Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.latimes.misc From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Did NOW Find a Niche in Cable Television: A deal to give the L.A. chapter a consulting voice at Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 06:36:51 EST Message-ID: HEADLINE: Did NOW Find a Niche in Cable Television: A deal to give the L.A. chapter a consulting voice at Publication Date: Thursday November 19, 1992 BYLINE: ROBERT EPSTEIN In Hollywood where a deal is not always a deal, a strange deal was struck last week between the cable network E! Entertainment Television and the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women. The two alphabeticals agreed to sit down and talk about programming, what areas of the network's show-business emphasis might be covered, what new areas of entertainment journalism might be explored, a practice usually reserved for network programming executives. You could almost imagine Mickey Mouse sitting down with the pest control people and MGM's weary Leo settling down with the NRA and talking story lines. The deal came about only after NOW, concerned about the second coming of radio personality Howard Stern to television in a half-hour interview show later this month, said it would boycott advertisers of Stern and E!, and if that didn't work it would go after cable companies that carry E! In another month and in another context, a deal like that with certain political figures would have brought commentators to the ramparts in defense of the republic and in opposition to the slightest suggestion that censorship and outside editorial influence were now at work in one part of our mass media. Not this time, not in this context. The deal is "unprecedented," says Tammy Bruce,the local NOW president, who says members of her organization would be suggesting programming ideas to the network executives once meetings got under way, possibly this week. Lee Masters, president of E!, doesn't use the word unprecedented , but his network is facing a couple of firsts: a threatened boycott for a program service not known for doing anything controversial and an agreement to sit down with an advocacy group to talk about new areas of coverage. On one side is a television network that once said it would be "celebrity friendly" in its coverage of Hollywood now agreeing to work with an organization that frequently accuses Hollywood decision makers of being overly friendly and sexist behind and in front of the camera. On another side is an advocacy group that talks of its "feminist agenda" when it goes to the conference table while, in Bruce's words, seeking "a balance of information" by "the gatekeepers of the media." Threats of boycotts have become a Hollywood staple, from economic and political threats against "Murphy Brown" to proponents of Turn Off TV Day to would-be censors of PBS programs. Almost as much a staple are efforts by advocacy groups to try to influence the content of movies and television shows. Most of Hollywood's self-interest award shows are intended to get some idea across to the media--save the trees, save the seas, save the kids--and then put those ideas into the minds of viewers. Some advocacy groups offer resources--their own experts and their research--to writers and producers in the hope of show-business correctness This article is copyright 1992 The Los Angeles Times Home Edition. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM