Who Counts?

It is appropriate that Who Counts? begins showing on PBS stations right after congress finally passed an election reform bill. It begins airing October 17th, but different stations are airing it on different days (this page has a full list).

Who Counts? says at the beginning that it will be a bit like Saturday Night Live and isn't like your standard PBS documentary. It didn't need to state the obvious. Darrell Hammond appears as Clinton, Gore, and Cheney throughout the program and there are clips from SNL and the Daily Show. Inbetween the humor, Frank Sesno provides a pretty straighforward look at the election problems in Florida.

Dan Keating of the Washington Post talks about his reporting and the media ballot count. Mac Stipanovich, a Republican strategist who advised Katherine Harris, gives an account of what happened from the inside. There are a range of views on what happened in 2000 and what is the best way to improve things.

The Orlando Sentinel has a story on how few Florida stations will be airing this doc (and the two mentioned below).

Another documentary, Counting on Democracy is airing on some PBS stations (I'll watch it when it is on Sunday in San Francisco). Producer Danny Schechter writes about his attempt to get a national PBS airdate.

And Unprecendented is showing at film festivals and may be on the Sundance channel.

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