Diet Pill Maker Underwrites PBS Obesity Show

DIET PILL MAKER UNDERWRITES PBS OBESITY SHOW
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, and a frequent critic of what he sees as the increasingly commercialization of noncommercial broadcasting, has written to PBS ombudsman Michael Getler to complain about what he sees as too lax sponsorship policies. Specifically, he's upset that a PBS program on obesity is being sponsored by diet drug maker GlaxoSmithKline. Under PBS rules, underwriters do not get any say over programming, and obesity is clearly a national health issue, but Chester fears the show will effectively be a plug for the new diet drug and that ""Programs on PBS should be free of connections to sponsors who have a vested interest in an issue."
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