KCET May Reconsider Dropping ‘Africa Now’ : Television: Community groups and its own advisory panel criticize halt to public-affairs show.

Under fire from community organizations and its own Community Advisory Board, public-television station KCET Channel 28 on Thursday opened the door slightly to the possibility that it would reconsider the decision to halt broadcasts of the news-magazine “South Africa Now.”

At the same time, two local cable systems have stepped in to try to fill the void. Cencom Cable, which serves the Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley areas, and Century Cable in Los Angeles said that they will begin carrying “South Africa Now” when it leaves KCET.

KCET station manager and programming chief Stephen Kulczycki, who last week decided to drop the program, said Thursday that he stands by his original objection that the program was slanted in favor of the African National Congress but that he will monitor it in coming weeks to see if it becomes more balanced.

“We will continue to monitor the series on the satellite feeds and try to get some sense of whether the concerns we’ve expressed might show up in the program,” Kulczycki said. “If (the producers) address the concerns we have talked about, we might reconsider the choices we have made.”

“South Africa Now” producer Danny Schechter said that he was pleased Kulczycki had opened the door to reconsideration but that he will not do anything differently because he feels the program has always been fair.

“If he’s going to monitor, he’ll find that the same program he rejected will have a balanced presentation of what’s going on in South Africa,” Schechter said.

For now, however, “South Africa Now” remains scheduled to leave KCET after the last installment of the current 13-week batch runs Sunday at 9 a.m.

KCET’s decision not to renew the program has enraged members of the Los Angeles African-American community and anti-apartheid groups, who have threatened to picket the station.

Several brought their complaints to the regularly scheduled meeting of KCET’s Community Advisory Board on Wednesday, and the board, whose volunteer members are appointed to provide community feedback to station management, took up the cause.

The advisory board issued a statement Thursday demanding that “ ‘South Africa Now’ be returned to the air with a discussion panel or other vehicle to broaden the range of issues covered; and/or (that KCET) immediately provide additional (regular) programming on South Africa and the entire continent of Africa.”

Unhappiness with KCET’s decision increased after a conservative media watchdog organization claimed credit for having brought the show’s alleged bias to KCET’s attention. David Horowitz, chairman of the Committee on Media Integrity, met with station executives as many as half a dozen times and conducted a yearlong letter-writing campaign against “South Africa Now” and other programs broadcast on KCET.

KCET has vigorously denied Horowitz’s contentions, but relations with community members did not improve when the station canceled a scheduled meeting with concerned leaders that was to have been held Wednesday. That evening, the organizers who had planned to meet with Kulczycki and KCET president William Kobin appeared instead before the Community Advisory Board.

“African Americans are appalled,” said Quincy Beaver, representing the California Democratic Council. “We are stunned.”

Michael Zinzun, the executive director of Friends of the African National Congress and Front Line States, disputed Kulczycki’s contention that because there was no longer a press blackout in South Africa, the program was no longer necessary.

“It has just been 24 hours since George Bush vetoed the Civil Rights Act,” Zinzun said. “We are not in a position where we can let down our guard about racism.”

In its statement Thursday, the advisory board said that it wanted to be consulted about future programming decisions that might affect the community and requested that the meeting with community leaders be rescheduled.

The board also said it did not believe that Horowitz had in any way influenced management’s decision regarding “South Africa Now.”

Kobin said Thursday that he could not respond to the board’s demands because he had not yet read the statement.

“I’m really gratified that they believe we acted for the reasons we said we acted,” Kobin said. “Obviously, I’m disappointed that they don’t agree with the decision.”

The move by the local cable systems to pick up “South Africa Now” comes at a time when cable--through its non-commercial community access channels--is taking more of a role in airing alternative programming.

“If the end result is that a program that doesn’t have any other outlet can turn to cable, that works out for the common good,” said Craig Watson, general manager of Cencom Cable.