Mods: this was sent out in an email from the blogger to anyone who emailed him about his decision to air The Book of Daniel, so I have copied and pasted most of it here.
(The following site is the blog of the station manager of my local NBC station, serving Lafayette and Lake Charles, Louisiana. His name is Jim Serra, and he did not bow to pressure from AFA (Wildmon) and others not to air The Book of Daniel, and eloquently explains his decision on the station's blog.... feel free to drop him a line if you like his reasoning: jserra@kplctv.com)
http://www.kplctv.com/Global/link.asp?L=168275Book it. We're running it.
snip, snip, snip
I think Southwest Louisiana has come a long way since that dark day. There seems to be a reverence for individual thought and personal choice here that was eerily absent back then. I've never forgotten Jupiter. Its specter has been a constant reminder to keep KPLC a station which is not only responsive to the needs of the community, but resistant to the constant pressures of special interest groups.
That will not change. Tonight (Friday 1/6), KPLC will premiere the NBC series "The Book of Daniel" at 8pm. Whether "Book" survives long-term will be a function of normal marketplace forces. If enough people watch it to make it an economically viable part of NBC's schedule, it will survive until it's no longer viable. If it fails to attract viewers, it will die a natural death. Standard audience measurement protocols in television markets across the nation including Lake Charles and Lafayette will largely determine that. Viewers will vote with their remote controls, as they should and as they always do.
It's my hope that viewers who don't even want to sample "Book" will shut the tube off and read a book with their kids. Maybe even the Bible. Talk about a win-win.
As I write this, three Nexstar stations (Terre Haute, Little Rock, and in Beaumont just west of us) have opted not to carry the show. That is their right. Others stations may follow. KPLC will not be among them, and I'll tell you why. You may or may not agree with me. That is your right. If you want to blame someone, blame me. It's my decision. The buck stops here.
First, I've seen the show. It is neither obscene nor violent. Compared to what's on cable, satellite, DVDs and even most broadcast TV, it's quite tame. The character of Reverend Daniel Webster is a good man, striving to respond in accordance with his own Christian beliefs and spirituality to the whirlwind of very earthly challenges which encircle him. The character of Jesus is wise, tolerant, forgiving, understanding and unconditionally loving. He even has a gentle sense of humor. What a concept. Gotta say that's the way I've always known Him. We who call ourselves Christians should all seek His direct counsel as frequently as Daniel does.
"Book" does not blaze new ground. It deals with the same issues that have been discussed on TV and elsewhere for years. In my opinion it does it in a much more uplifting and constructive manner than hundreds of shows which have preceded it. This show is basically cut from the same cloth as "Oh God!" starring the late George Burns and John Denver. I'd say it's tamer than "7th Heaven," which seems to have run without a Donald Wildmon-induced maelstrom. The words "hell" and "damn" are used. Interestingly, the latter is used as it is defined, not as a means of taking the Lord's name in vain.
Oh, Reverend Webster does have the nicest house I've ever seen a member of the clergy live in, except maybe Joel Osteen or the occasional Bishop. ; )
I do not find the show an affront to Christianity. I also do not recommend it as appropriate viewing for children, so as always it is your responsibility as a parent or guardian to ultimately determine if it should be viewed in your home. If in doubt, I'd say don't watch it or at least tape it so you can preview it first.
That said, if I had children in the room, I'd rather have them watch this with me present than the "700 Club" with me present. At least this one I could explain half the time.
Second, when gaging negative viewer feedback, I always ask two questions. Has the viewer actually seen what he/she is complaining about? And, has the viewer assigned his/her proxy to someone else? By that I mean, is this the viewer's own opinion, or is he/she in "pack mode," a far milder and non-lethal cyber-version of that old Jupiter Chemical Company massacre. (Don't forget...those guys were convinced they were doing the right thing based on the information they were fed by their leader.) In this case, I got only one @mail after the Book of Daniel promos started airing. The writer took issue with "edgy" promos which were placed in other shows. I happened to agree and in fact had already voiced my concern to the network.
The day that Mr. Wildmon's orders to write to local stations hit the Internet, I started getting @mails from others. Most came from our viewing area, but many came from well outside. As I pointed out in my previous blog, all contained the same quoted "talking points," some with some customization, others without. If I were to ask myself how many of these I would have received had AFA not told its listeners and @mail recipients to send them, the honest answer would be "few if any."
To date, I've gotten just over 100 @mails and about 1o calls. Far fewer than most other markets of comparable size, incidentally, and that includes the Lafayette marketplace which is three times as large as the Lake Charles TV market. All told, KPLC serves a market area of about a million people. So let's say 125 have taken the time to write or cut-and-paste me saying they don't want to see this show. Let's pretend they're actually all in the KPLC viewing area (which they are not). 125 out of a million. Then I've gotten other calls from viewers who want to make sure we do run "Book," not to mention several people who have stopped me in the supermarket aisle to ask me to please run it.
All decisions should be this easy.
Third, I hold to the contention that KPLC's viewers are simply smart enough to make up their own minds about what they should or should not watch on TV or what they should listen to or read or eat or drink or whatever. To deprive the vast majority of our viewers the opportunity to see a show which does not rise above the station's prevailing threshold of indecency based on an organized letter-writing campaign originating in Tupelo, Mississippi is something I just won't consider doing.
So that's it. I don't want to in any way diminish the sincerity and intention of the very nice people who have written or called me. I'll probably take more heat, especially after this has been published. But that's OK; it's part of the job. This isn't my first rodeo, and it won't be my last. At least this time no one has called my daughter at our house (I've always been listed, and still am) to tell her that her father is going to Hell as happened years ago when she was itty-bitty and KPLC sponsored a Women's Commission event featuring Dr. Ruth Westheimer. For that I am grateful.
To those of you who have told me you'll never watch KPLC again if we air "Book," that's fine, but I'll make you a deal. If every Christian in SWLA who subscribes to cable or satellite or buys books at the bookstore or borrows them from the library or buys or rents DVDs or CDs agrees to stop pulling out their credit cards and checkbooks for THOSE purveyors of a constant river of MUCH more vile programming than "Book," I'll pull the plug on Rev. Webster. Fair is fair. And we don't even insist that you put a coin box on top of your set to watch KPLC.
Finally, a few of you have even mentioned that you might picket KPLC. Hey, come on down. We love company. I'll even serve you coffee and donuts. Seems to me that's the Christian thing to do.
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