Media

Ronan Farrow to make HBO documentary about threats against journalists

HBO has entered into a deal with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow to make a documentary about threats to journalists, the cable channel announced Wednesday.

“Farrow and team will investigate threats, intimidation and violence directed at journalists working to expose corruption and abuse by governments, corporations and other powerful interests,” HBO said in the announcement.

Farrow is best known for his investigative reporting for The New Yorker into sexual misconduct and assault charges against former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, which sparked the #MeToo movement, earning Farrow a Pulitzer in 2018.

“Around the world, journalists are under fire,” Farrow said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “They’re being spied on using new surveillance technology, imprisoned, even murdered. And we’re seeing evolving tactics deployed against reporters in the United States, too, against the backdrop of a new era of misinformation campaigns and rhetoric that seeks to undermine the very idea of objective reporting. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to work with Rachel, Heidi and HBO to tell these stories.”

Academy Award-nominated directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady of Loki Films will collaborate with Farrow on the project.

“We cannot think of a better place than HBO to bring audiences the first-hand stories of reporters taking huge risks in order to fight misinformation and to defend a free and informed society,” Ewing said in a statement.

“Reporters covering this upcoming political cycle will be working in a vitriolic, deeply divided country – and our cameras will bear witness to this make or break moment for America’s dedication to a free press,” Grady added.

 
Farrow, 32, has worked as an MSNBC host and reporter for NBC News.
 
He later alleged that NBC News passed on his reporting about Weinstein, prompting him to take the story to The New Yorker. NBC has denied Farrow’s allegation, arguing his story wasn’t ready for air.