WJLA Gives Breast Self-Exams Full Exposure

Local D.C. Station To Air Uncensored Demos as Part of News Series; Some Criticize "Sweeps" Timing

(CBS/AP)  The ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., is airing a two-part series that takes a close - and unobscured - look at breast self-exams. The series is airing during the fall "sweeps" period critical for a TV station's ad revenue, prompting concern by a parental watchdog group. But WJLA insists it's not just a naked attempt to boost the ratings.

The two segments include clinical demonstrations of self-exams, and the breasts of the two volunteers are not blurred. They were to air during the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts Thursday and Friday.

WJLA officials said the segments are providing an important service because many women don't know how to properly check their breasts.

"In talking to women, we found out there really weren't a lot of women who knew how to do self breast exams," station manager Bill Lord said.

The station's adult viewers are 58 percent female, spokeswoman Abby Fenton said.

The Parents Television Council reacted cautiously to news of the series but suggested it saw the potential for problems.

"We hope that WJLA-TV is not using a crucial public health issue as a ratings stunt, and that the station has fully considered what is appropriate to tell this important story to the public in the most suitable manner possible," the group said in a statement. That might mean different versions of the story at 5 p.m. and at 11 p.m., it added.

The segments will be breaking a broadcast television taboo against exposed breasts. The Federal Communications Commission fined CBS Corp. for the "wardrobe malfunction" that bared Janet Jackson's breast during the 2004 Super Bowl - a fine that was eventually thrown out in court. But Lord said he did not believe a clinical demonstration in a medical story on a news show would run into any trouble with decency standards.

One of the two women featured in the WJLA segments has breast cancer and caught it by doing a self-exam.

The reports also include interviews with Elizabeth Edwards and Tanya Snyder, the wife of Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Both have been public about their struggles with breast cancer.

Not all breast cancer awareness advocates agree that self-exams are an effective tool. The WJLA segments don't report on that controversy, instead focusing on how to do the exams correctly.

Lord said the issue is personal for him. His mother-in-law died of breast cancer, and his mother had the disease too.

"I have a wife and three daughters," he said. "I want them to see this."

[sean66x]

Women's breast health is a critical issue. Television promotes examination and life style. It is more important that illness is diagnosed and treated.

[KirstenPike]

If anyone gets a thrill out of a program about breast cancer then they are seriously sick and in need of treatment.

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[mecanik-2009]

You mean I'm finally going to get to know what a breast looks like!! Wow wee. Yabba dabba doo.

[Ms_enza]

Let's compromise...

You let us teach sex education in the schools and we'll let you teach gun safety and markmanship.

That way we can have fewer non-NRA members

How about it?

[Ms_enza]

Let's compromise...

You let us teach sex education in the schools and we'll let you teach gun safety and markmanship.

That way we can have fewer non-NRA members

How about it?

[gotoplessorg]

So what if WJLA timed their broadcast of a breast self -exam so it would help their ratings? ALL media do that all the time! This time, the segment was medical and educational and even shook the puritanical chord of some Americans, sparking the debate, once again, of the decency of a female breast in public! Healthy all around! That is a time when a TV station has REALLY earned its rating!!!
... a word about the decency of women's breasts in public, it maybe a debatable issue in some circles but the US Constitution is unshakable and protects gender equality. That means that if a man's chest is allowed in public, a woman's must be too. Sooner or later, state laws will have to change their unconstitutional legislature to reflect the ultimate law of the land: the US Constitution. We may kick and we may scream but that reality is coming. Like women's right to vote, the end of segregation earlier in our history, a woman's chest in public is constitutional, it MUST and WILL be honored. Note that several states already acknowledge top freedom to all citizens, like the great state of NY. and the District of Columbus! Go to www.gotopless.org for more on these legal issues and join us on the next national GoTopless day, on August 22, 2010, in honor of Women's Equality Day voted by Congress in 1971 and officially celebrated on Aug 26 each year.

[stitch94133]

Years ago (during the first Bush administration) Marilyn Quayle had taken on breast cancer as her "cause" due in part because her mother had died a particularly painful death from the disease. During a speech she stated (rightfully I think) that men should be taught what to feel/look for since quite often a woman's partner is the first to notice a lump.

She was seriously admonished for making such a statement.

It's too bad we live in a country run by adolescent boys.

[texanforlogi]

ABC is running a poll on this story on their website. You can vote for it being a good thing, a maybe if done correctly, and a no it's in bad taste.
Right now, the votes for yes are leading (thankfully) but the no votes are closing in on the lead.
For the life of me, I cannot understand WHAT those no voters are thinking. Are they really so freaked out by seeing a boobie, or by having to explain to their children about a boobie that they are willing to ban this very important and necessary information? Shame on them.
There is no sin or shame in the naked human body. The shame comes in how you think about it--and if you think it's sinful or wrong then the sin or wrong is in yourself.

[displeased]

Yep, apparently children seeing a boobie will ruin them for life!

[6591Hou]

If anyone gets a thrill out of a program about breast cancer then they are seriously sick and in need of treatment.

[dragon8me]

What's the big deal? I'll tell you whats sick. A society that makes a breast feeding mother too embaresed to feed her baby in public. That's a sick society.