The Fifth Estate (TV program)
The Fifth Estate is an English-language Canadian newsmagazine television program. It airs on the national CBC Television network as well as on CBC News Network. The name is a reference to the term "Fourth Estate", and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into original journalism. The program has been on the air since September 15, 1975,[1] and its primary focus is on investigative journalism. It has engaged in co-productions with the BBC, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and often with the PBS program Frontline.
The Fifth Estate | |
---|---|
Starring | Gillian Findlay Bob McKeown Mark Kelley Habiba Nosheen |
Country of origin | Canada |
No. of seasons | 44 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Jim Williamson |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Distributor | CBC Television |
Release | |
Original network | CBC Television |
Original release | September 15, 1975 – present |
Journalists
Journalists associated with the show, past and present, include:
- Theresa Burke
- Marie Caloz
- Stevie Cameron
- Harvey Cashore
- Adrienne Clarkson
- Neil Docherty
- Gillian Findlay[note 1]
- Hana Gartner
- Ron Haggart
- Bob Johnstone
- Mark Kelley[note 1]
- Joe MacAnthony
- Linden MacIntyre
- Bob McKeown[note 1]
- Sheila MacVicar
- Victor Malarek
- Eric Malling
- Habiba Nosheen[2]
- Ian Parker
- Francine Pelletier
- Sally Reardon
- Peter Reilly
- Glenn Sarty
- David Studer
- Robin Taylor
- Warner Troyer
- Anna Maria Tremonti
- Jim Williamson
- Trish Wood
Episodes
News reports aired on The Fifth Estate have included investigations into and reports about:
- 9/11 Truth movement
- Death of Ashley Smith
- Airbus affair, Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber
- William Francis Melchert-Dinkel
- Airport Security
- Al-Qaeda in Europe
- Benny Hinn
- Brendan Burke
- Brandon Crisp
- Chris Benoit, Wrestler: Fight to the Death
- Chuckie Akenz
- Charles Manson and The Manson Family
- Scouts Canada
- Communications Security Establishment
- David Frost and Mike Danton
- Jian Ghomeshi
- Rob Ford
- Dick Cheney
- MIM-104 Patriot and its ineffectiveness during the Gulf War as a missile defense system
- Guy Paul Morin
- Suicide of Amanda Todd
- Jane and Finch
- Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation ("Luck of the Draw")
- Pierre Vallières
- Polygamy in Bountiful, British Columbia
- PROFUNC
- Steven Truscott
- To Sell a War
- Tunagate
- David Russell Williams
- Mark Twitchell
- Donald Trump
- Iglesia ni Cristo
- Julian Assange[3]
Season 34 (2008–09)
The 2008–09 Television season was the 34th season of The Fifth Estate.
Episode | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|
10 | Someone Got Away With Murder[4] | January 21, 2009 |
Season 36 (2010–11)
The 2010–11 Television season was the 36th season[5] of The Fifth Estate.
Episode | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|
1 | Enemies of the State | October 15, 2010 |
2 | The Confession | October 22, 2010 |
3 | The Fall and Rise of Theo Fleury | October 29, 2010 |
4 | The Life and Death of Abdinasir Dirie | November 5, 2010 |
5 | Behind the Wall | November 12, 2010 |
6 | The Girl in the Suitcase | November 19, 2010 |
7 | The Legacy of Brendan Burke | November 26, 2010 |
8 | Presumed Dead | December 3, 2010 |
9 | After the Earth Shook | January 7, 2011 |
10 | Justice for Nadia | January 14, 2011 |
11 | Death of the Don | January 28, 2011 |
12 | WikiRebels | February 4, 2011 |
13 | Death at the Olympics | February 11, 2011 |
14 | The Devil You Know | February 18, 2011 |
15 | You Should Have Stayed At Home | February 25, 2011 |
16 | Missing | March 11, 2011 |
17 | Getting Off Easy | March 18, 2011 |
18 | My Friend the Bank Robber | March 25, 2011 |
19 | A Question of Innocence | April 1, 2011 |
Season 37 (2011–12)
The 2011–12 Television season was the 37th season[6] of The Fifth Estate.
Episode | Title | Original air date | CBC viewers |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Truth and Lies: The Last Days of Osama bin Laden | September 9, 2011 | 599,000 |
2 | Swissair 111: The Untold Story | September 16, 2011 | 775,000 |
3 | Gatti-vs-Gatti | September 23, 2011 | 436,000 |
4 | Mayday | September 30, 2011 | 482,000 |
5 | Colonel Gadhafi: Palace of Secrets | October 7, 2011 | 577,000 |
6 | True Confession | October 14, 2011 | 504,000 |
7 | Scout's Honour | October 21, 2011 | 567,000 |
8 | 'Til Death Do Us Part | October 28, 2011 | 482,000 |
9 | Stories from the River’s Edge | November 4, 2011 | 509,000 |
10 | Murder, he wrote | November 18, 2011 | 535,000 |
11 | A Cold Case | November 25, 2011 | 612,000 |
12 | Holiday Hell | December 2, 2011 | 722,000 |
13 | Behind the Line | December 9, 2011 | 568,000 |
14 | Escape From Justice | January 6, 2012 | 853,000 |
15 | Diagnosis Murder | January 13, 2012 | 646,000 |
16 | The Lies People Tell | January 20, 2012 | 752,000 |
17 | Who’s Killing the Rizzutos? | January 27, 2012 | 622,000 |
18 | The Wreck of the Costa Concordia | February 3, 2012 | 1,317,000 |
19 | The House of Shafia | February 10, 2012 | 470,000 |
20 | The Lost Boys | February 17, 2012 | 565,000 |
21 | Fearless | February 24, 2012 | 298,000 |
22 | Fast Break | March 2, 2012 | 203,000 |
23 | Time Bomb | March 9, 2012 | 895,000 |
24 | Lost on the Ice | March 23, 2012 | 300,400 |
25 | Kidnapped | April 6, 2012 | 1,200,000 |
Season 38 (2012–13)
The 2012–13 Television season was the 38th season[7] of The Fifth Estate.
Episode | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|
1 | Into the Death Zone (Death of Canadian Shriya Shah-Klorfine on Mt. Everest) | September 12, 2012 |
2 | Kingston Pen: Secrets and Lies | September 21, 2012 |
3 | Runaway Fighter (F-35 fighter jet purchase) | September 28, 2012 |
4 | The Widow's Web (So-called "black widow" Melissa Ann Shepard) | October 5, 2012 |
5 | The Life and Death of Gloria Taylor (First Canadian to have the right to ask for a doctor's assistance in dying) | October 12, 2012 |
6 | Whistleblowers: Moment of Truth (What happened to well-known Canadian whistleblowers?) | October 19, 2012 |
7 | Lost in the Struggle: The Next Chapter (Return to Jane and Finch) | October 26, 2012 |
8 | Lucky 7 (Stolen lottery win is recovered) | November 2, 2012 |
9 | The Elephant in the Room (Retiring zoo elephants) | November 9, 2012 |
10 | Left for Dead (Struggle for survival in icy waters near Baffin Island) | November 16, 2012 |
11 | Lance Armstrong: Master of Spin | November 23, 2012 |
12 | Hunting Magnotta (Could the gruesome crimes of double murderer Luka Magnotta have been prevented?) | November 30, 2012 |
13 | Costa Concordia: The Captain's Tale | December 7, 2012 |
14 | The Imperfect Spy (What exactly did Jeffrey Delisle do, and why?) | April 10, 2017 |
15 | The Last Race (Death of Canadian ski cross competitor Nik Zoricic in World Cup competition) | January 18, 2013 |
16 | Death in Paradise (Unexplained tourist deaths may be linked to pesticide use) | January 25, 2013 |
17 | Target bin Laden | February 1, 2013 |
18 | Crossfire (National Rifle Association's influence in USA and Canada) | February 8, 2013 |
19 | The Unrepentant (Canadian psychopaths "Lightning" Lee, Russell Williams, Karla Homolka, and two young offenders) | February 22, 2013 |
20 | The Vanishing (Disappearance of Wendy Ratté) | March 1, 2013 |
21 | Second Wave (Debris from 2011 Japanese tsunami begins to reach Canadian coasts) | March 8, 2013 |
22 | Ironman (Russ George's massive iron fertilization project off BC's West Coast) | March 29, 2013 |
23 | Mission Improbable (Cythia Vanier, SNC Lavalin, and an alleged plot to smuggle Saadi Gadhafi and his family into Mexico) | April 5, 2013 |
24 | Rate My Hospital | April 12, 2013 |
Season 39 (2013–14)
The 2013–14 Television season was the 39th season of The Fifth Estate.
Season 43 (2017–18)
The 2017–18 Television season was the 43rd season of The Fifth Estate.
Reception
Awards
The Fifth Estate has won many awards, including Gemini Awards – among them ten for Best Information Series, numerous domestic investigative journalism awards, many New York and Columbus awards, International Emmys, and in 2000 and 2010 the Michener Award, Canada's top journalism prize, which is open to all media and has only one annual winner. A 2003 co-production[8] with The New York Times and PBS's Frontline was recognized with the Pulitzer,[9] Peabody,[10] Polk[11] and other awards.
The Fifth Estate is one of two television programs (with The Twilight Zone being the first) to win an Academy Award, a prize presented to theatrical films: Just Another Missing Kid, originally a The Fifth Estate episode, was released in theatres in the United States and won the 1982 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.
Controversy
The CBC was successfully sued for libel over an episode that aired on February 27, 1996. Two doctors were interviewed for an episode about prescription drugs. Both doctors alleged their interviews were unfairly edited to give the false impression they were involved in kickbacks, coverups of patient deaths and other disreputable activities. Cardiologist Martin Meyers asked for an apology plus $25,000, while researcher Frans Leenen asked for an apology plus $10,000. The CBC opted to fight the charges in court. The doctors ultimately prevailed. Myers was awarded $200,000, plus interest and costs, while Leenen won $950,000, plus interest and costs that could total over $2 million, a record for Canadian libel. The CBC has no libel insurance. Judges in both cases ruled that journalists at The Fifth Estate had twisted the facts and acted with malice, with one writing in his decision; this was sensationalistic journalism of the worst sort and should serve as an embarrassment to this so-called 'flagship' investigative programme. The episode's host Trish Wood, producer Nicholas Regush, the researcher and executive producer David Studer were assessed punitive and aggravated damages.[12]
The CBC and The Fifth Estate were sued by the Iglesia Ni Cristo after officials said a November 11, 2018 broadcast, "Church of Secrets", defamed their church.[13]
Notes
- Current host of the show
References
- "The story of the fifth estate". Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
- "Emmy winner joins CBC's fifth estate". Toronto Star, September 23, 2016.
- "The Strange World of Julian Assange". CBC News.
- cbc.ca: Someone Got Away With Murder
- "Season 36 Episodes online". CBC News.
- "Season 37 Episodes online". CBC News.
- "Season 38 Episodes online". CBC News.
- "A Dangerous Business". Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- "2004 Pulitzer for Public Service". Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- "2003 Peabody Award". Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- "2003 Peabody Award". Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- Margaret Wente (2000) Two doctors, the CBC and a judgment, The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2000; URL accessed 11 Apr 2017
- Glenn Dawkins TERRIBLE STAIN: CBC sued by church over Fifth Estate story, Kingston Whig Standard, Feb 8, 2019; URL accessed 9 Feb 2019