US FUNDS FED NETWORK ANTIDRUG ZEAL, REPORT SAYS

Prime-time television's role as a combatant in the war on drugs was
highlighted yesterday by a story alleging that broadcasters reaped
financial gain by including antidrug messages in prime-time programs as
part of an arrangement with the federal government.

According to the on-line magazine Salon, the six broadcast networks - NBC,
ABC, CBS, Fox, the WB, and UPN - have earned nearly $25 million from a
complex advertising deal under which government officials and their
''contractors'' approved and sometimes changed scripts ''to conform with
the government's antidrug messages.''

All the networks - except the WB network, which had no immediate comment to
the Globe - denied that scripts or program content had been altered to
accommodate the government. In a typical response, Rosalyn Weinman, NBC
executive vice president of broadcast content policy, said the network
"never ceded content control of any of our programming" to the government
and "at no time did NBC turn over scripts for approval."

In addition, Bob Weiner, a spokesman for chief White House drug adviser
Barry McCaffrey, insisted, "We don't clear scripts."

However, some networks did gain financially by airing programs with
antidrug messages that met the approval of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy. Certain antidrug themes within entertainment
programs qualified as virtual public service announcements, allowing the
networks to reclaim antidrug advertising time and sell it at higher rates.

According to the on-line magazine, episodes of such programs as NBC's "ER,"
ABC's "The Practice," and CBS's "Cosby" were "assigned a monetary value by
the drug czar's office and its two ad buyers." The Associated Press
reported that the WB network altered an episode of "The Smart Guy" to make
drug-using teens look like "losers" after a government review.

Weiner said that more than 100 programs last year did receive credit for
antidrug messages, and that roughly a dozen were rejected. But he insisted
that those shows were only reviewed after they were completed. Another two
dozen shows voluntarily approached the drug office for technical script
advice on how to accurately depict drug abuse, but did not accrue any
financial benefits for doing so, he added.

"The law mandates that we have entertainment industry collaboration to
fashion anti-drug messages in television programming," he said. "We plead
guilty to using every lawful means to save the lives of America's children."

But the extent of television's role in that crusade is at the heart of the
explosive charges in Salon. If the government was actually involved in
crafting antidrug story lines for television shows' "that's really
frightening," said Robert J. Thompson, of Syracuse University's Center for
the Study of Popular Television. "The most fundamental issue here is that
short of debates and political advertising, has the federal government got
any business using the television airwaves in that fashion?"

The magazine reported that the arrangement began two years ago when
Congress approved $1 billion to buy antidrug commercials on network
television, but only if the ad time was sold to the government at
half-price. The magazine said that the the Office of National Drug Control
Policy offered to relinquish some of that cut-rate commercial time back to
the networks "in return for getting anti-drug motifs incorporated within
specific prime-time shows."

"With the deal in place, government officials and their contractors began
approving, and in some cases altering, the scripts of shows before they
were aired to conform with the government's anti-drug message," according
to Salon.

On that point, the networks delivered unequivocal denials. "At no point has
the independence or the creative integrity of our programming been
compromised," said CBS spokesman Dana McClintock. Fox issued a statement
that said that while the network "is proud of its work with ONDCP and
remains committed to working with the office in promoting its anti-drug
efforts. ... At no time has the ONDCP either sought or been granted
creative control over Fox program content."

ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover said the network "never submitted scripts
ahead of time."

"This has had no impact whatsoever on UPN programming, nor has UPN actively
requested any of our writers or producers to provide storylines for ONDCP
sponsorship," said UPN spokesman Paul McGuire.

Daniel Forbes, the New York freelancer who wrote the article for Salon
magazine, said, "We stand by the story 1000 percent. They [the networks]
are running as fast as they can. They're lying through their teeth."