officials, "L.A.'s War Against Terrorism" explored strategies
to fend off possible future attacks and examined plans for cooperation between
local and federal law enforcement agencies.
The series also looked into new anti-terrorism legislation on a state
and national level. Two installments of
the series featured in depth interviews with L.A.'s top law enforcement
officer, LAPD Chief Bernard Parks.
Celebrating its 10th Anniversary at a special
breakfast at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey on September 29, 2002
, Full Disclosure Network® welcomed the prominent law enforcement officials who appeared
in the 2001 Emmy Award-winning series.
Special guest speakers were L. A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, who heads a
state task force on terrorism and coordinating with the federal agencies,
offered an update on regional efforts to thwart future terrorist activities and
Congresswoman Jane Harman who as the ranking member on the House Intelligence
Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security will give an update on the
status of the Homeland Security legislation.
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