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The company also said it would cease to advertise on the nationally syndicated radio show hosted by Schlessinger, who has sparked an uproar from gay and lesbian groups for her on-air references to homosexuality as "deviant" and "a biological error." The move by Procter & Gamble comes less than a week after a Canadian broadcast industry standards group issued a scathing condemnation of Schlessinger's radio commentary, calling her remarks about gays and lesbians "abusively discriminatory."
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - United Airlines has dropped advertisements for Dr. Laura Schlessinger's radio show from its in-flight magazine because of her controversial commentary about homosexuality, an airline spokesman said Wednesday. (May17th)
Now before any of you get all bent out of shape, let me make it quite clear that I'm not saying Dr. Laura doesn't have a right to have a radio or TV show or to speak her mind on any subject she damn well pleases. I've spoken out against censorship before and In a word, I'm against it. She has every right to say whatever is on her mind, but I'm not compelled to like what she says, agree with it or respect her opinions. Respect her right to express those opinions, yes....respect the opinions, themselves, no!!
Let me ask you to consider this comparison for a moment, if you will. John Rocker, Major league baseball pitcher was quoted a few months ago saying some rather vile things about several groups of people. I'm not going to repeat what he said here as I find the large majority of the words he used to be terribly offensive. They've been quoted often over the airwaves and in print and, if you don't know what he said, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to find a record of his words somewhere on the Internet. He bashed races, gays and a few other assorted groups and for his words and actions he was brought to task by professional baseball and by the public. This is as it should have been as his words were inexcusable. Now compare that with what Dr. Laura said about Gays. Add to this her caustic remarks to anyone not agreeing with her narrow view of morality, motherhood and the way other people should conduct their lives and the only difference I see between Dr. Laura and John Rocker is that she, due to education, uses a higher level of language. The message of hate and bigotry, however, is still much the same. Why is it that John Rocker has the wrath of organized sports and John Q. Public fall on him and Dr. Laura is not made to answer for her words by her employer and by the American public? Perhaps with the recent action of Procter & Gamble and United Airlines, this is finally beginning to happen. John Rocker is a bigot and Dr. Laura's actions and words make her no less of one.
The higher than thou moral stance of Dr. Laura is even stranger when one considers that she has not always been exactly a paragon of virtue as was revealed (no pun intended) when photos of her in, as they say, some rather compromising positions (she was NAKED!!) were released several years ago. Do these photos make her a bad person? Of course not. Everyone makes mistakes and, if you're a celebrity, these mistakes unfortunately often get splashed across the media. But, the mistake of having those photos taken and then, years later, released to the public should have made her a bit more sympathetic to the trials and tribulations of other people's lives rather than her current stance of, "I'm right and you're wrong. End of discussion."
I will be watching with interest to see if any other companies follow the same path as Procter & Gamble and United Airlines. Pulling their advertising dollars out of Dr. Laura's empire does not constitute censorship. I'm not altogether a fan of how big business (some of them, anyway) operates in this country and around the world and will probably write an article or two about that some day. However, I do agree that they have a right not to be associated with a situation or person they feel might bring discredit to their company or otherwise harm their profitability. They have a right to spend their advertising dollars as they see fit.
So the saga of Dr. Laura continues with strong opinions on both sides of the issue. It'll be interesting to see if more sponsors bail out, and to see how the ratings do when her show opens in September.
Update, November 8, 2000
Dr. Laura Loses Good Time Slots
Updated 4:50 PM ET November 7, 2000
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - CBS stations in some of the nation's biggest television markets have consigned "Dr. Laura" to the pre-dawn hours, a likely death knell for the troubled talk show.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger's show has struggled for viewers and advertisers since its debut nine weeks ago. It has been the subject of a boyc璀Ĵt g�� r��hts activists.
Update, March 20, 2001
Dr. Laura' TV Show Canceled
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Laura Schlessinger's TV talk show, criticized by homosexual rights groups and snubbed by advertisers and viewers, was canceled after one season.
Poor ratings had prompted stations in major television markets including New York,Los Angeles and Chicago to move the syndicated "Dr. Laura" from daytime to the middle of the night.
And so we have now come full circle and the saga of the Dr. Laura television show has ended. Works For Me!
©2000, 2001 by Ken Kreps. This article may not be re-published in electronic or print media without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Kreps lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife. He has written a number of published articles, essays and short stories, as well as numerous consumer and business pieces. Ken has also written scripts for Imagination Theater, an award winning audio drama series heard on over 150 commercial radio stations across the nation.
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