P ortland , O reg o n
Dr. Laura to set
Portland straight
on KGW-TV
by J onathan
ira DeVore.
K ipp
hile protesters gather in cities
across the nation this summer to
object to Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s
imminent syndicated television
show, the Portland-area community has yet to
organize around the issue. But national
protest organizers do want Portlanders to take
part in the campaign to keep Schlessinger’s
opinions about gay men and lesbians off the
airwaves in the Northwest.
Schlessinger, who attracts nearly 20 mil­
lion listeners to her national radio show, has
recently been in
National organizers o f rehearsals preparing
the StopDrLaura.com
for the
Laura
television show,
movement,
which will debut
a grass-roots effort
Sept. 11. It is slated
for broadcast in
to discourage
markets throughout
advertisers from
the country, includ­
sponsoring the
ing Seattle and
Portland, where the
television show,
program will air
would like Portlanders weekdays on KGW-
to support their
TV.
National orga­
campaign
nizers of the
StopDrLaura.com movement, a grass-roots
effort to discourage advertisers from sponsor­
ing the television show, would like
Portlanders to support their campaign. The
first thing a Portland chapter of
StopDrLaura.com would need, organizers say,
is someone to step forward to lead the group.
Pete Gregson of StopDrLaura.com-Seattle
says his group plans to join national protest
days but is now focused on contacting compa­
nies that may advertise on KING-5 (Seattle’s
NBC affiliate and sister station to Portland’s
KGW ) and asking them to reconsider. Once
the show airs, Gregson says, Seattle’s effort
will include active boycotting and protesting
of any local sponsor of the show.
KGW Program Director Brenda Buratti
says her station is still planning to carry Dr.
Laura, despite protests around the country.
She says she has had several conversations
with Paramount Television, the show’s
owner, ^garding Schlessinger’s comments on
her radio show, folks at Paramount, she says,
has been advised that KGW “won’t have
anything defamatory on the air.”
Continued, on Page 21
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