SUBPLOT: NETWORKS LET WHITE HOUSE VET SCRIPTS TO PRESS ANTIDRUG LINE

The White House has found a new way to spread its antidrug message: slip it
into some of the nation's most popular prime-time TV programs.

Thursday, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said that
for more than a year it has been working with TV networks to get them to
weave antidrug messages into the dialogue of some of their regular shows. So
far, the government says, antidrug themes have found their way into such
highly rated shows as "ER," "Chicago Hope" and "Home Improvement." In some
cases, the networks even submitted scripts to the drug czar's office for
review.

Although the networks say everything they did with the drug office was on
the up and up and in the open, some producers are wary. "There is a real
gray area here," says John Tinker, executive producer of "Chicago Hope."

The arrangement between the networks and the drug czar's office was first
reported by Salon News. Bob Weiner, a spokesman for federal drug czar Barry
McCaffrey, said there is nothing unseemly about it. In fact, federal
lawmakers approved the concept in 1997 as part of a five-year,
multimillion-dollar media buy for the White House drug-control office, which
Mr. McCaffrey directs.

The collaboration began nearly two years ago when the White House drug
office, flush with congressional cash, approached the networks about buying
advertising time. According to Mr. Weiner, the deal required the networks to
effectively sell the airtime for half price, meaning the government would
get $2 billion in advertising time for $1 billion.

Mr. Weiner said the arrangement also allowed the government to forgo some of
that ad time in exchange for the networks' agreeing to incorporate antidrug
themes into some prime-time programs. With the economy booming and
advertising slots now selling for much more than they did two years earlier,
some of the networks found it more profitable to exercise that option.

Network executives bristled at the suggestion that the government had any
authority to tinker with scripts.

"We never ceded content control to the ONDCP or any other government
department," said Roz Weinman, executive vice president of broadcast content
policy for General Electric Co.'s NBC. Scripts of episodes were presented to
the drug czar's office, she said, but only to obtain credit against its
pledge of antidrug advertising time. "At no time," Ms. Weinman stressed,
"has NBC ever turned over scripts for approval."

To broadcast various antidrug messages in commercials and during shows, Mr.
Weiner said the drug office will pay networks nearly $200 million in the
year that started Oct. 1.

The Clinton administration Thursday defended the practice. "Gen. McCaffrey
has been very innovative about getting antidrug messages out and he is going
to continue to do so," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. "He's an
aggressive guy, and he gets the job done."

Mr. Weiner said the government has "worked with" hundreds of programs that
included antidrug messages, but he said the drug czar's office had reviewed
only a "couple dozen" scripts.

An ABC spokeswoman said her network had never provided the government with
scripts or shows for review. Shows were provided, she said, after they
aired.

Mr. Tinker, the executive producer of "Chicago Hope," said an antidrug
episode that aired last year had been kicking around for several years. And
he said he got calls from studio executives to put the episode on the fast
track. However, he stressed, "no notes out of the ordinary" came from CBS
Corp. or News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox Television, which produces the show.
Mr. Tinker said he was never instructed to alter the characters or the story
line.

It's common practice for TV networks to work with public service groups as
consultants. ABC has worked with the Partnership for a Drug Free America for
several years. The WB network consults with the Kaiser Family Foundation,
The Media Project and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on the
portrayal of sex involving teenagers.

Many of the shows cited by Salon are considered to be softer fare. Fox's
"Beverly Hills 90210," for example, has dealt with substance abuse issues
since its first season. That NBC's medical drama "ER," which is set in a
Chicago hospital, also deals with the evils of drug abuse is hardly
surprising.

Fox's comedy "That 70's Show" concerns antidrug activists. The network took
some heat two years ago when the characters in the show were portrayed
enjoying marijuana. Despite the protests for showing drugs in a positive
light, the episode was barely changed. At the time, Fox executives said they
would illustrate the negative impact of drugs in future episodes, but the
topic has still barely been addressed by the comedy.

Fox, like the other networks, denied seeking government approval for any
script. In a statement, the network said "at no time has the ONDCP either
sought or been granted creative control over Fox program content." Further,
the network said, its producers were fully aware of the arrangement.

Prolific producer Steven Bochco, whose TV credits include the current "NYPD
Blue" on ABC, said he had "never been talked to" by the network about
possibily using one of his shows, which frequently deal with substance-abuse
issues, to reclaim ad time promised to the government.

Peter Roth, who was president of the Fox Entertainment Group in 1998 when
the network met with Gen. McCaffrey, said there have been no government
impositions on the creative process, and cited the pot-smoking episode of
"That 70's Show." Mr. Roth, who is now president of Time Warner Inc.'s
Warner Bros. Television, added no such practice is going on there either.
"I'm flabbergasted by this story," he said.

- -- Erin White contributed to this article.

Write to Glenn Burkins at glenn.burkins2 and Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com3