Committee On Media Integrity

I was saddened to read Howard Rosenberg's Oct. 26 column on KCET's decision (later rescinded) to cancel "South Africa Now." When I discovered "South Africa Now" on Channel 28 I was pleased to see, for a change, TV journalism that told not only the efforts made by South Africa's government to dissolve apartheid but also the events that directly affect black South Africans. The series has been fair and has reported very well the atrocities that have plagued the indigenous people as well as the country's descendants of Europeans.

A conservative media watchdog group's challenge to Los Angeles public television station KCET's broadcasting license is "preposterous," station executives said Tuesday. The Committee on Media Integrity, chaired by conservative author David Horowitz, filed the challenge Monday. The organization asked that the FCC not renew KCET's license until the station appoints an ombudsman, restructures its board of directors and holds more open board meetings.

A conservative media watchdog group's challenge to Los Angeles public television station KCET's broadcasting license is "preposterous," station executives said Tuesday. The Committee on Media Integrity, chaired by conservative author David Horowitz, filed the challenge Monday. The organization asked that the FCC not renew KCET's license until the station appoints an ombudsman, restructures its board of directors and holds more open board meetings.

A conservative media watchdog organization that criticized Los Angeles public television station KCET for airing the newsmagazine "South Africa Now" has asked the Federal Communications Commission not to renew the station's license. The 50-member Committee on Media Integrity filed a petition to deny license renewal with the FCC on Monday, according to its chairman, David Horowitz, a former '60s radical who rejected the left and co-wrote "Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the '60s."

A conservative media watchdog organization that criticized Los Angeles public television station KCET for airing the newsmagazine "South Africa Now" has asked the Federal Communications Commission not to renew the station's license. The 50-member Committee on Media Integrity filed a petition to deny license renewal with the FCC on Monday, according to its chairman, David Horowitz, a former '60s radical who rejected the left and co-wrote "Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the '60s."

Under increasing pressure from community groups, members of its own staff and a major public-television station in New York, KCET Channel 28 reversed itself Friday and said that it will continue to broadcast the news magazine "South Africa Now." Station manager Stephen Kulczycki, backed by president William Kobin, said in a statement that he had screened an upcoming segment of the program and was "delighted" to determine that he no longer found it biased or unbalanced.

Claiming that the series "South Africa Now" is biased in favor of the African National Congress, programmers at Los Angeles public-television station KCET have decided not to carry the public-affairs program when its new season begins in November. The Committee on Media Integrity, a conservative media coalition, claimed victory Friday for the decision.

In his Nov. 19 column, "Maria's Story: The Saga Continues," Howard Rosenberg complained that the El Salvador guerrillas do not get enough favorable TV attention. He evidently hasn't been paying attention to KCET, the Los Angeles public television station. It has repeatedly broadcast a show, "Stories From El Salvador," which smears the government, presents the rebels as innocent agrarians and is so confused that it does not tell who is who or what the issues are. For example: It shows a so-called cooperative of farmers who moved into "vacant" land to cultivate it, without explaining how it happened to be vacant--undoubtedly because those who owned and farmed it had been murdered or driven off by the guerrillas.

Bravo! I salute Howard Rosenberg's column in speaking up for equal time for the other side of a controversy that is dividing the nation. I am myself pro-choice on the abortion issue, but as someone concerned with media and with the future of civilized dialogue in this country I feel the defense of balance and of respect for difference is vital for our democratic future. In the past, I have felt that he has only spoken up for balance when he felt that points of view on the liberal-left side of the divide did not get an airing.

Howard Rosenberg's lengthy apologetic " 'P.O.V.' Answers Criticism From Conservatives," (Calendar, Oct. 25) eloquently illustrates how politically biased The Times' coverage of public television has become. If the left needs a champion to defend it against "Criticism From Conservatives," The Times' TV critic is there to provide it. But no such champion appears on behalf of the other side of the spectrum. Rosenberg's response, in other words, is just another contribution to his ongoing defense and promotion of the left-wing fare of public television.

I was saddened to read Howard Rosenberg's Oct. 26 column on KCET's decision (later rescinded) to cancel "South Africa Now." When I discovered "South Africa Now" on Channel 28 I was pleased to see, for a change, TV journalism that told not only the efforts made by South Africa's government to dissolve apartheid but also the events that directly affect black South Africans. The series has been fair and has reported very well the atrocities that have plagued the indigenous people as well as the country's descendants of Europeans.

Under increasing pressure from community groups, members of its own staff and a major public-television station in New York, KCET Channel 28 reversed itself Friday and said that it will continue to broadcast the news magazine "South Africa Now." Station manager Stephen Kulczycki, backed by president William Kobin, said in a statement that he had screened an upcoming segment of the program and was "delighted" to determine that he no longer found it biased or unbalanced.

Claiming that the series "South Africa Now" is biased in favor of the African National Congress, programmers at Los Angeles public-television station KCET have decided not to carry the public-affairs program when its new season begins in November. The Committee on Media Integrity, a conservative media coalition, claimed victory Friday for the decision.

David Horowitz's Counterpunch article "The Left Is Crying Wolf Over 'South Africa Now' (Nov. 19) was a tiresome string of '50s McCarthyite and '80s right-wing think-tank cliches directed against the PBS series, its producers and those who urge KCET to continue broadcasting it. There are two major works that have put the myth of liberal domination in U.S. media to rest: Mark Haagstad's highly acclaimed book "On Bended Knee: The Media During the...

A conservative media watchdog organization that criticized Los Angeles public television station KCET for airing the newsmagazine "South Africa Now" has asked the Federal Communications Commission not to renew the station's license. The 50-member Committee on Media Integrity filed a petition against license renewal with the FCC on Monday, according to its chairman, David Horowitz, a former '60s radical who rejected the left and co-wrote "Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the '60s."