>From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: McMeltdown! >Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 14:20:09 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > >When they start to deny what they used to brag about, they're running >scared. > >Tee hee hee. > >Can you imagine what a lousy day McCaffrey is having? About time. > >Enjoy (I am) > >Peter > >---------------- > >JANUARY 14, 10:57 EST > >White House Defends TV Drug Message > >By SONYA ROSS >Associated Press Writer > >WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House today denied trying to rob TV networks of >creative freedom by having President Clinton's drug policy adviser consult >with them on scripts and offer financial credits for anti-drug messages in >prime-time shows. > >White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the president's Office of National >Drug Control Policy was using ``a very important and innovative'' program of >advertising and partnerships to help reduce the demand for drugs, and >anti-drug messages being incorporated into TV scripts were a positive result >of that. > >``There's no element of trying to dictate or infringe on any creative >process,'' Lockhart said. ``We just think it's important to get the >anti-drug message out in as many ways as we can.'' > >He said the program is important to Clinton, who called on Hollywood >executives last year to limit violent and inappropriate images in films in >the wake of the mass shootings at Columbine High School. > >``We'd like all elements of popular culture to join the effort to send a >strong message about the dangers of drugs, especially to our children,'' >Lockhart said. > >Broadcast networks' consultations with the drug office, on such shows as >NBC's top-rated ``ER,'' Fox's ``Beverly Hills 90210'' and CBS's ``Chicago >Hope,'' raised questions about their independence, but representatives of >ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the WB insisted Thursday that they still call the >shots. > >``At no time has the Office of National Drug Control Policy either sought or >been granted creative control over Fox program content,'' said Tom Tyre, a >network spokesman. > >The White House drug office said that it had reviewed the scripts of two >dozen programs over the past few years for anti-drug messages, sometimes >suggesting changes that were incorporated in the final product. > >A separate arrangement worked out between the networks and the government >gave the companies a financial incentive for preaching against drug use. > >Congress in 1997 authorized an anti-drug TV campaign that advocates hope >will have $1 billion in spending over five years. The government bought >commercial time on the networks for their ads, and the networks agreed to >match that time. > >With business recently booming for TV ad sales, the government set up an >arrangement where networks would get credit for anti-drug messages >incorporated in their shows. This freed up commercial time where the >networks would have had to run the government ads, letting the broadcasters >sell the time to other companies. > >The White House drug office valued the programming messages it had approved >at $22 million. > >``I'm fairly amazed that there has been any concern expressed about this,'' >said Rich Hamilton, CEO of Zenith Media, an ad buying firm that helped >develop the idea as a go-between for the broadcasters and government. > >Yet an expert on media ethics said it raises questions about the motives of >the entertainment industry. > >``What it can do for the networks is make it seem that they are only going >to run those messages or shows that have prior government approval,'' said >Aly Colon, a professor at the Poynter Institute. ``That may not be reality, >but at least it can become a perception.'' > >The government made no suggestions on script changes when it reviewed shows >to see if they would get financial credit, said Alan Levitt, director of the >national youth media campaign at the drug office. > >``All we said was, if you believe that a certain program that you intend to >broadcast delivers our message - essentially that drugs can kill you - >submit it to us for an evaluation and we may decide that we can credit you >for a pro bono match,'' Hamilton said. > >Fox earned monetary credit for episodes of ``Beverly Hills 90210'' and >``America's Most Wanted.'' The WB network received credit for an episode of >``7th Heaven,'' a spokesman said. > >The WB said that in an episode of the ``Smart Guy'' series, two >substance-abusing teen-agers were originally depicted as being popular, but >the script was changed after government review to show them as ``losers'' >hidden away in a utility room taking drugs. > >Spokesman Brad Turell said it is common for the network to ask for changes >to a script before a show is aired. Just because the government gave advice >in this instance doesn't mean the network gave up creative control, he said. > >Producers and writers of ``ER'' have been in frequent contact with the feds. >One recent storyline about a youth coming into the emergency room after >having abused alcohol was likely included after the office told producers >that alcohol is the most frequently abused drug among young people, said >Donald Vereen, deputy director of the White House drug policy office. > >NBC has not accepted any financial credits for anti-drug messages and has >never ``ceded content control of any of our programs,'' said Rosalyn >Weinman, executive vice president of broadcast content policy. > >ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover said the network submitted scripts to the drug >office, but received no financial credit because it had already used enough >free commercials. ABC does not plan to seek credit in the future, Hoover >said. >================================================== > > >From the New York Times: >http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/tv-drugs.html > >January 14, 2000 > > >In Deal With TV Networks, U.S. Drug Office Is Reviewing Scripts >By MARC LACEY with BILL CARTER > >WASHINGTON -- Over the last two years, the White House has reviewed some >scripts and advance footage of such television shows as "E.R." and "Beverly >Hills 90210" under a little-known financial agreement with the networks that >encourages them to include anti-drug messages in plots of programs. > >As part of the arrangement, White House drug policy officials scrutinized in >advance more than 100 episodes on all the major networks. If the government >signs off on a particular show, the networks receive credit that reduces the >number of costly public service announcements they are forced by law to >broadcast. > >The government officials, in the White House Office of National Drug Control >Policy, said they had made some programming suggestions to the networks. But >television executives, who are participating in the effort voluntarily with >an eye on the bottom line, insist that they never gave control of the >content of their shows to the government. > >"NBC has never ceded creative control of any of our programs" to the drug >policy office or any other department of government, said Rosalyn Weinman, >the executive vice president of content policy for NBC. > >The other networks issued similar statements. > >But various networks and television studio executives said they did look for >episodes that might satisfy the interests of the drug office. > >The practice surfaced today in a critical report on Salon, an Internet >magazine, that labeled the practice "prime-time propaganda." Although not >widely known, the programming effort had been outlined by Gen. Barry R. >McCaffrey, director of the drug policy office, in a Congressional hearing >last fall. > >Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a public >interest law firm, told Salon, "This is the most craven thing I've ever >heard of yet. > >To turn over content control to the federal government for a modest price is >an outrageous abandonment of the First Amendment." > >Under the program, government officials get an advance look at whatever >shows the networks want to submit and an opportunity to make the case that >anti-drug messages be inserted. Occasionally, the drug policy office might >suggest that a scene be changed or a line rewritten to show characters >turning down marijuana or ruining their lives through cocaine, said Alan >Levitt, an official in the drug policy office who helped create the program. >In the vast majority of cases, Mr. Levitt said, no suggestions are made. > >Officials with the drug policy office defended the arrangement as an >effective way to spread anti-drug messages to young people without >infringing on creativity. Drug use among young people has dropped by 15 >percent in the last year, drug policy office officials said, crediting both >a government advertising blitz and anti-drug programming. > >"I guess we plead guilty to using every lawful means of saving America's >children," said Bob Weiner, a spokesman for the drug office. "But we don't >interfere in the creative process. We don't say they can't run anything. We >don't tell them what to say or not to say." > >Representative Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican whose appropriations >subcommittee finances the drug policy office, approved, saying: > >"It's a new program. We're going to watch it closely. Certainly some >questions have been raised about it. But we want to get the message out to >young people." > >Mr. Levitt said all the major networks had participated in the arrangement, >saving more than $20 million in advertising costs. Although he listed >numerous shows that had been reviewed by his office -- including "E.R.," >"Touched by an Angel" and "Cosby" -- he declined to provide the list. > >Congress in 1997 financed a huge anti-drug advertising campaign that >required media outlets to match any advertising time bought by the federal >government with public service time. That essentially gives the drug office >and other government agencies the ability to buy advertisements at half >price. > >But since 1997, the demand for television advertising has risen, and >networks were seeking to sell more time at full price. So the government >worked out a compromise: networks can reduce the amount of advertising time >they are required to provide by broadcasting anti-drug shows. The networks >can then sell air time that would have gone to the government for half price >to regular advertisers for full price. > >Every network issued statements asserting that it had never ceded any >control over its shows' content to any governmental office. Yet all but one >acknowledged having sent either final drafts of scripts or tapes of >completed shows to the advertising agency representing the drug office, >seeking credit from the government. > >The exception was the new and smaller network, WB, which conceded that it >had submitted scripts in progress from "Smart Guy" and "The Wayans >Brothers." Both shows were doing episodes on the theme of drug use, and both >altered their scripts as a result of suggestions by government personnel. > >Jamie Kellner, the chief executive of WB, said his network's motivation was >to "try to find expertise" to help make the episodes accurate. > >"We submitted the scripts to get their input and make sure we were handling >the stories in the most responsible way," Mr. Kellner said. > >"They're not editing the scripts," he said. > >"They may say something like, 'This will only work in the story if the >person is truly inebriated.' " > >Like several other producers whose shows were used to help generate network >credits, John Tinker, who produced the medical drama series "Chicago Hope," >never knew that his shows were being sent to the government. > >"I would certainly have liked to know about it," Mr. Tinker said. > >Aides said General McCaffrey was not available for comment today. > >At a hearing in October before a House appropriations subcommittee, the >general outlined the complicated system of credits. > >"An on-strategy story line that is the main plot of a half-hour show can be >valued at three 30-second ads," he said. "If there is an end tag with an 800 >number or more information at the end of a half-hour show, it is valued at >an additional 15-second ad. A main story line in an hourlong prime-time show >is valued at five 30-second ads, while such a story line in a one-hour >daytime show is valued at four 30-second ads." > >The general also discussed the complexity of sending the right message, >saying: "We realize that you cannot shoehorn a drug message in a script >where it does not belong. It must appear organically. Sometimes only a >one-second frown or wave of the hand when someone is offered marijuana is >all that is needed." > >Rich Hamilton, an advertising executive who helped create the arrangement, >said the program did not force networks to offer anti-drug shows. > >"We'd say to a television network, 'You're already doing this and it's great >you're doing this,' " said Mr. Hamilton, chief executive for the North >America operations of Zenith Media Services in New York. " 'And if you're >planning, once our paid campaign begins, to continue this, send us the >script and we will not rule out giving you credits for it.' " > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: