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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, February 27, 2003

MIXED MEDIA
MTV rushing to join other channels in war reporting

By Elizabeth Jensen
Los Angeles Times

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair will participate in a forum with MTV Europe's youth audience that will air on MTV channels around the world.

Associated Press

'I Live in the Terror Zone'

8 tonight

MTV

The prospect of war with Iraq ranks up there with drug abuse as primary preoccupations for MTV viewers. So the network, like other specialty channels, is scrambling to pound out its own particular drumbeats of war.

MTV, along with PBS, A&E, the History Channel, Nickelodeon and others are among non-news channels that have decided programming must address the possibility of war.

MTV is stepping up its news reporting on the Iraq situation, in response to polling that shows its viewers are getting interested in the topic. On Monday, the network announced that British Prime Minister Tony Blair will participate in a forum with MTV Europe's youth audience which will air across on MTV channels in Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the United States. "MTV Forum With Tony Blair: Is War the Answer?" is set to air March 7 (broadcast time to be announced).

PBS is juggling its lineup of shows, such as the science-themed "Nova," to reflect the news. Local public stations, looking a couple weeks from now, are pondering how — or if — March pledge-drive specials such as "Rhythm, Love & Soul," on R&B music, will play if the bombs are dropping.

Since November, MTV's regularly scheduled "What's Going On?" segments have tackled such basics as "Who Is Saddam?" and "What Is Iraq?" MTV has also added reports in its daily news packages.

Since many in the military are MTV viewers, or their peers, the network is spending much time talking about their experiences. The series, "True Life," will profile soldiers preparing for war in a segment called "I'm Shipping Out."

Tonight, the network's cinema-verite series "True Life" chronicles life for Israeli and Palestinian youth.

The new programming resulted from polling in which young adults said their most important concern is the possibility of a war with Iraq, equaled only by drug abuse. Despite nonstop newspaper, network news, cable news and public radio reporting on the topic, more than half of the 600 surveyed in MTV's recent national poll by Peter D. Hart Associates said they were "uninformed" about the Iraq situation. Friedman explained that while, "yes, there's a lot of information out there, I just think they didn't feel it was quite speaking to them."

"Our audience is feeling like they're hearing all kinds of things but not getting the answers they're looking for," said Stephen Friedman, MTV's vice president of strategic partnerships and public affairs. "We saw an opening to speak to them, and speak to them directly about how this will affect them," addressing such issues as a revived draft.

This week, A&E's "Biography" series profiled key players in the conflict. Donald Rumsfield is profiled at 6 and 10 p.m. today. If war breaks out, however, A&E is expected to air its regular programming, absent any inappropriate titles.

A&E's sibling the History Channel is planning a "Defending America" special, focusing on the history of homeland security, for Saturday. And if war breaks out, their contingency plan is expanded use of newsman Arthur Kent, the "Scud Stud" from the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Other outlets plan to essentially not change their plans. Both Nickelodeon and PBS will maintain their regular children's programming (PBS' during the daytime only) to provide, in their words, a "safe haven" for children, as they did during the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Local PBS stations, however, have the option of going their own way, and some are expected to pick up BBC reporting should war break out.

In prime time, PBS' "Nova" made a last-minute schedule change to add shows on "dirty bombs" and bioterrorism that aired Tuesday. If war does break out, "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" is planning to expand its evening reporting for at least the first few days, as will "Washington Week."

But a bigger issue could be the March pledge drives, scheduled to run from Saturday through March 16, almost the exact window that many war-watchers are predicting a conflict could start. If one does, PBS is advising its stations, including PBS Hawai'i, to pause their pledge drives, which provide a crucial portion of their already crunched funding, and many are expected to do so.