America's Great Divide

Last updated
America's Great Divide
Also known asAmerica's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump
GenreDocumentary
Written by
  • Michael Kirk [1]
  • Mike Wiser [1]
Directed byMichael Kirk
Narrated by Will Lyman [1]
Music byJohn E. Low [1]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers
  • Michael Kirk [1]
  • Mike Wiser [1]
  • Philip Bennett [1]
  • Jim Gilmore
  • Gabrielle Schonder
CinematographyBen McCoy [1]
Editors
  • Steve Audette [1]
  • Elliott Choi [1]
Running time229 minutes [1]
Production companies
Original release
Network PBS
ReleaseJanuary 13, 2020 (2020-01-13)

America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump is a 2020 two-part television documentary film about the political divide between the United States Democratic and Republican Party in the early 21st century. Produced by the investigative journalism program Frontline on PBS, it charts how the two major political parties became increasingly adversarial to each other due to factors of race, media, and misinformation, from the 2008 presidential election to the presidency of Donald Trump. [2] The film was directed by Michael Kirk and written by Kirk and Mike Wiser, and was first aired on PBS in two parts on January 13 and 14, 2020.

Contents

Interviewees

Production

On December 20, 2019, Frontline announced that it will release the two-part television documentary titled America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump on January 13 and 14, 2020, which will comprehensively examine "the growth of a toxic political environment that has paralyzed Washington and dramatically deepened the gulf between Americans", and provide context for the election year of 2020. [3] Director Michael Kirk intended for the film to highlight the irony in Obama's promise to unify the country, "that by the end of his presidency -- he freely admitted and everyone else could see -- that the division was even deeper, even broader, that racism was even more rampant." [4] A preview of the documentary was released on January 6, 2020. [5]

Release

America's Great Divide first aired on PBS in the United States on January 13 and 14, 2020. [6] On the same day of the broadcast of "Part 2", both parts of the documentary film were made available by Frontline for streaming on YouTube without charge. [7] [8]

Critical response

Brian Lowery of CNN praised America's Great Divide for "admirably" charting in detail the deepening division within the United States through the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, stating that "The sobering takeaway from 'America's Great Divide,' explored at some length in the second half, is whether the nastiness that defines current political discourse is irrevocable. [9] John Doyle of the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail also commended the documentary for its compelling presentation of the "central threads" which led to the election of Trump, stating that it is "sobering, at times unnerving and often startling." [10]

Related Research Articles

Frontline is an investigative documentary program distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Episodes are produced at WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. The series has covered a variety of domestic and international issues, including terrorism, elections, environmental disasters, and other sociopolitical issues. Since its debut in 1983, Frontline has aired in the U.S. for 39 seasons, and has won critical acclaim and awards in broadcast journalism. It has produced over 750 documentaries from both in-house and independent filmmakers, 200 of which are available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Shapiro</span> American political commentator and writer (born 1984)

Benjamin Aaron Shapiro is an American lawyer, columnist, author, and conservative political commentator. He writes columns for Creators Syndicate, Newsweek, and Ami Magazine, and serves as editor emeritus for The Daily Wire, which he co-founded in 2015. Shapiro is the host of The Ben Shapiro Show, a daily political podcast and live radio show. He was editor-at-large of Breitbart News from 2012 until his resignation in 2016. Shapiro has authored sixteen books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Political Action Conference</span> Annual meeting in the US and other countries

The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). The first CPAC took place in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Breitbart</span> American conservative writer and publisher (1969–2012)

Andrew James Breitbart was an American conservative journalist and political commentator who was the founder of Breitbart News and a co-founder of HuffPost.

Aaron Klein is an American-Israeli conservative political commentator, journalist, strategist, bestselling author, and senior advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He served as campaign manager for several of Netanyahu's election campaigns and chief strategist for Netanyahu's 2020 election campaign that resulted in a rotating unity government with Netanyahu at the helm and his 2022 campaign in which Netanyahu won a full-term. Klein was Netanyahu's full-time strategic advisor in government from 2020 to 2021, during the period Netanyahu was prime minister of Israel's 36th government and he serves as a strategic advisor to Netanyahu during Israel's 37th government.

<i>Breitbart News</i> American far-right news and opinion website

Breitbart News Network is an American far-right syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 by American conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart. Its content has been described as misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist by academics and journalists. The site has published a number of conspiracy theories and intentionally misleading stories. Posts originating from the Breitbart News Facebook page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pfeiffer</span> American political advisor and commentator (born 1975)

Howard Daniel Pfeiffer is an American political advisor, author, and podcast host. He was senior advisor to President Barack Obama for strategy and communications from 2013 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kirk</span> Documentary filmmaker

Michael Kirk is a documentary filmmaker and partial creator of the PBS show Frontline, where he worked as senior producer until 1987. Kirk founded and currently owns the production company, the Kirk Documentary Group, in Brookline, Massachusetts, which has produced dozens of award-winning documentaries, both for Frontline and through his company, that focus on political, social and cultural issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tea Party Patriots</span> Right wing American political organization

The Tea Party Patriots is an American conservative political organization founded in 2009 as part of the Tea Party movement. It is known for organizing citizen opposition to the Affordable Care Act during the presidency of Barack Obama, and more recently for supporting President Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Bannon</span> American media executive and political strategist (born 1953)

Stephen Kevin Bannon is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of U.S. president Donald Trump's administration. He is a former executive chairman of Breitbart News and previously served on the board of the now-defunct data-analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Accountability Institute</span> Conservative conspiracy theory think tank

The Government Accountability Institute (GAI) is a conservative think tank located in Tallahassee, Florida. GAI was founded in 2012 by Peter Schweizer and Steve Bannon with funding from Robert Mercer and family. Schweizer serves as the group's president.

According to an American political conspiracy theory, the deep state is a clandestine network of members of the federal government, working in conjunction with high-level financial and industrial entities and leaders, to exercise power alongside or within the elected United States government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamiche Alcindor</span> American journalist (born 1986)

Yamiche Léone Alcindor is an American journalist who is a Washington correspondent for NBC News. In the past, she has worked as the host of Washington Week on PBS and as a reporter for PBS NewsHour, USA Today, and The New York Times. Alcindor writes mainly about politics and social issues.

Jean Carolyn Guerrero is an American investigative journalist, author, and former foreign correspondent. She is the author of Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir, winner of the PEN/FUSION Emerging Writers Prize, and Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda, published in 2020 by William Morrow. Guerrero's KPBS series America's Wall won an Emmy Award. Her essay, "My Father Says He's a 'Targeted Individual.' Maybe We All Are", was selected for The Best American Essays anthology of 2019.

The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden is a 2020 television documentary film about the Republican and Democratic Party nominees for the 2020 United States presidential election: President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden respectively. Produced by the investigative journalism program Frontline for PBS, it aims to better inform American voters in their choice by recounting the two major nominees' character and past deeds. Co-produced and directed by Michael Kirk, the film premiered on PBS and simultaneously made available to stream on the broadcaster's website and YouTube channel on September 22, 2020. Biden would ultimately be elected President of the United States that November, setting a record for the most votes ever received by a presidential candidate. He also became the first man to defeat an incumbent president in 28 years and received the highest percentage of the popular vote over an incumbent president since Franklin Roosevelt in 1932.

America After 9/11 is a 2021 television documentary film about the response of the United States government towards the September 11 attacks and its various consequences which eventually led to a deeply divided country two decades later. Produced by the investigative journalism program Frontline on PBS, the film explores how people's xenophobia and mistrust in government grew as the War on Terror in response to the attacks advanced over the years despite criticisms and controversies, reaching a climax in the 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump - Credits". PBS . WGBH Educational Foundation . Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  2. ↑ Hautzinger, Daniel (January 13, 2020). "'America's Great Divide' and the 2020 Election". WTTW Chicago. Window to the World Communications, Inc. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  3. ↑ "FRONTLINE Begins 2020 Politics Coverage With a Two-Night, Four-Hour Special Series Chronicling "America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump"". FRONTLINE | PBS . WGBH Educational Foundation. December 20, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  4. ↑ Moritz, Katie (January 17, 2020). "Can Anything Heal America's Great Divide?". Rewire. Twin Cities Public Television . Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  5. ↑ Arizona Public Media (January 6, 2020). "Frontline: Americas Great Divide Series PREVIEW". YouTube . YouTube LLC. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Jennifer (January 10, 2020). "FRONTLINE: America's Great Divide: From Obama To Trump". KPBS . KPBS Public Media . Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  7. ↑ FRONTLINE PBS | Official (January 14, 2020). "America's Great Divide, Part 1 (full film) | FRONTLINE". YouTube . YouTube LLC. Retrieved August 27, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ FRONTLINE PBS | Official (January 14, 2020). "America's Great Divide, Part 2 (full film) | FRONTLINE". YouTube . YouTube LLC. Retrieved August 27, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Lowery, Brian (January 13, 2020). "Frontline probes the depths of partisan anger in 'America's Great Divide'". CNN . Cable News Network. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  10. ↑ Doyle, John (January 10, 2020). "Rise of the high-status bully: PBS's America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump". The Globe and Mail . The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.