Wildmon Launches a Boycott against NBC

He says it excludes Christian values.

Donald E. Wildmon’s five-year effort to clean up TV has culminated in a boycott of NBC and its parent corporation, RCA. “It has become abundantly clear that RCA/NBC does not want the business of Christian people,” said Wildmon, who directs the National Federation for Decency and the Coalition for Better Television.

The United Methodist minister from Tupelo, Mississippi, announced his long-threatened action last month at a Washington, D.C., press conference.

“RCA/NBC has excluded Christian characters, Christian values, and Christian culture from their programming,” Wildmon said. Rather than dwelling on isolated instances of sex and violence, he deplored an overall “make-it-up-as-you-go” value system that television “embraces and promotes.”

He also sought to broaden the boycott’s appeal to include minorities and the elderly, calling for an end to television stereotyping of these groups.

Supporters are urged to avoid buying RCA televisions, video disc players, and other electronic equipment. They are to refuse to do business with Hertz rental cars, Gibson greeting cards, Coronet carpets, RCA records, and CIT Financial Corporation—all owned by RCA.

NBC has called Wildmon’s effort “an obvious attempt at intimidation. We fully intend to resist it, and we will let the American people judge the fairness of this tactic.” Beyond this statement, network officials have no comment.

The boycott’s impact will be measured by sales figures over the next six to eight months. Along with economic pressure, Wildmon listed a series of demands that the network must meet before the boycott ends. He said the network must:

• Downplay the use of illegal drugs and alcohol.

• Present violence as “nonapproved behavior.”

• Present sex from a Judeo-Christian perspective, as “a beautiful gift given by God to be shared by husband and wife.”

• Stop using profanity. Use “God” only in reference to the Deity.

• Present minority and elderly individuals as “full contributing members of society.”

Wildmon said his coalition is targeting NBC because its programs are generally “a little bit worse” than the other two networks.

If this surgical-strike tactic works, he said, then “we don’t have to hurt as many companies economically.” Otherwise, the boycott may be expanded to advertisers that sponsor programs on CBS and ABC as well.

Confident of success, Wildmon said 1,900 groups belong to his coalition. His mailing list comprises 150,000 churches with a combined membership of more than 80 million people. Best of all, he noted, mainline church support for the boycott is growing steadily.

The boycott’s first editorial endorsement came from Interchange, an Episcopal newspaper with a circulation of 30,000 in southern Ohio. A recent survey by Evangelical Newsletter indicated “surprising support among evangelical leaders for the idea of an organized boycott,” totaling nearly 80 percent of a sample of 57 prominent Christians.

Conspicuously absent from the effort is Moral Majority, which pulled out of the coalition before the boycott began. Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell has said he believes “the networks are making a sincere effort to improve.” However, several of the group’s state chapter directors have endorsed the boycott and are perplexed about Falwell’s pullout, Wildmon said.

The coalition initially threatened to boycott last spring, then canceled their plans when the networks appeared to respond to pressure. But “whatever change came was temporary and superficial,” Wildmon charged, saying the networks quickly returned to business as usual.

Wildmon, who is neither a fundamentalist nor a die-hard right-winger, bases his appeal for Christian support of the boycott on stewardship. “What we need to remember is that this is not censorship. We’re not asking for any laws to be passed. For Christians to do business with companies they know are promoting anti-Christian bigotry is not good stewardship.” He added, “If people don’t think TV is knocking the Christian faith, they’re just not watching it.”

His press statements and speeches are peppered with examples to support his claim that television has gone too far. ABC, he said, telecast the movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” which portrays explicit sexual promiscuity. He said one character in the movie—a dope pusher—was nicknamed “Jesus.” On NBC, a pre-Christmas special featured the Playboy bunnies. RCA/NBC also helped pay for a section in the December issue of Playboy magazine called “Prayboy,” which according to Wildmon “belittled, mocked, and ridiculed Christ and Christians.”

In an address to the National Religious Broadcasters convention, Wildmon described an episode of “Police Story” in which “a man and his son-in-law made a practice of robbing and raping young waitresses. While the rapes were in progress, the wives of the two men—mother and daughter—sat in a car, calmly waiting. To pass the time, they prayed and read the Bible.”

Wildmon does not view the coalition’s effort as a money-making project. He has repeatedly stated that its success requires moral persuasion, not money. “We ask that neighbor tell neighbor, friend tell friend, and Christian tell Christian about RCA/NBC’S discrimination.”

At his press conference, Wildmon faced 50 reporters who appeared to regard the boycott announcement as genuine news rather than a Religious Right sideshow. He fielded questions with a toughness and savvy that belied his popular press image as a know-nothing country boy. The inevitable question arose about why viewers should not simply exercise their right to turn the channel when offended. Wildmon, ever the gentleman, pointed out that such a solution is like responding to crime in the streets by staying indoors.

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