Published: January 05, 2006 11:50 pm         

Stephanie Salter: WTWO drawing national attention for decision not to air show

To the list of things that make Terre Haute special, add this:

Tonight at 9, ours will be one of a handful of NBC affiliates in the United States that will not offer its adult viewers the opportunity to make up their own minds about the network’s new series “The Book of Daniel.”

Insisting that it is not censorship because “anybody can get in their car and drive 20 miles to view this show if they want,” WTWO general manager Duane Lammers made the decision earlier this week to “pre-empt” the series premiere. At the time he announced the move on the station’s Web site, Lammers had not seen “Daniel,” which didn’t matter because his decision wasn’t about the content of the program, he said.

In a midweek telephone interview, Lammers told me he was trying to make a point about the heavy hand of network regulatory practices, not become the poster boy for the American Family Association’s ferocious nationwide campaign to keep the controversial new series about a troubled Episcopalian priest off the air.

“It’s not about this program, it’s about the system in general, the regulatory environment,” Lammers said Wednesday. “I don’t know why the American Family Association picked my name out of a hat … They’re misstating my reasons for doing this.”

Turns out, the AFA was just a little premature in the victory dance it performed nationwide via Internet press releases.

Thursday, Lammers watched about 20 minutes of “The Book of Daniel” — “as much of it as I could stand” — and he is now the best advertisement for the AFA’s campaign that anyone could imagine.

“I not only don’t regret my decision, I’m happy about it,” he said. “In the 20 minutes I watched I didn’t see one redeeming quality at all.”

Also the chief operating officer for WTWO’s parent company, Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Lammers said he has watched a lot of television in his time, but never seen anything like “Daniel.” One scene, he said, “was so bad, I can’t even tell people about it — I don’t talk that way.”

As long as he is running things, Lammers said, the program “will not be on our airspace, certainly not in prime-time.”

He also said he had been inundated by calls from local as well as out-of-state people congratulating him and thanking him for his action.

Before he made his decision to ban “The Book of Daniel” from WTWO, Lammers was inundated with a different kind of message: formula e-mails and phone calls that were part of the AFA’s campaign to bombard NBC and its affiliates with requests to keep a program the organization says “mocks Christianity” off the air.

“I don’t appreciate getting e-mails that bear the same authorship,” Lammers said the day that his blackout was still about the corporate regulatory environment. “I resent in any way that an organization would take credit for this decision.”

At that point, Lammers was unfamiliar with the AFA’s chairman, Donald Wildmon, who told the world on Wednesday that WTWO had become the first NBC affiliate to bow to the group’s demands.

In an Associated Press story that was altered by someone not in the employ of AP to include several paragraphs from Wildmon — and that reached Google News and the Internet through a right-wing Florida outlet called “NewsMax.com” — Wildmon predicted other NBC affiliates would join WTWO.

“It appears that NBC will be forced to fill the available ad spots with ‘distressed merchandise’ ads which are sold at pennies on the dollar of the going rate, and ‘make good’ ads which bring in no money to the network,” Wildmon is quoted in the story moved by NewsMax.com.

So far, that prediction appears to be wishful thinking. As of Thursday evening, an NBC affiliate in Little Rock, Ark., KARK, had joined WTWO. Lammers said he had heard from another Nexstar station in Beaumont, Texas, that it, too, would refuse to air the program.

A source within NBC who asked not to be named told me that “other than Terre Haute, it looks like the rest of the country can watch if they want.” A WB cable network affiliate had picked up “The Book of Daniel” in Little Rock, said the source.

In New York NBC officials refused to comment beyond the network’s public statement:

“‘The Book of Daniel’ is a fictional drama about an Episcopalian priest’s family and the contemporary issues with which they must grapple. We’re confident that, once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they will appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family.”

As for Lammers’ official statement, it still read last night the same as it did when his protest was about the network pushing around its affiliates, not about the content of one program. The station’s home Web page still led the statement with, “Due to e-mails and calls from viewers, WTWO will not be airing NBC’s The book of Daniel.” Lammers’ explanation:

“Our relationship with NBC has always provided for the right to reject programming. I am reaffirming that right to let them know I will not allow them to make unilateral decisions affecting our viewers.

“Second, I want to draw attention to the worst offenders of indecency on television … the cable industry, which faces no decency regulations, nor a license renewal.

“If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission.”

Whether that mission has been accomplished remains to be seen — unlike the premiere of “The Book of Daniel” — by those of us who live in the greater Terre Haute area. But, no question, Lammers has reaffirmed the mission of all those folks who do not consider freedom of choice a family value.

An e-mail sent to scores of people Thursday by Gary Larimer, the pastor of the Sullivan County Wesleyan Church, pretty much typifies the way Lammers’ decision is playing throughout the world of conservative Christian activists.

Subject lined, “A Victory,” the message begins: “WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!” and refers to the pressure put on WTWO and the other NBC affiliates. Larimer’s e-mail includes a cyber message from Wildmon and adds:

“When Gods (sic) people come together we are mighty and can do all things through Christ who gives us the power and strength. Amen. Now, let’s get our Bibles and prayer back in our local schools, let’s stop killing innocent babies, and let’s keep God in everything America was founded on.”

Stephanie Salter can be reached at (812) 231-4229 or stephanie.salter@tribstar.com.

WHAT ‘THE BOOK OF DANIEL’ IS ABOUT

Emmy nominee Aidan Quinn stars as the Rev. Daniel Webster, an unconventional Episcopalian minister who not only believes in Jesus – he actually sees him and discusses life with him. Webster is challenged on many levels as he struggles to be a good husband, father and minister, while trying to control a nagging addiction to prescription painkillers, and an often rocky relationship with the church hierarchy, led by Bishop Beatrice Congreve, Roger Paxton, a senior warden of the parish and stalwart churchgoer.

The reverend also has loving, but challenging relationships with his three children: Peter, his 23-year-old gay son, who struggles with the loss of his twin brother; Grace, his 16-year-old daughter who doesn't try to push her father's buttons but succeeds at it nonetheless; and Adam, his 16-year-old adopted Chinese son, a handsome and cocky high school jock with a wicked sense of humor. Keeping Webster grounded is his strong and loving wife Judith, who is fighting her own fondness for midday martinis, as well as Jesus, whose frequent chats with Daniel serve to remind him of his strengths and weaknesses.

— NBC.com

Who is the American Family Association?

Mission Statement: The American Family Association exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth.

Philosophical Statement: The American Family Association believes that God has communicated absolute truth to man through the Bible, and that all men everywhere at all times are subject to the authority of God's Word. Therefore, a culture based on Biblical truth best serves the well-being of our country, in accordance with the vision of our founding fathers.

Battlefields in the Culture War: The American Family Association sees the culture fighting over. . .

--Preservation of the Marriage and Family

--Decency and Morality

--Sanctity of Human Life

--Stewardship

--Media Integrity

     

Add a comment on this story