Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 17, 1994 TAG: 9408170083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
WTLV-TV in Jacksonville, Fla., suspended the ``Old Time Gospel Hour'' until early September and will cancel it if Falwell continues to be more political than religious, said Ken Tonning, the station president and general manager.
Complaints about the show mounted in recent weeks, and station officials acted after one viewer, Cathy Corby, said her 9-year-old son asked her the meaning of a sexually explicit phrase he heard on Falwell's show.
``He asked me what oral sex was. I asked him where did he hear about that, and he said he heard it on Jerry Falwell's show on television,'' Corby said.
She said she cleared the room of children and watched as Falwell explicitly described sexual acts in denouncing Clinton.
Falwell's spokesman, Mark DeMoss, said Tuesday that the nearly 200 stations carrying ``Old Time Gospel Hour'' that day had the choice of showing the anti-Clinton program or reruns of Falwell's Baptist Church service.
``Most stations took the Clinton program,'' DeMoss said, but could not provide numbers of stations that aired the show attacking Clinton. He said he knew of no other station that had removed the show from its lineup.
Falwell's remark about oral sex came during a discussion of allegations by former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones that Clinton sexually harassed her while he was governor.
Corby; her husband, Michael; their two children; and eight friends picketed WTLV-TV Sunday over what they called a political show masquerading as a religious one.
Corby said she supports Clinton, but the protesters were not part of a political or religious group.
Tonning said Falwell's organization told him the shows would remain highly political until Sept. 4. ``Between now and then, we are going to show reruns or find another show to fill Falwell's slot. If the shows change, we will begin airing them again,'' he said.
DeMoss said the protesters objected only because the political message they received in a religious context was conservative.
``Liberal politicians do it all the time. Clinton went to a black church Sunday to promote his crime bill,'' DeMoss said.
In the hourlong television show, Falwell primarily describes ``The Clinton Chronicles,'' a videotape Falwell has promoted, and shows three 10-minute segments from the tape. The tape, produced by Winchester, Calif.-based Citizens for Honest Government, is an expanded version of ``Circle of Power,'' a tape released in May filled with allegations against Clinton.
Falwell asks for a $40 donation for each tape. DeMoss had no sales figures on ``The Clinton Chronicles.'' but estimated that Falwell sold about 30,000 copies of the ``Circle of Power'' at the same price.
Falwell has used his church service programs to deal with social and political issues, including homosexuals in the military and funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.