Sponsored TV Program

Ethical Perspectives on the News

     The 600th episode of Ethical Perspectives on the News was aired on KCRG-TV on February 27, 2011. That milestone was reached because of the vision of Harold Mincey who first suggested the idea of such a TV program in early 1999, the generosity of KCRG-TV who provides free air time and the taping facilities and staff to produce the program, the willingness of over 800 people from the surrounding community to serve as panel members, some of them many times, the 23 moderators and 11 producers who have contributed of their talents over the years, Mount Mercy University for its support of closed captioning for the programs, and the continuing support of The Inter-Religious Council of Linn County.

     The idea behind the program was to establish a public forum which would provide information and ethical perspectives on the news of the day and serve as a model for talking about controversial subjects in a civil way. That purpose has continued to guide the show throughout the twelve years of its existence.

     Harold Mincey produced the first episode of Ethical Perspectives which was aired on April 11, 1999. The topic was Euthanasia. David Weddle, Professor of Religion at Cornell College, was the moderator. Rabbi Ed Chesman, Imam Taha Tawil and the Rev. Harold Mincey were the panelists. Dr. Weddle helped establish the show by serving as the moderator for 60 of the first 75 programs.

     Harold produced the first ten programs and Cedric Lofdahl, a retired Lutheran Pastor, joined him as a co-producer in June of 1999. He continues today as the Executive Producer. Terry Boyden, a member of Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church, is the current Associate Producer. Peter Welch, an attorney with Crawford and Sullivan; Scott Samuelson, a Professor of Philosophy at Kirkwood Community College; Charlotte Fallon, a Professor of History retired from Mount Mercy College; Dr. Mary Ducey, a Professor of Philosophy at Mount Mercy College; and the Rev. Tom Capo, Minister of Peoples Church are the current moderators. On the average each of them moderates a program every 6 weeks.

     The format for the programs is a moderator and three panel members discussing a topic selected from the news. At its beginning the show was only fifteen minutes long. That time was increased to thirty minutes in January, 2002, as the result of the favorable response to three half-hour special programs on the September 11, 2001, terrorists’ attack on the country. The air time for the show has changed two or three times over its life time. Currently the show is aired every Sunday morning on KCRG-TV, Channel 9, at 11:00 a.m.

     The moderators and the producers meet monthly to select topics, to arrange the schedule for the moderators, and to suggest potential panelists for each show. The producers then recruit the panel members for the shows. The topics are taken from the news events of the times and cover a wide range of topics from “Euthanasia,” the first topic, to Wikileaks: the limits of free speech.” the topic of the 600^th show. Topics from the first five weeks of 2011 give an indication of the wide range of subjects. They were: “The ethical issues of 2011,” “Do security measures go too far?” “Aid to Africa: helpful or hurtful?” “The Judiciary and the politics of Iowa,” and “The ethical dilemma of gun control.”

     April 10, 2011, was the twelfth anniversary of Ethical Perspectives on the News.