FIRST OFF . . .

“What happens in the ‘image factory of America’ can have a profound effect on the rest of the country,” Betty Friedan said of Hollywood during public hearings Wednesday on the employment and portrayal of women in the media. Friedan, who is teaching a similar symposium at USC, said she was especially concerned about rumors that CBS’ “Cagney & Lacey” might be canceled: “Are we going to get rid of these gutsy role models? Are we going to go back to the image that women should be punished and dehumanized?” Friedan, testifying before the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women, praised portrayals of women in “L.A. Law,” “Family Ties,” “The Cosby Show,” “Moonlighting” and “Golden Girls.” Meanwhile, “Cagney & Lacey” executive producer Barney Rosenzweig acknowledged the rumors, saying, “I’ve been assured that the show is in good shape; however, Mr. (Gene) Jankowski (president of the CBS Broadcast Group) keeps giving interviews saying we’re marginal. I don’t know why we’re marginal or why we’re in trouble.”