U.S. DRUG OFFICIALS VETTED SHOWS' PLOT LINES

Networks submitted scripts to White House

U.S. television network executives admitted yesterday that they have
routinely submitted scripts for major TV series to White House
officials to ensure that the shows contain government-approved story
lines about drugs and alcohol.

The government program, in which officials with the White House Office
of National Drug Control Policy read scripts and sometimes ask for
changes, is part of a deal between the U.S. government and the
networks. Under the deal, Washington agreed not to force the networks
to run public-service ads at below-market rates to combat drug use.

That freed up advertising space that the networks could sell at higher
rates to private advertisers. All they had to do was insert
drug-prevention themes into some shows.

For each antidrug TV plot, the government paid networks for three or
more 30-second ads.

Canadian government officials said yesterday that this idea has been
proposed by at least one private Canadian network, although it has
never been adopted here.

`They're bribing the broadcasters to change their programming, and
they're doing it covertly,' Andrew Schwartzman, head of the Media
Access Project, said of the U.S. deal.

`It's doing it under the table that makes it absolutely
reprehensible,' he added.

News of the scheme emerged yesterday in an investigative report
published in the online magazine salon.com.

Citing network executives whom it did not name, the report said that
shows subjected to script-vetting included ER, Chicago Hope, The
Practice, Cosby, Providence, The Drew Carey Show and General Hospital
among others. It said that networks had earned $25-million by selling
advertising time that would have been devoted to public-service messages.

Network officials were quick to denounce the report yesterday, but
some also acknowledged that they had participated in the scheme.

`We have consulted with the experts at the [White House] on two
scripts that dealt with drug and alcohol use,' officials at the WB
network said in a press release yesterday. `And we will continue to do
so as issues arise in our programming.'

A CBS spokesman said the network was `proud to be working with the
government in regard to the war on drugs.'

Officials at ABC and NBC denied they had participated in the
program.

In many cases, the creators of the programs had no idea their scripts
were examined by the government.

`I had not a clue about any financial incentives,' said John Tinker,
the executive producer of Chicago Hope. `it smells manipulative. All
of this is disturbing.'

News of the plan raised alarm among Canada's private networks, which
air many of the government-vetted U.S. series. Although Health Canada
does run some addiction-prevention information programs, the official
anti-drug movement has never caught on in Canada.

David Hamilton, director of national promotion and publicity for
Global Television, called the allegations made yesterday
`unbelievable'. His network carries programs such as Beverly Hills
90210, The Practice and Chicago Hope, all of which were named in the
Salon article as having been subjected to script-vetting.

Media critics expressed alarm at the plan yesterday, calling it a case
of government interference with artistic expression.

Robert Corn-Revere, former counsel for the U.S. Congress approved a
five-year, $1-billion program to pay for anti-drug advertising in
1997. The White House later gave up some unused advertising time,
allowing networks to sell it for full price. The office also agreed to
credit networks for unused ad spots on the basis of how long anti-drug
episodes were and how many viewers watched them.

`I know it's allowed us to make some deals we wouldn't normally make
before,' said Alan Levitt, the drug-policy official running the
campaign, who freely admitted to having asked for changes to scripts,
but denied that this constituted artistic interference.

In Canada, networks are also required to air public-service
advertisements with a range of messages. According to a Health Canada
official, the idea of altering the plots of TV shows in lieu of ads
has been considered by a Quebec broadcaster.

`The concept of broadcasters looking for inventive ways to get money
for something other than an ad is around,' the official said,
indicating that a broadcaster's representative had mentioned the idea
as a possible proposal.

However, according to Jack Mintz, the director of partnerships and
marketing for Health Canada, the Canadian government has only been
involved on an advisory basis in suggesting healthy messages- and any
financial involvement has been clearly stated.

`When DeGrassi [High] was on the air, we met with the producers and
tried to introduce certain messages,' he said, recalling that some of
Health Canada's health-promotion posters were placed in the classrooms
of the fictional high school in downtown Toronto.

`They were very supportive. In fact they were doing a damn good job
[delivering healthy messages] with-out Health Canada.'

In the same way, he said, Transport Canada communications officials
have asked Canadian television producers to show actors doing up seat
belts.

In the late 1980s, he said that Health Canada had co-sponsored an
information program on teenaged health issues with the producers of
the DeGrassi high school shows and the CBC called DeGrassi Talks.