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The 3 major television networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—will join forces this
fall to raise funds for cancer research. On Friday, September 5, 2008,
instead of airing usual prime-time fare, all 3 plan to simultaneously
broadcast an hour-long, commercial-free telethon benefitting cancer
research.
The program is "designed to put cancer research and cancer
back on the front burner, in the front of people's minds," said ABC's
Charles Gibson Wednesday during a Today
Show segment in which he, along with Katie Couric
from CBS
Evening News and Brian Williams of NBC, announced the
event.
The benefit, known as Stand
Up to Cancer, is a program of the Entertainment Industry
Foundation, a charitable organization comprised of entertainment and
media executives and performers. The benefit began as the brainchild of
Couric and Jeff Zucker, the president and chief executive of NBC.
Zucker, himself a colon cancer survivor, said in an interview that this
was an idea he and Couric discussed before she left NBC to
anchor CBS
Evening News. It is being produced by Hollywood producer
Laura Ziskin, whose credits include the Spider-man series, As Good as It Gets,
and Pretty Woman.
Ziskin, a breast cancer survivor, was drawn to the project because of
her own struggles with disease.
The funds raised from the telethon will be distributed by the
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and will go to maverick
research teams who are working to develop new cancer treatments. Most
of the dollars will go to fund "dream teams" who are working to come up
with new therapies or are focused on a specific type of cancer. A
smaller percentage will be given to fund cutting-edge research.
"Our medical experts have come up with a system designed to
hit potential stumbling blocks head on," said Couric in a video on the Stand
Up to Cancer Web site that explains the genesis of the
project. "The most talented investigators at many leading institutions
will collaborate rather than compete. Innovative ideas will receive
rapid funding without bureaucratic delays."
The big 3 television networks have joined forces before.
"This happened on 9/11, this happened after the Banda Aceh
tsunami, this happened after Katrina..the three networks coming
together for a cause," said Williams. This time, "this is kind of a
quiet emergency that's hitting every American family."
The broadcast will feature live entertainment as well as
educational segments and will be tied to a Web site called Stand
Up to Cancer.
Several cancer advocacy and support organizations, including
the American Cancer Society, are backing the project. View a complete
list here.
ACS News Center stories are provided as a source of cancer-related
news and are not intended to be used as
press releases.
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