washington media associates

Washington Media Associates, an independent documentary filmmaking company based in Washington, D.C., has long received widespread acclaim for its films on important social, political and international issues. 

The company's productions have won eight Emmy Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism, three George Foster Peabody Awards for significant and meritorious achievement in broadcasting, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards for outstanding coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged, three Edward R. Murrow awards from the Overseas Press Club of America, and two Silver Baton awards from the American Bar Association.

Headed by senior producer, Sherry Jones, Washington Media has produced more than 20 films for the PBS documentary series, FRONTLINE, as well as dozens of  other programs for PBS, including numerous special investigations with Bill Moyers; six documentaries based in the former Soviet Union - including the award-winning FRONTLINE special, "Return of the Czar;" and three specials for ABC News: Peter Jennings Reporting: The Missiles of October,” the story of the Cuban missile crisis from the points of view of all three countries involved; "Hiroshima:  Why the Bomb Was Dropped"; and in June 2004, “Peter Jennings Reporting:  Guantanamo.”  That film, which was broadcast on the eve of the historic Supreme Court decision in Rasul v. Bush, was the first long-form television investigation into the Bush Administration’s detention and interrogation policies.

In September, 2004, Jones produced "9/11: For the Record,” a NOW with Bill Moyers special.  Newsday named it one of the “Ten Best TV Programs of 2004,” commenting, “Of all the programs marking the anniversary of the attacks, ‘9/11: For the Record’  is the must see – a sobering, heartbreaking hour.” 

More recent productions include “Dead Wrong: Inside an Intelligence Meltdown,” an examination of pre-Iraqi War intelligence that was initially broadcast in August, 2005, as a special edition of CNN Presents; and “Moyers on America: Capitol Crimes,” a 90-minute expose of the Jack Abramoff/Tom DeLay scandals, which was broadcast in October, 2006, on PBS.

The Rocky Mountain News wrote that the program “plays out like a best-selling novel dealing with the seamy side of politics.”  By laying out the intricate Abramoff money trail in striking detail and a dramatic narrative – from Abramoff’s dealings with casino-rich Native American tribes, to sweatshop owners in the US territory of the Marianas, to Russian oil and gas bosses and, finally, to his financial support of a now-defunct non-profit backed by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay – the documentary is an example of what Washington Media documentaries do at their best.