Vanguard

2006
Vanguard

Seasons & Episodes

  • 6
  • 5
  • 4

EP1 The Right To Kill Stand Your Ground USA Jan 01, 0001

Self defense or getting away with murder? “Vanguard” returns tonight as Christof Putzel examines controversial “stand your ground” laws in America.

EP2 Showdown In Klan Town Jan 01, 0001

In this excerpt from “Vanguard,” correspondent Christof Putzel speaks with Billy Roper, a leader of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Roper now resides with his family in Harrison, Ark., considered an epicenter for the modern-day Klan. Putzel briefly traces the evolution and history of the Klan in Harrison, and interviews Roper about why he decided to move there, and his plans for keeping the town a white majority.
7.9| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 19 April 2006 Returning Series
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Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.current.com/shows/vanguard/
Synopsis

Vanguard is a television documentary series broadcast on the Current TV television network. Vanguard reported on such issues as the environment, drugs and the effects of globalization and conflict. The focus of most Vanguard episodes is to explore and immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show’s correspondents conduct interviews with affected peoples and the regions involved usually being led by a guide and translator who facilitates access. Since Vanguard's subject matter often involved exposés about organized crime, drug trafficking and armed revolts, the correspondents can face significant danger because of their reporting due to unstable political or security situations. Vanguard has received some of the media industry’s highest honors for journalism, including the 69th Annual Peabody Award, given for excellence in electronic media, and the 2010 Television Academy Honor, which recognizes "achievements in programming that present issues of concern to our society in a compelling, emotional and insightful way." Vanguard has also been awarded the 2009 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and the 2009 Livingston Award and was nominated four times for a news and documentary Emmy and for a sports Emmy®.

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evening1 "Beach of Death" I had not heard recently about the chaotic country of Somalia, except for piracy, but this program powerfully depicts a crisis taking place on its shores -- the treacherous exodus of tens of thousands of refugees each year across the Gulf of Aden. Packed into overcrowded fishing boats, many die of hunger or thirst on the three-day trip to Yemen, where officials automatically grant Somalis refugee status yet forbid them to land on shore -- so many are forced by their venal smugglers to jump overboard far from the beach into pitch-black waters.Yemen, poor itself, has little to offer these refugees who have been psychologically scarred by their trip. So the humanitarian group Doctors without Borders offers first aid. The clandestine journey leaves the survivors at a U.N. reception center where they can get a little more assistance.Meanwhile, documentarian Kaj Larsen and his crew are shown returning to the beach of arrival to find bodies of the missing that have since washed ashore, including that of a teenage boy -- a terrible end for people who'd bet everything on the hope of a better future. Along the way in this program, we also happen upon a boatload of economic migrants from Ethiopia. In contrast, they do not automatically receive official refugee status and must be careful not to get arrested and deported. We watch this tattered group set out on a 130-mile foot journey through the desert in hopes of getting to Saudi Arabia alive. Note to Vanguard: Why not do another program on the Ethiopian refugees? According to Wikipedia, they far outnumber the fleeing Somalis and with a desert journey thrown into their ordeal, they seem to have a harder time.------------------------------------------------ "Sex, Lies and Cigarettes"-----------------------------------------Here is an excellent documentary on efforts by the cigarette industry to target Third World minors and poor people who don't yet understand or care that smoking can kill them. With cigarettes costing $12 a pack in New York City, Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man retired footnotes of advertising history, and smoking rates in the United States on the decline, companies like Philip Morris have targeted places like Indonesia, whose government promulgates no warnings about nicotine and where there is no age restriction for buying cigarettes. That's the country where Aldi, a chubby 2-year-old, recently became world-famous, via Youtube, for puffing on his smokes like a pro. Documentarian Cristof Putzel does an excellent job of challenging politicians and industry executives about "the only consumer product which, when used as intended, will kill half of its longterm consumers." Putzel gets a female member of Parliament to say that cigarettes are good for the economy. Using an undercover camera, Putzel speaks with a Western trade-show attendee who admits he gave up the habit -- but as long as people smoke he'd prefer they suck on his company's brand. This is a depressing and discouraging story, but, as one Indonesian activist points out, smoking is like a smelly fish...the stink is bound to make itself known and one day even places like Indonesia will reclaim their right to healthy lungs.