ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on possible political and other pressures that impact programming decisions, and examines issues confronting programmers/creative executives, focusing on the ethical implications involved. Programmers and creative executives need to question if other divisions at the network or studio will support a given project, or whether the financial calculations make sense. Programmers or station group owners decide what to program, usually based on what they think audiences want or what advertisers want. Programming decisions based on politics often conflict with the public's right to know. Fear of being banished for adopting the "wrong" politics can cause the programmer to engage in self-censorship, as programmers, producers, and writers avoid topics likely to offend. Self-censorship, for any reason, is likely to continue as programmers will elect to take fewer and fewer risks, resulting in more and more self-censorship decisions, thereby limiting audience's access to material and to different points of view.
