A U.S,-produced documentary on Macau’s gaming industry has been shelved by the Public Broadcasting Service. Creator and journalist Lowell Bergman has suggested the production was pulled from broadcasting schedules because of “fears of litigation from U.S. casino tycoons operating in Macau,” reported the Macau Daily Times.
“Bigger than Vegas” was first scheduled to air on the Frontline program on PBS in 2014, but was postponed a number of times and finally cancelled altogether. Bergman said he and his colleagues at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program “believe that the story was killed for two reasons: (PBS’s) editorial concerns, and their concerns about the legal consequences.”
Frontline executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath disagreed to disagree. “To be clear, our reasons for canceling the film were editorial. We tried over many iterations to reach an acceptable final edit. We postponed the broadcast twice because we didn’t believe it was ready, including finding out about serious factual issues less than two weeks before air last fall.
“Despite more time, Lowell and his team were not able to provide strong enough sourcing and reporting to support key elements of the film,” she said in a news release. Bergman researched possible ties between U.S. gaming operators and underworld elements, the Times reported.
