Nieman Fellow To Appear on PBS

A Harvard Nieman fellow who helped expose the cover-up of a local pedophilia scandal involving the Boy Scouts of America is set to appear on the PBS television show “Exposé” this evening.

Dean S. Miller, who is spending this academic year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, was at the time the executive editor of the Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho, a small-town newspaper with a circulation of 26,000.

In 2005, the Post Register reported that Brad Stowell, a Boy Scouts leader, had molested not two boys, as had been previously reported in 1997, but two dozen.

In a series of articles, the Register reported that the national organization of the Boy Scouts of America and a local chapter had hired two top Idaho law firms to seal court files related to the cases after settling with two of the victims.

The Register also reported that the Boy Scouts of America failed to notify the parents of other known victims who were not included in the settlement.

The series, which was entitled “Scout’s Honor,” provoked a wave of fury through Idaho Falls, a predominantly Mormon conservative community with a long tradition of participation in the Scouts that put Miller and his fellow reporters in the spotlight.

“Because Miller worked in a densely Mormon part of Idaho, there was a lot of public outcry in pursuing the story,” said Diana L. Eck, the master of Lowell House where Miller currently lives.

That public outcry included several personal threats.

“At the time, I worried about the safety of my kids,” Miller said yesterday.

As the Reynolds Nieman fellow in community journalism, Miller is currently studying respect for civil law in single-faith communities. He said yesterday that he plans to film a documentary in the near future, and he expressed a great optimism for the vibrancy and watchdog role of the media of the United States.

“Journalism that serves people’s personal and civic interests has got a long and happy future, and all this despair in the news industry is largely unnecessary if people keep their eyes on that particular ball,” said Miller.

“Exposé” Executive Producer Thomas M. Casciato said he was so intrigued by Miller’s experience that he invited the journalist to appear on the show. The two met last summer during an awards luncheon.

“ ‘Exposé’ ’s goal is to expand the reach of really fine investigative reporting done all over the country,” said Casciato yesterday.

“Exposé” will air tonight at 10 p.m.