Word: whdh
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Last night WBZ-TV (channel 4) had "made no decision," WHDH-TV (channel 5) had decided not to carry the debate, and WNAC-TV (channel 7) had "not been contacted by any of the participating candidates...
...portrays an abortionist. "The Benefactors" is frank about the extent to which abortion has become a problem in this country, and it must have scandalized a lot of people. A lot, that is, except the people in Massachusetts, who were not given a chance to be scandalized--thanks to WHDH, the local CBS affiliate station...
...Worried WHDH officials saw the film at a closed-circuit preview and decided that it was "needlessly offensive" for Massachusetts audiences, even though the National Association of Broadcasters had said that "The Benefactors" did not violate its code...
These officials, to be sure, had a perfect right to exercise their option and refuse the film; despite much talk about public service, a television station is a commercial enterprise, and any movie about abortion will certainly offend some customers. But it is too bad that WHDH didn't take the risk. There would have been a fuss (though few people seem to mind when a "perfect crime" or a sympathetic criminal is shown on a normal program)--but it is hard to believe that a station with network programs would lose much advertising or many viewers for showing such...
...statement the TV station claimed, "WHDH-TV does not shun controversial issues. It cannot condone a fictional dramatic program which, under the guise of entertainment, tries to create sympathy for, and portrays as 'dedicated and highly-principled,' the actions of a doctor in a course of criminal conduct condemned by the laws of every one of the 50 states and the federal government...