FRONTLINE’s English-language documentary, Rape on the Night Shift, will air Tuesday, June 23 at 10 p.m. on KQED 9.
Reveal’s English-language national radio show will air on public radio stations across the U.S. starting Saturday, July 4, with a special Spanish-language podcast also being released on iTunes.
All broadcasts will be accompanied by original, multiplatform content from the reporting partners – including an illustrated investigative text piece on June 23 and three radio reports on July 23, 24 and 25 from KQED.
With firsthand accounts from female janitorial workers who say they have been sexually abused by their coworkers and supervisors, the collaborative investigation tells the stories of the steep price many women in the janitorial industry pay to keep their jobs and provide for their families.
Many of the women have been terrified to report their alleged attackers — some for fear of being deported; others for fear they’ll lose their jobs — so these cases are often difficult to prosecute.
From San Francisco’s Ferry Building, to the malls of Minnesota, to big box stores across the country, the investigative team — with correspondent Lowell Bergman, producers Andrés Cediel and Daffodil Altan, and reporters Bernice Yeung and Sasha Khokha — found violations across the janitorial industry involving companies large and small.
Drawing on interviews with the women themselves, an attorney for the federal agency that enforces sexual harassment laws in the workplace, and a watchdog group that monitors workplace conditions for janitors, the investigation sheds new light on an underreported problem — and reveals how employers have fallen short in dealing with it.
The project builds on Rape in the Fields/Violación de un Sueño, an earlier collaborative investigation that uncovered the sexual abuse of immigrant women working in America’s farms, fields, and factories. California enacted a bill to protect female farmworkers from sexual abuse in direct response to Rape in the Fields/Violación de un Sueño, and the investigation was honored with a duPont-Columbia Award and an Robert F. Kennedy Award.
Watch, read, and listen to Univision, FRONTLINE, IRP, Reveal from CIR and KQED’s Rape on the Night Shift/Violación de un Sueño: Jornada Nocturna investigation beginning June 20, June 23 and July 4.
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FRONTLINE Credits
Rape on the Night Shift is a Cine Boa LLC production for WGBH/FRONTLINE and Univision in association with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and KQED. The correspondent is Lowell Bergman. The producers are Daffodil Altan and Andrés Cediel. The writers are Lowell Bergman & Andrés Cediel. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
About KQED
KQED, a National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate based in San Francisco, serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, and as a leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas. KQED productions include popular local series like Check, Please! Bay Area, KQED NEWSROOM, Truly CA, Forum with Michael Krasny and 18 weekday news broadcasts on KQED Public Radio; national and statewide offerings such as Film School Shorts, QUEST, Essential Pépin and The California Report; and popular blogs including Mindshift, News Fix, Bay Area Bites, State of Health, KQED Arts and KQED Pop. Online: www.kqed.org
About FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 69 Emmy Awards and 17 Peabody Awards. Visit pbs.org/frontline and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and Google+ to learn more. FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation.
About Univision News
Univision's award-winning News division is committed to informing the country's fastest growing segment across all media platforms, including TV, Radio, and Interactive. Hispanics count on the latest and most relevant content that impacts the community through: Noticiero Univision, the Network's evening, late evening and weekend national newscast; Sunday public affairs program Al Punto (To The Point); newsmagazine shows Aquí y Ahora (Here and Now) and Primer Impacto (First Impact); as well as morning news segments on Despierta América (Wake Up America). Univision has strengthened its news team and expanded its news operations by adding Investigative and Documentary Units.
About Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR)
Investigative reporting is an essential pillar of a democratic society. For more than three decades, The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has relentlessly pursued and revealed injustices that otherwise would remain hidden from the public. With PRX, CIR co-produces the nationally distributed “Reveal” radio show and podcast. “Reveal” features CIR’s reporting, as well as stories from public radio stations and a wide range of media partners, both nonprofit and commercial. CIR stories have received numerous journalism awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, George Polk Award, Emmy Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Its reports have sparked state and federal hearings and legislation, public-interest lawsuits and changes in corporate policies. For more information, please visit revealnews.org.
About the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP)
The Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is dedicated to promoting and protecting the practice of investigative reporting. The IRP’s work has appeared on FRONTLINE (PBS), FRONTLINE/WORLD, NPR, PBS NewsHour and NBC Nightly News, and in publications such as Mother Jones, National Geographic, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Reuters, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Press Contacts
KQED, Bryce Eberhart, (415) 553-8451, beberhart@KQED.org
FRONTLINE, Patrice Taddonio, Patrice_taddonio@wgbh.org, @ptaddonio, 617.300.5375
Univision News, Jose Zamora, (305) 790-3793, josezamora@univision.net
Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, Meghann Farnsworth, mfarnsworth@cironline.org, 510-809-2213
