NETWORKS GOT AID FOR ANTI-DRUG MESSAGES

TV: Government Gave Incentives For Shows To Include Theme In Lieu Of Ads.

PASADENA-The federal government used financial incentives to get television
networks to work anti-drug messages into the scripts of some popular TV
shows. The White House drug office also got the opportunity to review
scripts before the shows aired.

The arrangement was first disclosed by the online news service Salon.com.

Among the shows reviewed by the government were NBC's "ER", CBS' "Chicago
Hope" and "Cosby," ABC's "The Drew Carey Show" and "The Practice," and
Fox's "Beverly Hills 90210," according to Salon.com.

The arrangement stemmed from Congress' 1997 approval of a program to buy
anti-drug ads on TV. Networks were required to match each commercial spot
bought by the government with a free one. Since the program started,
however, ad time has become more valuable with the rising demand by
Internet companies.

The government has since agreed to give up some of its ad time - saving the
networks in excess of $20 million in advertising costs - as long as the
networks demonstrate that some of their programs convey anti-drug messages,
said Rich Hamilton, CEO of Zenith Media, the ad-buying firm that helped
develop the idea as a go-between for the networks and the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy.

This freed advertising time the networks could then sell to other clients
at steeper prices, Hamilton said. 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,"
Hamilton said. "It has been so above board and clearly voluntary."

An expert on media ethics said it raises questions about the industry's
motives.

The practice can make it seem that the networks "are only going to run
those messages or shows that have prior government approval," said Aly
Colon, a professor at the Poynter Institute.

Said Steve Dnistrian of the Partnership For a Drug-Free America, "The
government is not rejecting scripts or controlling creative direction.
That's absurd."

Under the program, government officials get an advance look at scripts or
tapes of 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 at least 24 instances over the past few years, networks or producers
have come to the drug office for advice in how to portray substance abuse
situations, Levitt said. This was independent of the deal offering
financial credit, he said.

"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 said it had received financial credit for episodes of "Beverly Hills
90210" and "America's Most Wanted." They were aired in lieu of
public-service announcements, spokesman Tom Tyre said. The WB network
received credit for an episode of "7th Heaven," officials said.

NBC has not accepted any credits for anti-drug messages, 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 credit because it had already provided enough free
commercials.