Talk

Examining the doctor

by Michael Miliard

Let's face it: Dr. Laura Schlessinger, as they say, has the perfect face for radio. So why on earth does she have to put it on TV? (And let's not get started on that blood-curdlingly strident voice.)

Oh, if only those were the sole reasons to object to her imminent presence on nationwide television. But, as most people know, there's also the ugly business of her ceaseless fulminations against gay men and lesbians -- or, ahem, "biological errors."

WCVB-TV's decision to run the good doctor's program Schlessinger this fall has not officially changed. But according to Wonbo Woo, a spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the station's top brass is "expressing extreme concern over the content and format of her show." Woo met in private on Tuesday with WCVB staffers including program director Elizabeth A. Cheng and general manager Paul La Camera, as well as representatives from the Fenway Community Health Center, It's Time Massachusetts, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The goal of the summit: to educate station management "about just who Dr. Laura Schlessinger is."

The meeting began with "a six-minute presentation of highlights from Dr. Schlessinger's radio show," says Woo. "Both La Camera and Cheng expressed great concern over the language that she used" and "were very clear in their assurances that they would not allow Dr. Laura to use their station to spread the kind of rhetoric that we presented."

La Camera says the meeting was "very cordial and constructive and instructive," but that "we have not made a decision about the status of the program." The meeting "was part of we what we committed to: a very serious, fact-finding undertaking," he says. "What they're asking is quite significant -- that after making a commitment to a program, we cancel. It's unprecedented and will require a lot of thought."

Ultimately, Woo feels the meeting went well: "From the start, WCVB was receptive to the idea of a meeting, and they followed through on it. We're hoping that WCVB and stations across the country will make a decision that's based on fairness, accuracy, and respect for their communities."