While it is true that free-market ideas can be heard on some American television channels such as Fox News, they are not very present on American Public Television. This is even truer when it comes to in-depth interviews conducted by a sympathetic interviewer. Our initiative constitutes a tangible effort toward changing this situation.
The World Show and the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) partnered in late 2011 to launch the "Free Markets Series" for the PBS network of affiliates. The goal was to expose the general public to the ideas of some of the most dynamic and influential free-market thinkers in the US and Canada. Since the experience was highly positive, The World Show and the MEI have agreed in principle to launch seasons 2, 3 and 4 of the series, to air for 3 consecutive years, from late 2015 to early 2018, on the PBS network.
Each season will feature 4 episodes filmed over a period of a few days in November during the Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner, to air over the following four months. This world-class event is an unparalleled opportunity to exchange ideas with many of the leading lights of the freedom movement, and an ideal occasion to sit down and interview a select handful of them. Our hope, if the John Templeton Foundation is amenable to the idea, is that one of the four episodes filmed each year will feature the head of the think tank that takes home the prestigious Templeton Freedom Award for that year, and indeed, that this exposure would constitute a part of the prize.
After having aired, all episodes will be archived as TV-quality videos on the series website, http://www.freemarketseries.com/home, thus continuing to build a unique educational platform available to all. While not all episodes will end up being equally timeless (some will be a bit more focused on current events), the majority of them are expected to have a very good shelf life. This video library will extend the lifetime of the series indefinitely.
