TOO HOT FOR TV?

June 2000
		Does radio host "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger propagate hate? Should she be able to take her views to television? Keven Bellows, vice president and general manager of Premiere Radio Networks, Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and Joan Garry, executive director of GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, take your questions.

Forum introduction Shouldn't the audience decide whether or not the show will succeed? How can Jerry Springer's TV show exist while Dr. Laura's elicits such controversy? Are gay rights groups stepping on rights of religious expression? What about defending freedom of speech? Would similar views on other groups be tolerated? Can there be a meaningful debate on such moral issues?     June 15, 2000: Debating Dr. Laura. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of media issues.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger's call-in radio program, broadcast on more than 450 stations across the country, has garnered a large audience and inspired a good deal of controversy. Now, as Schlessinger prepares to take her show to television -- it would be syndicated by Paramount --several activist groups are trying to put a lid on "Dr. Laura" and the bigoted views they say she espouses. According to gay and lesbian activist groups, Schlessinger has referred to homosexuals as "biological errors," and described homosexuality as "deviant sexual behavior." But Schlessinger says her views on homosexuality come from her "traditional" background -- and that she has a right to express them. "I think for the most part people understand the notion of free speech and religious persecution when they say it, when somebody has strong, profound religious beliefs that that is a conviction which needs to be respected instead of misconstrued or misrepresented as hate speech," she said. Should "Dr. Laura" be able to take her views to television? Does she propagate "hate speech?" Keven Bellows, vice president and general manager of Premiere Radio Networks, Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and Joan Garry, executive director of GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, take your questions.