TV's Drug Deal: Networks Exchange Anti-Drug Programming For Public Service Credits From White House
Author: Paige Albiniak
Source: Broadcasting & Cable, January 17, 2000: p. 3

Copyright: The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited.

The White House has been allowing the broadcast networks to substitute programs with anti-drug messages for public service announcements, networks and the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) confirmed last week.

Online magazine Salon.com first reported the story in a piece called "Prime-time Propaganda." The networks and ONDCP both said that accusation was overblown.

The exchange between the networks and the White House is part of a law, passed in 1997, that requires media outlets to match dollar-for-dollar any advertising the government buys with an anti-drug message. That same law provided the administration with $1 billion of federally appropriated money to buy anti-drug advertising over the course of five years.

Networks can meet that match by airing public service announcements that are worth as much as the ads the government buys. For example, if the government runs $20 million worth of anti-drug ads on a network, that network is then required to run $20 million worth of public service announcements to make its matching requirement.

But the networks can also make that requirement by providing other forms of "media value." When the networks found they were having trouble opening up enough advertising time to make their PSA match, they made a deal with ONDCP that programs with acceptable anti-drug messages would count.

Critics say that at the very least the practice reeks of government intrusion into free speech. "It's an unprecedented level of government involvement into the content of entertainment programming," says Robert Corn-Revere, a First Amendment attorney with the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson. "Most would agree that it is unseemly for the government to be involved in a secret proceeding to insert anti-drug messages into programming even if it's a good thing to be informing the public about.".

The networks argue that the practice was in no way secret--the 1997 law was public and covered by the media, while the practice of allowing anti-drug programming to count toward ad credit has been discussed in Congressional testimony four times in the past year.

ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC all say they never got pre-approval from the White House on any program, although the networks did receive credit for programs submitted after they aired. The WB says it worked with ONDCP to develop credible anti-drug plot lines for the now-cancelled programs Smart Guy and The Wayans Bros. "in order to mitigate the two-for-one deal," says one WB spokesman.

"We have consulted with the experts at the ONDCP on two scripts that dealt with drug and alcohol use," said The WB's Brad Turell in a statement. "And we will continue to do so as issues arise in our programs. This is not unusual. We also ask for ongoing input from a number of qualified groups including The Media Project, the Kaiser Foundation, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and Children Now among them.".

Ratings-challenged UPN didn't qualify for the program because the ONDCP didn't buy ads on that network.

Other shows that were submitted to qualify for the match include Fox's America's Most Wanted and Beverly Hills 90210; ABC's Doug, The View, General Hospital and The Practice; CBS's Chicago Hope and NBC's ER.

ONDCP has worked with writers and producers to develop credible drug-related plot lines for a long time, says ONDCP spokesman Alan Leavitt.

In fact, said several network spokespeople, White House Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey has met with the networks to offer his agency's services to them in terms of developing realistic scripts. Leavitt said ONDCP has worked with writers on scripts 24 times in the past year and a half.

This year, 109 TV programs have been given matching credit for including an anti-drug message. Leavitt is proud of the numbers ONDCP's programs have produced: teen-age drug use has declined 13% in the past year, according to Reuters.

"We give this as one financial incentive," Leavitt says, but points out that media outlets can also get credit toward their matching requirement through other means.

ONDCP has handed out a total of $21.8 million in credit to media outlets that have aired anti-drug programming or promoted anti-drug messages in some other way. For example, ONDCP is working with CBS and Bill Cosby to put out a 12-minute anti-drug video, while News Corp. puts anti-drug ads at the beginning of some home video releases.

On background, the networks defend the practice by saying it's an effective way of putting out the anti-drug message. Kids react more strongly to their favorite characters choosing not to take drugs than to public service announcements created by the government.