NBC documentary looked at recession's impact in Appalachian Ohio; local, online reactions differ

Ann Curry of NBC News spent nine months working on her story for "Dateline" about how the recession was affecting Appalachian Ohio, which locals say was a mostly tasteful account of the region's problems. But all the reaction to "Friends and Neighbors" hasn't been positive, judging from a rash of negative online comments, reports Libby Cunningham of The Athens News of Athens County, where much of the program was filmed. As of this posting the NBC online transcript of the show had drawn more than 700 comments. A Huffington Post story in preview of the documentary had garnered more than 1,200.

"Online posts from users such as 'ratsplat' seemed to echo the complaints of many viewers of the hour-long documentary," Cunningham writes. "Many criticized some of the featured poor for being overweight, wearing jewelry, having babies out of wedlock and doing things such as smoking cigarettes and drinking soda pop." In one comment, representative of many others, "Ratsplat" wrote, "The story was trying to convince us that these people are suffering, but we see smoking cigs, fake nails, gold chains, irresponsible teens living off the system by using their children as food stamps, dirty children (how hard is it to wipe a face clean), kids playing with pistols, etc."

"You can’t let it sink into your heart or it will pull you down. I try to focus on how just as many people come to me and make positive comments," Lisa Roberts, whose Friends and Neighbors Community Choice Food Center (photo by Curry) was a focus of the show, told the News. "There was something that said that (one interviewee) had a gold necklace on; it’s a family heirloom. It’s all he had left; he’s lost all of his items. It’s true that he’s gone hungry for a lot of times, but he’s kept that necklace." Roberts reports her food center has received many positive cards and notes from across the country since the show aired. Many people have asked how they can help. (Read more)

The show was a "was a heartbreaking hour of television for Ohioans," Connie Schultz of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland writes. "It was like opening your personal diary to the saddest parts, and letting the whole world read." While the show was rough viewing for locals, Schultz concludes it was "an oasis in the increasingly parched land of social justice reporting. Curry dug deep in one corner of Ohio to tell the story of hunger and poverty across America, and never traded Ohio Appalachians' dignity for drama."

"They asked the right questions," Jack Frech of the Department of Job and Family Services in Athens County told Schultz. "The question isn't, 'Why are all those people standing in line at a food pantry?' The question is, 'Why aren't federal and state programs providing enough assistance?' And where's the outrage over policies that bail out banks and people at the top, but won't help the millions of people who fall under the poverty line?" (Read more) A webcast of the show is here.