Charlotte Observer, The (NC)
1995-05-23
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 5C

WBTV ANGERS NATIVE AMERICANS

CHARLOTTE AFFILIATE NOT AIRING LAST TWO PARTS OF CBS SERIES

   DEBORAH PARKHILL MULLIS, Staff Writer, 

TV/radio writer TIM FUNK contributed to this article.

American Indians of Metrolina are angry over a decision by WBTV (channel 3) to not air the third and fourth parts of Kevin Costner's CBS series on Native Americans.

``This is another example of discrimination against Native Americans,'' said Laurie McKnight, spokesperson for American Indians of Metrolina, an association of American Indians in the Charlotte area. Part three of ``500 Nations'' focuses on Indian tribes of the Eastern United States and is scheduled to run 8 p.m Saturday on CBS stations. Part four is scheduled to run Sunday.

But when McKnight called the Charlotte station she learned that WBTV had decided not to carry the rest of the series, narrated and produced by actor Costner, at the scheduled time.

WBTV Station Manager Ron Miller said the station was not running the latest installments Saturday and Sunday because parts one and two - which aired April 20-21 - ``got extremely low ratings and finished last in its time period.''

Miller said WBTV has asked CBS for permission to air the last two segments at alternate time. Saturday and Sunday WBTV will air two movies, including one featuring Andy Griffith as Matlock.

``Everyone I know - even non-Natives - watched those two nights,'' McKnight said of part one and two of the series.

``I know at least 30 Native Americans have called (WBTV) this morning because the show isn't going to air as scheduled,'' said McKnight, who plans to notify other local Native American groups such as the Metrolina Native American Association.

McKnight said she wants people to be aware of the way local stations decide what the public will see. In the case of ``500 Nations'' she thinks the local station made the wrong decision. There is a large representation of Native Americans in the Charlotte area including Blackfoot, Catawba, Cherokee, Coharie, Creek, Crow, Haliwi Saponi, Lakota Sioux, Lumbee, Meherrin, Navaho, Seminole, Seneca, Tuscarora, and Waccamaw-Siouan, McKnight said.

``Everyone will be sitting down to watch it and it won't be on,'' she said.

A number of networks have broadcast shows about Native Americans in recent months including The Discovery Channel, PBS and Turner Broadcasting Systems, she said.

``The local station has left us hanging,'' McKnight said. ``If it was another minority group that had a strong representation here in Charlotte . . . they would run it.''