PBS Announces #METOO, NOW WHAT? New Half-hour, Five-Part Series Premiering February 2018

PBS Announces #METOO, NOW WHAT?
New Half-hour, Five-Part Series Premiering
February 2018
– Executive Editor and Host Zainab Salbi Goes Beyond the Headlines About
Sexual Harassment to Ask How We Got Here and
How We Move Forward –
Zainab Salbi, Executive Editor and Host of #METOO,
NOW WHAT?
Credit: Vikram Kacher
PASADENA, CA, January 16, 2018 —
PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger
today announced at the Television Critics
Association #METOO, NOW WHAT?, a
new five-part, half-hour series hosted by
Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for
Women International, premiering Friday,
February 2, at 8:30 pm (check local
listings).

In the current moment, when sexual
harassment is at the forefront of the
national conversation, #METOO, NOW
WHAT? aims to take the discussion to
another level, engaging both women and men from all generations and walks of life in
dialogue about these difficult issues. With the goal of making sense of these tumultuous
times, the series seeks to answer this: How did we get here and how can we use this
moment to effect positive and lasting change?

Each episode will focus on an aspect of sexual harassment, and will include reporting
from Salbi both in the field and in studio as she facilitates open and authentic
conversations that penetrate to the heart of the matter. While each episode will stand
alone, the weekly in-depth and thoughtful conversations will build on and inform each
other. Topics to be explored include the impact of popular culture on women in the
workplace, how race and class factor into the discussion, the social costs of pay inequity
and gender discrimination, how men can be engaged in this discussion, and, ultimately,
how we begin to chart a path forward.

#ME TOO, NOW WHAT? will draw from a range of guests, including women and men
of all ages, races and economic groups — and ordinary citizens from across the nation.
Salbi will also welcome activists, journalists, celebrities and leaders from the worlds of
media, academics, business, arts, entertainment, fashion and advertising.

“#METOO, NOW WHAT? will offer a much-needed space for honest conversation
around this issue,” said Beth Hoppe, PBS Chief Programming Executive and General
Manager, General Audience Programming. “This series will provide context and
perspective from a wide range of voices, with the goal of moving towards healing and
understanding.”

“In order for this conversation to create true cultural change, we must talk with the man
on the street, in our lives, our colleagues and friends,” said Salbi. “Equally, we need to
have the conversation with the women in our lives to examine why, when we’ve seen
sexual misconduct, we’ve often looked the other way when it didn’t impact us directly.”

About Zainab Salbi
People Magazine named her one of the “25 Women Changing the World” in 2016,
Foreign Policy named her as one of the “100 Leading Global Thinkers,” Fast Company
identified her as one of 100 “The Most Creative People in Business,” and Arabian
Business named her “#1 Most Influential Arab Woman In The World.”

At the age of 23, Salbi founded Women for Women International, a grassroots
humanitarian and development organization dedicated to serving women survivors of
wars by offering support, tools and access to life-changing skills to move from crisis and
poverty to stability and economic self-sufficiency. Under her leadership as CEO (1993-
2011), the organization grew from helping 30 women to more than 400,000 women in
eight conflict areas. It also distributed more than $100 million in direct aid and micro
credit loans that involved more than 1.7 million family members.

In October 2015, Salbi launched “The Nida’a Show,” a groundbreaking talk show
dedicated to addressing and inspiring women in the Arab world (www.nidaashow.com).
The show started with the historic first interview in the Arab world with Oprah Winfrey
(Winfrey had featured Zainab 10 times on her own show) and featured women and men
from all walks of life in addition to global and Arab celebrities. In November 2016, Salbi
launched “The Zainab Salbi Project,” an original global series in collaboration with
Huffington Post and AOL, in which she travels the world shedding light on global issues
through the incredible personal stories of people who are struggling, surviving and
thriving in a sea of conflict.

Salbi is the author of several books including the best-seller Between Two Worlds:
Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam. She is currently the editor
at large at Women in the World.
Funding is provided PBS.

Produced by WOMEN IN THE WORLD MEDIA, LLC for PBS. 
Co-produced by Public Square Media, Inc.
Executive editor and host: Zainab Salbi
Executive producer: Gina Kim
Co-executive producer: Suzanne Hayward
Creative director: Ahmer Kalam
Executive in charge: Robert Clauser
Production executives: Judy Doctoroff and Sally Roy
                             
About Women in the World Media
A subsidiary of Tina Brown Live Media, Women in the World is the only media and
network company delivering urgent, relevant news, narrative and commentary through
the lens of smart women. Women in the World Media’s global network of women
journalists present personal stories online or on stages around the world, from DC to
Delhi to Dubai. These women, and the men who champion them, range from CEOs and
world leaders to artists, activists, peacemakers, and firebrand dissidents. The flagship
event, the New York Summit, is now in its ninth year, at New York City’s Lincoln
Center.   For more information on Women in the World Media, please visit:
www.WomenintheWorld.com.

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