
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 27, 1995                   TAG: 9510270084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CAMPAIGN TO SHAME TALK SHOWS

The same people who took on ``gangsta rap'' music have lined up a new target: TV talk shows with topics like ``Women Who Marry Their Rapist'' and ``My Daughter Is Living as a Boy.''

Denouncing daytime talk shows as ``a case study of rot,'' former Education Secretary William Bennett announced a campaign Thursday to pressure the shows' producers, sponsors and viewers to clean up their acts.

``What is happening today is the pollution of the human environment,'' Bennett, a Republican, said after screening snippets of the offending shows at a joint news conference with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.

The talkmeisters were quick to talk back.

``It's a real elitist view for a guy like this to stand up and say, `I don't think 4.5 million people should watch this,''' said Sally Jessy Raphael, citing her own show's viewership.''

Lieberman worked with Bennett and civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker in their crusade against violent and sexually degrading rap lyrics.

Bennett said the trio and other volunteers, including Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., would use similar tactics against the corporations that produce daytime talk shows, including Time Warner, Paramount, Fox and CBS.

They plan a letter-writing campaign and possibly radio advertisements to ``shame'' the shows' producers, advertisers and viewers. They aren't pushing any legislation.

``We are calling for better citizenship, not censorship,'' Lieberman said.

Lieberman and Bennett declined to rank talk shows they consider the worst offenders. But they did name some of the hottest names in daytime TV: Raphael, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones and Montel Williams.

They pointed to episodes titled ``Get Bigger Breasts or Else,'' ``Housewives vs. Strippers,'' and ``Is There Life After a Career in Porn?''

But Raphael argued that the shows allow young people an outlet to discuss their problems and to learn about issues such as AIDS, homosexuality, drug abuse and teen pregnancy.

``These shows are like morality plays,'' she said.

Talk show host Geraldo Rivera said the industry does need to curb its excesses, but doesn't need Bennett or other outsiders to tell it how. Talk show insiders plan to discuss these issues at a conference in New York this weekend, he said.

One daytime host was lauded - Oprah Winfrey, who made a public promise last year to elevate the tone of her top-rated show. Lieberman held her up as an example for the rest.

by CNB