MSNBC to issue sexual content warning before live airings of 'Hardball'
 

MSNBC announced today it will warn viewers before any live airing of
'Hardball with Chris Matthews' in which the host interviews a Republican.
The warning will state: "The following program may contain erotic content;
 viewer discretion is advised."

The decision comes in the wake of criticism of the network after its airing last
month of Chris the Screamer's interview with Smirk.

A spokesman for the media watchdog group Protect Our Children
complained to the network that although the show did portray a loving and caring
relationship between two men in a responsible and adult fashion,
it was questionable whether the network should have aired the show
at a time when children might watch it.

The network earlier said that it would not reair the Bush interview in any
market before 10 P.M. local time and that it would include a suitable warning
as to the show's homoerotic content.

A network executive reached for comment said that the decision to air a
warning for all 'Hardball' shows had been delayed by management's attention
to the unrelated issue of implementing MSNBC's joint-venture parent
Microsoft's plan to increase attacks on Janet Reno and the Justice
Department during all MSNBC programs.