Cable TV board in Cape says show not obscene

The cable show of a Sikeston Democrat accused of making vulgar comments about U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson will be put back on Cape Girardeau city's public access channel.

The city's Cable Television Advisory Committee concluded without a vote Tuesday night that there was no evidence that obscenities were ever uttered in the videotaped show of former congressional candidate Tony Heckemeyer. They said the show should be put back on the air as long as it is preceded and followed by an explanatory message about its relevance to the community.

"If people do not like that, they do not have to watch it," said committee member Todd Long.

Committee member Peter Hirschburg said the alleged language isn't even offensive by today's television standards. "You hear that language on commercial television," he said.

Heckemeyer is accused of calling Emerson a "rat b- - - -d."

Heckemeyer said he never used such vulgarities in referring to the Republican congresswoman.

The issue surfaced publicly last week when Mayor Jay Knudtson said he had received several complaints about the program. Knudtson called the show "a joke" and suggested such political commentary shouldn't be aired on the city channel.

Heckemeyer has been the host for a weekly radio commentary show on KSIM, a Sikeston radio station, for the past four years. The taped show, with the radio commercials taken out, runs about half an hour.

City staff members, including public access channel coordinator Tracey Glenn, said they didn't hear the remark or any other profanity on tapes of the program they reviewed.

Glenn said the program must have a wraparound message, required under the city's policy regarding use of public access Channel 5. The policy says any submitted taped program not "obviously connected" to the city of Cape Girardeau must include a message before and after the program indicating how the taped material relates to the community, the identity and full address of the individual or organization submitting the program and how that person or organization is connected to the community.

Former Cape Girardeau Councilman Tom Neumeyer, who requested the show air in the first place, said he would submit the necessary taped explanation.

The show aired for several months last year without the explanatory message. But city officials pulled the show about seven to eight weeks ago after receiving complaints accusing Heckemeyer of making vulgar comments about Emerson.

Missing message

Glenn said she and other city staff members only recently realized that the program had been aired without the required explanatory message.

With that problem corrected, the program will start airing again, she said. It will be shown on Tuesday nights, probably next week, Glenn said. The show will air at 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., depending on the availability of a cable access channel employee to switch on the tape.

The cable committee met for about an hour Tuesday, including a half hour behind closed doors with city attorney Eric Cunningham. City advisory boards rarely meet in closed session.

Cunningham recommended the committee meet in private so he could explain legal issues surrounding public access programming.

Cunningham said he could advise the city advisory board in closed session under the state's open meetings law. Advance notice of the meeting, included the closed session was posted at city hall in compliance with state law, city officials said, although information about the closed session had not been included in the agenda sent to media.

Prior to the meeting, Cunningham said the city had been threatened with litigation for taking the Heckemeyer show off the access channel. The person who threatened litigation wasn't identified.

Neumeyer said he hadn't threatened litigation, but he said the city must air the show or be in violation of the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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