Participant Media, The Paley Center for Media, Government Accountability Project and Warner Home Video Present Panel Discussion, Anyone Can Whistle -- The Essential Role of the Whistleblower in American Society, February 17, 7PM at NYC Paley Center for Media

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- To kick off Participant Media's social action campaign for Steven Soderbergh's film The Informant!, Participant Media, The Paley Center for Media, the Government Accountability Project and Warner Home Video will present a panel discussion titled Anyone Can Whistle—The Essential Role of the Whistleblower in American Society on February 17 at 7PM at The Paley Center for Media in New York. Some of the most well-known whistleblowers in history will discuss their own personal experiences as well as the importance of speaking out and advocating change.

"Through our Social Action campaign for The Informant! we have created a way to rally public support and government protection for the courageous whistleblowers responsible for putting criminals behind bars, reclaiming billions of taxpayer dollars and saving countless lives," said John Schreiber, Participant's EVP Social Action & Advocacy. "By partnering with The Paley Center, the Government Accountability Project and Warner Home Video, we are bringing these heroes together for one memorable evening to present the inside stories and case studies of these real life dramas."

"The Paley Center is committed to exploring all the ways in which media impacts society, and among the topics for critical consideration is the role that media can play in exposing corporate and government malfeasance," says Pat Mitchell, president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media. "We are excited to be partnering with Participant Media which is committed to producing films and documentaries that raise awareness and promote social change to further their exploration of the role of courageous journalists and brave individual whistleblowers."

"Whistleblowers are the key to rooting out corrupt and unsafe practices within corporations and other institutions," stated Louis Clark. President of GAP. "This inspiring event will honor whistleblowers, remind us why they are so vital to our democracy, and call upon each of us to take action to support these courageous Americans."

Participants will include such notable whistleblowers as Mike German (who exposed the FBI's use of illegal wiretaps); Kit Foshee (who, as Director of Quality Assurance/Food Safety disclosed a major American beef supplier falsely claimed its ammonia process removed pathogens from the meat); Cathy Harris (a U.S. customs official who blew the whistle on racial profiling); Babak Pasdar (a telecommunications security expert who exposed the company's providing access of all its cell phone data to the federal government); Daniel Ellsberg (former Rand Corporation/DOD analyst whose Pentagon Papers disclosed the truth about the Vietnam War); and Frank Serpico (former NYPD detective whose whistleblowing activities were memorably portrayed by Al Pacino in the 1973 film). Dr. David Kessler, former FDA Commissioner who challenged the tobacco industry by attempting to regulate cigarettes, will also participate. NPR/Fox News' Juan Williams will moderate a portion of the evening.

The event, which will be offered live via satellite and streaming video at both Livestream.com/TheInformant and Facebook.com/TakePart, is part of The Paley Center's Robert M. Batscha University Seminar Series, generously funded by Dick Wolf.

Warner Home Video will release The Informant! on DVD and Blu-Ray on February 23.

For more information about Participant Media visit http://www.participantmedia.com/

For more information about The Paley Center for Media visit http://www.paleycenter.org/

For more information about the Government Accountability Project visit http://www.whistleblower.org/

SOURCE Participant Media