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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, May 3, 2002

Fox criticized for Playboy centerfold special

By David Bauder
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Fox's plan to air a prime-time special on the selection of a Playboy centerfold next week has drawn the ire of conservative groups urging the network to think twice about showing it.

The two-hour show, "The Girl Next Door: The Search for a Playboy Centerfold," is scheduled for May 10.

"It's men victimizing women for the sake of money and ratings," said Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America. CWA is one of seven groups, including the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family, that have protested the show in a letter to Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox's parent News Corp.

A Fox spokesman, Scott Grogin, said, "We respect all of our viewers' rights to their opinions. If this is a show they don't like or feel is appropriate, please don't watch."

The special, during a "sweeps" month where ratings are watched closely to set advertising rates, focuses on a dozen women flown to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams of becoming a centerfold. Playboy puts the women up in an estate, and follows them "sunbathing by the pool (and) primping for photo shoots." The women are treated to Hollywood shopping sprees and evenings out at restaurants and clubs.

At the end, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner selects one for a centerfold shoot.