Congress Asks FOX to pull "Who's Your Daddy?"

CQ TODAY Dec. 29, 2004 Reacting as Both House Leader and Adoptive Mother, Pryce Protests Fox TV Program By Susan Crabtree, CQ Staff A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce of Ohio called Wednesday on Fox Entertainment Group to reconsider its plans to air a show called "Who's Your Daddy." The premise of the program involves an adoptee's search for her birth father and involves contestants vying for a cash prize by pretending paternity. Pryce, an adoptive mother, fired off a letter to Fox Entertainment Group Chairman and CEO Peter Chernin after viewing trailers for the upcoming show. In the letter - co-signed by Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y.; and Ted Strickland, D-Ohio - Pryce suggested reconsideration of Fox's decision to run the program as scheduled Jan. 3. "Some of us are adoptive parents or were adopted as children," the letter said. "We know first-hand that the search for one's birth parents is a personal search. Fox's decision . . . appears to us to exploit this private, very emotional journey." "While we recognize that Fox is not violating the law in its decision to air this program, we believe that Fox is violating its responsibility as a steward of the airways to provide reliable and decent programming to the public," they wrote. The letter was a new attempt by Congress to persuade Hollywood to voluntarily rein in provocative programming. Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said the company would have no immediate response.