Television: Issue of Freedom

When the Chicago Tribune's WGN-TV announced a showing of the film Martin Luther last December, protests poured in from Roman Catholic viewers, and the station canceled the film because of "the emotional reaction" (TIME, Dec. 31). Last week the counterreaction hit WGN.*Armed with 150,000 signatures and the backing of 43 groups, mostly Protestant, the Action Committee for Freedom of Religious, Expression formally asked the Federal Communications Commission for a public hearing to challenge WGN's right to a license. Said the petition: "Those to whom the film is distasteful may turn it off, but unfortunately, those who want to see it cannot turn it on. The issue is one of freedom."