The New Season: Now AFTRA will investigate ‘Kid Nation’
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The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Friday that it is investigating reports of abuse of children on CBS’ forthcoming “Kid Nation.”
The announcement follows a week of heavy media scrutiny of an unprecedented reality show in which 40 kids, ages 8 to 15, were placed in the New Mexico desert to build a town and society without contact with their parents. The mother of a 12-year-old Georgia girl who was burned in the face with grease while cooking filed a complaint with Georgia officials accusing the production of abuse and neglect.
CBS issued a statement earlier in the week in support of its show and production.
“We stand by the procedures we had in place and the response to all the minor injuries,” the statement said. “We will therefore not accept irresponsible allegations or any attempts to misrepresent and exaggerate events or spread false claims about what happened.”
AFTRA covers the host and announcer of “Kid Nation,” but the organization is now reviewing the contract between the children and the production. Show creator Tom Forman said all of the children will receive a $5,000 ‘stipend’ for ‘participating’ in the program and some of the children won $20,000 prizes. The stipend does not constitute a ‘wage,’ according to CBS lawyers, because the children were not paid for specific work or tasks.
“We’re looking to see exactly what agreements there were between the children and the production and the exact nature of the performance,” said AFTRA spokesman John Hinrichs. “We need to more fully determine whether they are amateur contestants that are exempt from the terms of the agreement.”
In a press release, AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth said: “We are concerned about reports of abuse arising from ‘Kid Nation,’ which was produced under the AFTRA National Code of Fair Practices for Network Television Broadcasting. Under this agreement, the host, announcer, reporters, and other professional performers on reality and contest programming are specifically covered by the terms of the Network Code, while the amateur contestants are generally not. AFTRA is investigating whether the terms and conditions of the Network Code were violated in the production of ‘Kid Nation.’ We will take all legal and moral steps available to protect the rights of the performers and children on this program.’
-- Maria Elena Fernandez