Statesman Article
IPTV airs program on gay parents
Idaho lawmakers caught off guard by documentary. Idaho Public Television
came under a new barrage of attacks Tuesday for airing a show that critics
say endorses a gay lifestyle. Idaho Public Television came under a new
barrage of attacks Tuesday for airing a show that critics say endorses
a gay lifestyle.
The station's airing of "Our House -- Kids of Gay and Lesbian Parents" Tuesday evening put it on a collision course with the Legislature, which, when it meets next winter, will decide additional funding questions for the statewide television network. The airing came 3Å weeks before new, stricter programming mandates will go into effect on July 1.
"Our House" aired at 10 p.m. and depicted firsthand accounts of life in non-traditional families, profiling children from 5 to 23 who face ridicule and even physical abuse because their parents are in same-sex relationships.
IPTV General Manager Peter Morrill said the show had undergone rigorous review, was part of the national Public Broadcasting System schedule for Tuesday night, and was aired nationwide. It was rated TV-PG to advise parental guidance for children's viewing and was preceded by an advisory warning viewers that it might not be suitable for family viewing.
"While, certainly, it deals with a difficult issue, I did not see
any reason to doubt that review process," Morrill said. "If it meets PBS
programming policy, there's really no reason why we shouldn't air the program."
Two months ago, conservative lawmakers rebuked IPTV for its decision last
September to air the documentary, "It's Elementary," a
show with a similar topic and theme, based on how some schools deal
with the topic of homosexuality.
In passing IPTV's budget this year, the Legislature took the unusual
step of instructing IPTV managers to make family values and cultural enrichment
a top programming priority. It also told Idaho's State Board of Education,
which oversees IPTV, to keep a watchful eye out for controversy.
Board of Education members lambasted Morrill on Tuesday for failing
to alert them to the program. "I would hope this kind of program
and this kind of management practice will cease and desist at Idaho Public
Television," said outgoing member Harold Davis of Idaho Falls. "For management
to place at risk such an enormous asset that is owned by the people without
adequate citizen input ... is an error in judgment," Davis said.
Three other board members also criticized Morrill during a telephone
conference call for not advising them ahead of published reports about
the controversy over Tuesday night's airing of "Our House." Board
member Karen McGee of Pocatello, who said she had not seen the program,
suggested that board Executive Director Gregory Fitch discuss the situation
with Morrill "so we don't get blind-sided." IPTV's battle for funds
came during the winter legislative session, as conservative lawmakers still
held outrage from "It's Elementary." That show, which also was aired late
at night, showed how some teachers talk to children about dealing with
hostility against homosexuals. Some legislators wanted to deny IPTV
funding for FCC-mandated conversion to digital equipment, crippling
the statewide network. After a protracted fight, legislators agreed
to part of the funding, but
not before adding several sections of legislative intent, which
critics of the legislation said amounted to blatant censorship. The language
instructed the Idaho Board of Education, which oversees IPTV, to evaluate,
establish and enforce fiscal, programming and accountability policies.
Morrill said the program and its content were specifically outlined in
the report he filed with the board in mid-May in advance of the regularly
scheduled board meeting next week "so the board certainly has had material
for at least a few weeks on the program." Morrill also noted that the Legislature's
mandate doesn't take effect until the new fiscal year, which begins July
1.
But that wasn't enough for Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who
is expected to become the next co-chairman of the state's powerful budget-setting
committee next year. The angry Cameron said he expects the Legislature
to scrutinize IPTV like never before when the Legislature returns in January.
He described as "very disingenuous" Morrill's claim that IPTV wasn't bound
by the Legislature's mandate to run "controversial" programs past the State
Board of Education. Cameron said Morrill's notice about the
program wasn't a notice at all. Instead, it was contained in a routine
report IPTV sends to the board
and JFAC, he said. "It was buried in there on page 10,"
Cameron said of the notice about the program. "Unless you read it cover
to cover, you wouldn't have
picked up on it. If I were in his shoes, I would have gone
to the board chair and at least brought it up. This flies in the face of
what the Legislature had intended."
Cameron said he spent about 90 minutes on the phone earlier Tuesday,
mostly taking calls from alarmed lawmakers asking about the program.
"It's clearly a mistake," Cameron said of Morrill's decision to air the
program. "He needs to exercise better judgment. He seems to be circumventing
the process, and if this is the kind of process we've got
(at IPTV), it's going to have to be dramatically changed in the
next Legislature."
But another member of the budget committee, Rep. Ken Robison, D-Boise, is not bothered by public television's decision to air the program. "I didn't agree with the intent language or the move toward legislative censorship," Robison said. "I respect the ability of the manager to make decisions about programs. If you have a station that explores public policy issues, inevitably you're going to have some that you disagree with." One East Idaho conservative called for the dismissal of Morrill and Director of Broadcasting Ron Pisaneschi for airing the program after lawmakers added to the public television budget that takes effect July 1 a prohibition against airing any program that "promotes, supports or encourages the violation of Idaho criminal statutes."
Sen. Stan Hawkins, R-Ucon, said Morrill's decision to air the
program indicates he will do what he wants despite legislative intent
language. Hawkins, who sits on the budget committee and is one of
public television's harshest critics, said airing the show will cause "an
uproar, but that's about all. Then it will die and nothing will change."
"My reaction is the same as it was with 'It's Elementary,' " Hawkins said.
"Taxpayer dollars should not be used to advocate or normalize a lifestyle
that is currently illegal in Idaho."
On the Net:
House Bill 768 funded Idaho Public
Television, adding the unusual step of setting
program guidelines.
Legislative intent language (partial --
Effective July 1, 2000)
SECTION 3. It is the intent of the Legislature
that the Idaho State Board of Education
(SBOE) evaluate, establish and enforce
fiscal, programming and accountability
policies for the Idaho Educational Public
Broadcasting System (IEPBS) that augment
federal public broadcasting system policies
or regulations. These Idaho policies are to
include the following:
(a) No program shall be broadcast which
promotes, supports or encourages violation
of Idaho criminal statutes.
(b) The highest priority for IEPBS broadcasts
shall be to select programs that encourage,
support and strengthen: K-12 education,
higher education, public safety, lifelong
learning, cultural and family enrichment,
character education and virtues resolved by
the Legislature in March 1995 (H.C.R. No.
19), and in-depth news coverage,
documentaries and information valuable for
Idaho citizens.
(c) Any decision to broadcast programs
expected to be of a controversial nature,
including programming format, shall be
monitored by SBOE as the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) license
holder for IEPBS. The State Board of
Education shall report to the Joint
Finance-Appropriations Committee during
the 2001 legislative session on the adoption,
implementation and effect of these and any
related policies.
To express opinion contact the governor, it is his State Board, and members of JFAC
Governor Dirk Kempthorne
E-mail Address(es):
governor@gov.state.id.us
John Andreason
5120 Mountain View
Dr.
Boise, 83704
322-8558
672-8558 FAX
Clyde Boatright, Republican
N. 17520 Wrangler
Rd.,
Rathdrum 83858
Home 687-0591
FAX 687-4239
E-mail: senboat@gte.net
Harold R. "Hal" Bunderson, Republican
District 14,
Meridian
E-mail: hbunderson@aol.com
Dean L. Cameron, Republican CHAIRMAN
1101 Ruby Dr.,
Rupert 83350
Home 436-5624
FAX 436-3776
dcameron@senate.state.id.us
Stan Hawkins, Republican VICE-CHAIR
District 28,
P.O.Box 367,
Ucon 83454
524-1586 h
523-2880 w
Don Burtenshaw
Shawn Keogh
Cecil D. Ingram,
District 16,
Boise
7025 El Caballo
Dr. 83704
375-8876
Robert R. Lee, Republican
District 27,
Rexburg
1330 Barney
Dairy Rd. 83440
356-9506
Melvin M. "Mel" Richardson, Republican
3725 Brookfield,
Id. Falls, 83406
chair@micron.net
JFAC HOUSE e-mail at capitol may not work
Maxine T. Bell, Republican CHAIRMAN
194 S. 300 E.,
Jerome 83338
mbell@house.state.id.us
Francis Rep. Fields VICE-CHAIR
Republican
HC-85,
Box 221, Grand View 83624
834-2488
(ffield@house.state.id.us)
Wayne Meyer
Jim Clark, Republican
772-5992 h 772-7718 w
http://www.dmi.net/jimclark/
Steve Hadley
Lee Gagner
Dennis Lake
Don Pischner, Republican
P.O. Box 7, Coeur
d'Alene 83816
667-5770
Horace B. "Hod" Pomeroy
6822 Kingsdale Dr.
Boise 83704
377-1293
Ken Robison
Maxine Bell,
Vice Chair
Frances Field, Vice Chair
Hod Pomeroy
Don Pischner
Jim Clark
Wayne Meyer
Lee Gagner
J. Steven Hadley
Dennis Lake
Ken Robison
Senate Finance
E-mail
each Senate members
Dean Cameron, Vice Chair
Stan Hawkins, Vice Chair
Mel Richardson
Cecil Ingram
Hal Bunderson
Clyde Boatright
Robert Lee
Don Burtenshaw
Shawn Keough
Lin Whitworth