» The Right to Die?

12.13.1989 (120 min)

Frontline and Fred Friendly's Media and Society series join forces to examine the complex legal and moral issues involved in the US Supreme Court's first right-to-die case, Cruzan vs. Harmon. The broadcast features exclusive coverage of the Cruzan family's legal struggle to remove their daughter Nancy from the life-support system that keeps her alive and explores the issues with the Cruzan's attorney as well as leading ethicists, jurists, and Supreme Court watchers.

Producers: Cynthia McFadden, Elizabeth Arledge, Janet McFadden

» Tracking the Pan Am Bombers

11.28.1989 (60 min)

A Frontline special report investigates the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988. The broadcast pieces together the latest information about the bomb, how the terrorists built it and placed it on board, and whether warnings about the attack were ignored by government officials. Frontline profiles the terrorist network believed responsible for the bombing and details blunders made by the German police that may have contributed to the tragedy.

Producers: William Cran, Stephanie Tepper

» Who's Killing Calvert City?

06.20.1989 (60 min)

Calvert City, Kentucky, is at war with itself over the legacy of pollution and toxic waste from the chemical plants that are the heart of its economy. Frontline examines the struggle between citizens and industry giants, like GAF and BF Goodrich, to find the truth about what's happening to Calvert City.

Producer: Michael Mierendorf

» Death of a Terrorist

06.13.1989 (60 min)

Mairead Farrell was one of three Irish Republican Army terrorists gunned down by British security forces on Gibraltar in March 1988. Frontline examines her 17 year career as an IRA militant and the questions her life and death raise about the British government's ability to apply the rule of law to political terrorism.

Producer: Stephanie Tepper

» Babies at Risk

05.23.1989 (60 min)

The infant mortality rate in some Chicago neighborhoods is higher than that of many third-world countries. Frontline investigates the political and bureaucratic neglect which fuels this crisis and examines how health and social workers combat the conditions that imperil the lives of poor infants.

Producer: Robert Thurber

» Remember My Lai

05.23.1989 (60 min)

In 1968, American soldiers massacred over 500 adults and children in a Vietnamese hamlet called My Lai. Frontline explores the legacy of that savage day on the men who were there and the Vietnamese who survived.

Producers: Kevin Sim, Michael Bilton

» Israel: The Covert Connection

05.16.1989 (60 min)

The Iran-contra scandal revealed a glimpse of the US government's secret relationship with Israel. This program investigates America's strategic alliance with Israel since the 1950's and our covert and overt ties to Isaraeli arms deals and intelligence operations.

Producers: Andrew Cockburn, Leslie Cockburn

» Yellowstone Under Fire

05.09.1989 (60 min)

President Reagan's Interior secretaries, James Watt and Donald Hodel, may have altered the landscape of the Yellowstone Park area more dramatically than the fires that ravaged it in the summer of 1988. This program examines the impact of eight years of accelerated development of minerals, timber, and tourism on America's most famous wilderness.

Producers: Greg Pratt, Jan Falstad

» Extraordinary People

05.02.1989 (60 min)

Over 25 years ago, scores of Canadian women gave birth to badly malformed children because of a prescription drug called thalidomide. This program, anchored and narrated by Judy Woodruff, profiles the heroic struggle of 3 thalidomide children who overcame their handicaps despite government neglect and inadequate rehabilitative solutions.

Producers: Virginia Storring, Marrie Campbell

» The Shakespeare Mystery

04.18.1989 (60 min)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Henry James, Sigmund Freud, and Charlie Chaplin all doubted that William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon was the true author of the dramatic masterpieces that bear his name. Correspondent Al Austin investigates the latest controversial theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, a poet and intimate of Queen Elizabeth 1, was the real Shakespeare.

Producer: Kevin Sim

» Murder in the Amazon

04.11.1989 (60 min)

Chico Mendes was an environmentalist and a leader of seringueiros, Brazilian rubber tappers, who struggle to defend their forests from destruction by cattle ranchers and developers. Mendes's murder in December 1988 focused international attention on the ecological pillage of millions of acres of Amazonian rain forest.

Producers: Adrian Cowell, Vicente Rios, Morrow Cater, Michael Kirk

» The Dallas Drug War

04.04.1989 (60 min)

Frontline correspondent Bob Ray Sanders profiles the struggle of one neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, to combat the drugs and violence that threaten the lives of its citizens and the future of the community.

Producer: Hector Galan

» Prescriptions for Profit

03.28.1989 (60 min)

Frontline reporter Joe Rosenbloom investigates abuses in the fiercely competitive marketing and promotion of prescription drugs by the pharmaceutical manufacturers. The program explores the dangers of hype and hard sell applied to widely prescribed arthritis medications and how the industry tries to influence the prescribing habits of doctors.

Producer: Elizabeth Arledge

» Who Profits from Drugs

02.21.1989 (60 min)

Frontline investigates how the American economy uses the profits from the illegal drug trade. The program documents a network of lawyers, real estate developers, stock brokers, and bankers who launder drug proceeds through 'legitimate' businesses in Miami, Boston, and Dallas.

Producers: Charles Stuart, Marcia Vivancos

» Children of the Night

02.14.1989 (60 min)

The story of Iain Brown, who at thirteen left the comfortable world of a middle-class family in Walnut Creek, CA, for the life of a male hustler in San Francisco. Iain committed suicide in December 1987 at the age of nineteen. His story highlights the disturbing and growing national problem of teenage runaways and suicides.

Producers: Ray Telles, Paul Henschel

» Running with Jesse

02.07.1989 (60 min)

An inside look at the historic 1988 presidential campaign of the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Frontline profiles the Jackson strategy, his relationship with the press and his difficulties with the Jewish community and New York's Mayor Koch. The program chronicles the hopes and the hype of a campaign that became a crusade.

Producers: Orlando Bagwell, Jeanne Jordan

» The Battle for Eastern Airlines

01.31.1989 (60 min)

Donald Trump's recent purchase of Eastern Airlines' shuttle focused national attention once again on the fight for this troubled airline. Frontline correspondent Robert Kuttner chronicles the saga of Eastern's ongoing labor-management disputes and the behind-the-scenes struggles between Charlie Bryan, head of the machinists' union, and Texas Air's Frank Lorenzo, as well as the fate of the experiment in joint union and management ownership of Eastern under former astronaut Frank Borman.

Producer: Alex Gibney

» The Spy Who Broke the Code

01.24.1989 (60 min)

Was John Walker the spy of the century? Frontline investigates the Walker spy ring and how it sold secrets about American military codes to the Soviets. The program assesses the damage to US national security and includes exclusive interviews with Walker, the convicted ring leader, and his principal partner, Jerry Whitworth.

Producers: W. Scott Malone, Stephanie Tepper

» The Real Life of Ronald Reagan

01.18.1989 (90 min)

Frontline correspondent Garry Wills profiles the career of Ronald Reagan, his legacy, and public life through the eyes of friends, top aides, biographers, and critics. The role of myth, media, and politics in Reagan's popularity and policy decisions is portrayed in the light of our national romance with the 'Great Communicator.'

Producer: Martin Smith