PBS execs, board members silent on glaring wild-horse errors in Emmy-nominated “Human Footprint” series

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:

Ed Winters, Wild Beauty Foundation edward@winterstonepictures.com
Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, emolvar@westernwatersheds.org
Vickery Eckhoff, veckhoff@rcn.com

September 4, 2024

Hollywood filmmaker, enviros and journalists urge PBS to correct 
wild horse errors in “Human Footprint” series

A coalition of organizations and journalists has submitted a comprehensive 16-page report to PBS, urging the network to correct significant factual errors in the first episode of its Human Footprint series. The episode, titled Strangers in Paradise, aired in July 2023 and has been criticized for its slanted portrayal of America’s wild horses. The episode incorporated numerous instances of misrepresentation and erroneous reporting, including more than quadrupling the number of wild horses on western public lands and mischaracterizing wild horses as an invasive species causing ecological destruction that is properly attributable to the more numerous cattle and sheep that are permitted to graze on public lands, according to government data.

Ashley Avis, Director of the award-winning documentary, Wild Beauty, Mustang Spirit of the West; the executive director of Western Watersheds Project and two journalists initially alerted PBS executives and the production team to these inaccuracies prior to the episode’s airing on July 5, 2023. Despite their outreach, the episode was broadcast without any corrections, and further communication from the coalition was dismissed as “harassment” by the production company.

“As a journalist and filmmaker deeply vested in protecting wild horses, and other species critical to our ecosystem, I was startled to see such flippant inaccuracies in this production,” said Avis.  “Airing false, inadequately researched, and damaging information only reinforces the narrative of the commercial livestock industry, as we watch our public lands fade away.”

In response, the coalition sought intervention from the PBS Public Editor, initiating a detailed ten-month investigation into the segment’s production. This investigation included examining research and government data, as well as filing four Freedom of Information Act requests. The findings have been compiled into a detailed report, which has been shared with PBS executives.

Despite the Public Editor’s April 4th column, titled Wild, Wild Horses, which highlighted the segment’s errors and omissions and stated that it “failed the audience,” the program remains available for viewing on PBS’s website and social media platforms. 

“The Public Editor’s column is a rare and powerful example of media accountability, but without removing the wild horse segment, the errors will live on,” said Vickery Eckhoff, an investigative journalist. “We urge PBS to edit out the nearly 12-minute wild horse segment from the episode and make a public statement about the corrective action taken.”

In July, paradoxically, the “Human Footprint” series was nominated for a national Emmy in the Outstanding Science and Technology category.

“The fact that our group of experts alerted PBS before this episode even aired — and that “Strangers in Paradise” still stands erroneously and shockingly unaltered for public consumption today — is profoundly disappointing,” adds Avis. “Misinforming not only adults, but children who watch this content, is wholly unacceptable, and we are calling on PBS to a better ethical standard.”

The coalition believes that viewer trust, a cornerstone of PBS’s reputation, is at stake. “Viewer trust is earned. We’re counting on PBS’s board and executives to restore that trust and do the right thing,” added Eckhoff.

“There is a lot of deliberate misinformation about wild horses being promoted by the livestock industry, and it is disheartening to see PBS drawn into this through their airing and promotion of the Human Footprint series,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a West-wide conservation nonprofit. “The American public relies on fact-based journalism to inform public policy, and while the wild horse segment in Human Footprint is a major stumble in this regard, PBS has an important and ongoing responsibility to provide objective reporting on this issue.”

The coalition hopes that PBS will recognize that Strangers in Paradise not only failed its audience but also failed to uphold PBS’s standards of editorial integrity.

A copy of the show storyboard can be viewed here.

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The Wild Beauty Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to illuminating key issues wild horses, wolves, and wildlife are facing today — while bringing the natural world and the importance of its protection to people of all ages. Through the power of our unique entertainment platform, WBF is devoted to launching films, educational programs, advocacy campaigns, and protecting animals in need.

Western Watersheds Project is a nonprofit conservation group with over 14,000 members and supporters, as well as field offices across the western U.S. WWP works to influence and improve public lands management throughout the West with a primary focus on the negative impacts of livestock grazing on 250 million acres of western public lands.