PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: INSIDE MEDIA: AMERICA'S MOST WANTED: JOHN WALSH IN CONVERSATION WITH GERALDO RIVERA {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's Inside Media events. Held at the Paley Center in New York, this seminar celebrates the thousandth episode of "America’s Most Wanted," the reality program which profiles wanted criminals and attempts to assist in their capture. The evening begins as David Bushman (Paley Center television curator) offers opening comments. He then introduces TV show host/reporter Geraldo Rivera, who serves as moderator.
Rivera introduces a brief montage of highlights from the show and Walsh’s career. Clips include: Walsh reporting on ongoing criminal cases; progress on the recovery of kidnapped children, including Elizabeth Smart; Walsh's reports on Hurricane Katrina victims, New York City’s Ground Zero developments, and the search for Osama bin Laden; and Walsh’s guest appearances or affiliations with TV programs such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Simpsons” and “South Park.”
Afterward, Rivera introduces John Walsh, host of “America’s Most Wanted.” The two touch on such topics as: how Walsh became the host of the first reality television program on the then-fledgling Fox television network in 1987; media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s role in Walsh’s decision to take the job; Walsh’s first case profiling serial rapist/murderer David James Robert, culminating in his capture; the unsolved case of the murder of Walsh’s six-year-old kidnapped son, Adam; if potential sources on criminal cases for “America’s Most Wanted” are reluctant to be “snitches”; how the program’s crew sorts through the many submissions for show subjects; if Walsh dislikes being constantly identified as the father of a child who was killed; Walsh’s recent interview with President Barack Obama; Walsh’s campaigning for “The Missing Children’s Act of 1982”; the stress-induced divorce rate for parents of missing children; if “personal vengeance” fuels Walsh’s investigations; ways in which Walsh has been inspired by his wife, Reve; Walsh’s recent trip to help victims of the Haiti earthquake; and how “America’s Most Wanted” was resurrected after Fox cancelled the show.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics: the difficulty in presenting a program which maintains dignity while dealing with sensationalistic subjects; his fight for a national sex offenders’ registry via the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act”’; Walsh’s experiences in dealing with presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush; the “b.s. promises” he’s heard from politicians over the years; if Walsh gets “flack” from the American Civil Liberties Union; Walsh’s reaction to the recent abduction and murder of teenager Chelsea King; Walsh being a gun control advocate; if American media is biased against covering the victimization of minority children; whether the Internet promotes the “deviant side” of human nature and questionable sites should be policed; if parents are too lax about their children’s safety; whether Walsh could expand his show’s staff to allow the pursuit of more cases; if law enforcement’s focus on John and Patsy Ramsey as suspects contributed to “the mismanagement” of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey’s murder; what Walsh considers the greatest moment of his career; how Walsh “stays strong”; Walsh’s assistance to David Goldman in getting his abducted son, Sean, returned from Brazil; how Walsh deals with incest victims; and Walsh’s thoughts on the show having reached its thousandth episode.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: March 4, 2010 6:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:44:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 100962
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Bushman … Host
- Geraldo Rivera … Moderator
- John Walsh … Guest
- Osama bin Laden
- George H.W. Bush
- George W. Bush
- Bill Clinton
- David Goldman
- Sean Goldman
- Chelsea King
- Rupert Murdoch
- Barack Obama
- John Ramsey
- JonBenet Ramsey
- Patsy Ramsey
- Ronald Reagan
- David James Roberts
- Elizabeth Smart
- Adam Walsh
- Reve Walsh
- Oprah Winfrey