This situation is becoming worrisome.  It's particularly galling that many archaeologists (including myself) attended a meeting about all this at National Geographic a couple of years ago, when "Diggers" had been aired.  There were some improvements to that program as a consequence of that meeting. It seems to me however that National Geographic Channel has little interest in educational television when presumably they can get a larger audience and more revenue from this type of programming.  Given economic realities it's not surprising that NGC behaves this way.  What is murky to me, and much more important, is the exact relationship between the National Geographic Society and the Channel.  If the Society is separate from the Channel, why do they allow the Channel to use their logo?  If they are one and the same, how can the Society reconcile its mission (To "Inspire People to Protect the Planet") with the unethical destruction of the past that this program appears to typify?

This is very disappointing.  Even though this program has been pulled, how long until the next one shows up?  "Concentration Camp Capers" and "Down and Dirty in Dachau" anyone?  How about supporting some Holocaust Skeptics in such a project?  Lots of possibilities.


Ian Burrow

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ed Otter
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 2:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: NatGeo cancels broadcast plans

hopefully the archaeological broadcast media company is better informed about broadcasting than they are about archaeology.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID

[log in to unmask] wrote:

>Along these lines, I have copied text (below) of an email I received two days ago.  FYI: my husband and I own a CRM firm (and have the same last name) so I presume they found us on the web?
>
>Anyone hear of this outfit?
>
>EMAIL TEXT:
>
>
>Greetings,
>
>  
>
>  
>
>One of our clients from a major U.S network is seeking two family members who have been working together, manage, or own a Cultural Resource Management firm for a major television series. The mission is to be determined, but it could range from an exploration of an iconic and long mysterious relic, or it could be a mission where each hour sets out to solve a long held mystery, such as an underwater lost civilization to even explaining some strange archaeological formation like Stonehenge.
>
>  
>
>Additionally, I'd like to inform you a little bit more about our 
>company, Past Preservers. Past Preservers is the creative hub between 
>the cultural and media worlds, an archaeological broadcast media 
>company. Feel free to inquire more into our company by visiting our 
>website at http://pastpreservers.com/
>
>   
>
>
>If this is of interest to you, or if you happen to know a CRM firm that 
>might be, please contact us or forward them this information 
>respectively at [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>END TEXT
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Timothy Scarlett <[log in to unmask]>
>To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Mon, Mar 31, 2014 5:37 pm
>Subject: Fwd: NatGeo cancels broadcast plans
>
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>> National Geographic Channel Pulls 'Nazi War Diggers' Series By TOM 
>> MASHBERG New York Times March 31, 2014, 7:08 pm
>> 
>> National Geographic Channel said Monday that it would "indefinitely" 
>> pull a
>planned television series on unearthing Nazi war graves after days of 
>blistering criticism from archeologists and others who said the show 
>handled the dead with macabre disrespect.
>> 
>> The channel said that after "consulting with colleagues" at the 
>> National
>Geographic Society, it would not broadcast the series, "Nazi War 
>Diggers," in May as scheduled "while questions raised in recent days 
>regarding accusations about the program can be properly reviewed." The 
>show was to have been broadcast globally except in the United States.
>> 
>> National Geographic Channel International had commissioned four 
>> episodes of
>the show, in which two British metal detecting specialists, a Polish 
>relics hunter, and an American, Craig Gottlieb, who deals in Nazi World 
>War II artifacts, hunt for the graves of German and Red Army soldiers 
>on the Eastern Front.
>> 
>> National Geographic Channel issued a statement Friday defending the 
>> show and
>saying the criticism was premature, based on early publicity materials 
>that "did not provide important context about our team's methodology." 
>The channel pulled those materials from its website.
>> 
>> http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/national-geographic-chan
>> nel-pulls-nazi-war-diggers-series/?ref=arts
>
>