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August 20, 2003
Contact: Pam Golum, The Lippin Group
(323) 965-1990
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CBS & NBC Take 'SHINE' to Awards
NBC's Law & Order: SVU, CBS's CSI and HBO's Sex and the City are among the finalists of this year's Media Project SHINE (Sexual Health IN Entertainment) Awards, honoring positive portrayals of sexual health issues.
"Television has the power to shape norms, "says Robin Smalley, Director of the Media Project. "It is extremely important to acknowledge those shows that incorporate life-saving information about sexual health. Storylines that portray healthy relationships, depict strong parental role models or encourage HIV testing should be recognized for their contributions."
The provocative issues explored this year include transgender stigma in Law & Order: SVU, ER, HBO's Normal and Showtime's Soldier's Girl; parent-child communication in George Lopez and Grounded for Life; living with HIV/AIDS in Enterprise, One on One and Girlfriends; sex education on Boston Public and Everwood; a teen's struggle with coming out on Degrassi: the Next Generation.
Awards will be given out in 10 categories. Finalists also include episodes of Becker, Queer As Folk, Six Feet Under, Strong Medicine, The District and Frasier. Youth programs from MTV and Noggin/The N and documentaries from BET and HBO are also nominated.
Smalley adds, "The good news is that one in three teens report talking with a parent about a sexual health issue because of something they saw on TV and twenty-five percent say they learned "a lot" about HIV and AIDS. Television's power to positively impact an entire generation is truly something to celebrate!"
NBC and CBS garnered five nominations each, followed by HBO and UPN with four and ABC and Showtime with two.
UPN's Girlfriends and The WB's Everwood each received two nominations.
Neal Baer MD., executive producer of Law & Order: SVU, will be honored with the Special Individual Achievement Award and Viacom will be the recipient of the Special Corporate Achievement Award for their unprecedented and extraordinary campaign KNOW HIV/AIDS.
"Spanish Language Novela" and Spanish Language Talk/Variety Show will recognize the importance of Spanish language television.
Awards will be handed out at a gala luncheon featuring celebrity presenters on October 18th at The House of Blues. All proceeds from the event will benefit Advocates for Youth's AIDS and sexuality education programs for adolescents.
For tickets and information, contact The Media Project at 310.234.0454 or on the web at www.themediaproject.com.
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