NOW WITH BILL MOYERS TONIGHT

January 18, 2002

TONIGHT, a new one-hour weekly news magazine premieres on PBS. Entitled NOW

WITH BILL MOYERS, the program is a collaboration with NPR News and will

incorporate documentaries, interviews and commentaries to examine the news

behind the news. We ask who is winning and who is losing in our country

today? We will look not only at what is happening, but why.

The program airs in most markets at 9 p.m., but at 10 in several places, so

check your local listings. Program #101 examines whether Americans are

divided in their loyalties between their faith and their country and whether

public interest or corporate greed is driving America's legislative agenda on

energy.

Imam Fawaz Damra, spiritual leader of the largest mosque in Cleveland, had

been a strong voice for inter-faith understanding in the community for almost

a decade. Following September 11, news reports surfaced that ten years ago

the Imam had made anti-Semitic slurs while calling for contributions to a

radical Palestinian organization. NPR News reporter reports on

the divided views of the faith community in Cleveland about Imam Damra's past

words and present actions in " Know thy Neighbor. " The documentary is

followed by an interview with Zaid Shakir, a leading American Muslim.

NOW also travels to Bethesda Community Church in Fort Worth, Texas to ask its

members if they are Christians first or Americans first and how they would

act if Muslim Americans put their religion ahead of their patriotism.

" Business as Usual " looks at H.R. 4, a piece of legislation recently passed

by the House of Representatives. It embodies the new energy policy advocated

by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney that increases

domestic production of oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear resources. This

documentary segment considers the environmental consequences of the bill,

comparing the subsidies that the bill offers to energy companies with the

companies' records of campaign contributions.

NPR News commentator and Hollywood screenwriter Ridley rounds out the

program with a wry look at the commercialization of the 9/11 tragedy.

Also please take a look at the web site which will launch tonight at <A

to explore the stories in the broadcast and give feedback on what they have

seen.

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