PBS documentarian Bill Moyers yesterday defended his decision to exclude industry officials from his upcoming expose of public health dangers posed by chemical companies' operations.
Moyers said industry officials will have a better chance to air their response in a half-hour rap session following the program, which runs Monday. "They will have their time in the broadcast un-edited," he told the National Press Club.
Moyers called it ironic that American Chemical Council President Terry Yosie told The Washington Post that the program's aim was to compare the industry to the tobacco companies as deceptive and prone to covering up information. Moyers noted that, like a tobacco industry attack on one of his earlier programs, the chemical industry launched a pre-emptive strike to discredit the program in the press before it airs. - Bill McConnell
