Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 15:31:29 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: ALLBRITTON COMMUNICATIONS SLAMMED FOR ANTI-GAY BIAS OVER ELLEN BLACKOUT,SNUBS MEETING WITH GAY LEADERS MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Alan Klein, GLAAD (212) 807-1700 Liz Tracey, GLAAD (212) 807-1700 Email: klein@glaad.org, tracey@glaad.org Kevin Snow, BPA (205) 925 4935 ALLBRITTON COMMUNICATIONS SLAMMED FOR ANTI-GAY BIAS OVER ELLEN BLACKOUT, SNUBS MEETING WITH GAY LEADERS ALLBRITTON-OWNED TV STATION LIKELY TO CENSOR FALL SEASON NEW YORK CITY, MAY 28, 1997-Following Allbritton Communications television station ABC 33/40's controversial blackout of ABC-TV's highly-rated sitcom Ellen in Birmingham, Alabama, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today condemned Allbritton for refusing to meet with lesbian and gay community leaders to address charges of homophobia. GLAAD also expressed outrage that Ellen's upcoming fall season remains jeopardized by its local station's bigotry and intolerance. In a letter sent this month to Allbritton Communication's Legal Affairs Department, GLAAD and a coalition of local organizations requested a meeting with company officials to address outrage sparked by ABC 33/40's censorship of Ellen, as well as the station's continued stonewalling of community concerns. The proposed meeting was rebuked by Vice President of Legal Affairs Jerry Fritts who, according to GLAAD, passed the buck saying that "[our television station licensees] make their own decisions." "Allbritton's refusal to be held accountable is both cowardly and counter-productive," said Kevin Snow, vice-president of Birmingham Pride Alabama. "Allbritton and ABC 33/40 are attempting to take away our right to make our own decisions about what we watch on television." ABC-TV recently announced that it has renewed Ellen for its prime-time line-up. Allbritton's ABC 33/40 has not yet commented on whether it intends to continue to black out the sitcom when it returns to the network this fall. "Allbritton and its Birmingham television station's attempt to avoid responsibility for censoring Ellen is deplorable and is certainly not in the public's best interest," said GLAAD Community Outreach Liaison Cathy Renna. "Allbritton's tacit support of its station's anti-gay stance is distressing." In an effort to give Birmingham residents the opportunity to see the blacked-out Ellen coming out episode, Birmingham Pride Alabama and GLAAD organized a satellite downlink, ironically provided by another Allbritton owned station, of the history-making show at Boutwell Municipal Auditorium on April 30th, 1997. With an audience of more that 2,500 people, the live screening was the largest gay and lesbian event in Alabama history. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay media watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. -30- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's DISPATCH AND QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.