By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
January 12, 2000
Lifetime Television has gone one step further in rounding out its female-friendly programming. The cable channel, which bills itself as “television for women,” has launched a national campaign to have women’s voices heard during this presidential election year.
“We have a long history of advocacy for women,” says Meredith Wagner, Lifetime’s senior vice president of public affairs. “Our viewers have a unique connection to Lifetime and a great trust in us. And they obviously like the idea of having their voices heard. We want to serve as a voice for our viewers.”
“Our Lifetime Commitment: Every Woman Counts” is the cable channel’s yearlong effort to educate women about election issues and get them out to vote this November.
Best known for its soapy programming, the cable channel has dabbled in political issues in the past. But Lifetime began to get seriously active in issues four years ago when HMOs encouraged treating breast cancer surgery as an outpatient procedure.
“They were basically promoting drive-through surgery,” Wagner says. “We began doing a series of public service announcements. And we asked breast cancer survivors to sign petitions to help stop these drive-through mastectomies. What we’re doing this year is a natural extension of the issues we’ve covered in the past.”
Public service-based attempts to recruit voters aren’t new to television. MTV’s hip “Rock the Vote” and “Choose or Lose” campaigns targeted teenagers and young adults.
But those programs went after both sexes. While some folks might take umbrage at women being targeted for a voting campaign, the League of Women Voters is all for it.
“I think whatever will get more people interested in paying attention to politics and voting is great,” says Jan Flapan, president of the Illinois chapter of the League of Women Voters. “There has been such a drop-off in voting by everyone in general. So I applaud Lifetime. I just hope it has some effect.”
On Jan. 30, Lifetime will air a taped, one-hour telecast of a New Hampshire town hall meeting. All the presidential candidates have been invited to answer women’s questions.
Lifetime also will air public service announcements on voting and registration.
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Letterman lands first lady with no strings attached
Caving in to the on-air cajoling of David Letterman, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to appear tonight on his talk show.
“It took about four weeks of begging to get her to do it,” executive producer Rob Burnett said. “But we got her.”
And apparently with no preconditions. “It’s your decision to the show and it’s our decision what we want to do on the show,” Burnett said. “But Dave has done the show with good taste and judgment for the past 17 years, so we know he’ll handle the interview with intelligence and humor.”
Letterman has devoted a nightly segment to chiding Clinton, a New York candidate for the U.S. Senate, for snubbing his invitations while turning up on the tamer “Rosie O’Donnell Show” and “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.”
This will be the first lady’s first studio chat with Letterman, but she was interviewed by his mother, Dorothy, on the show during the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. “Late Show With David Letterman” airs at 10:35 p.m. on WBBM-Channel 2.
