News In Brief

when the tables are TURNED

If there's one issue the television industry is sensitive about these days, it's phony or planted "guests" on studio shows like Jerry Springer's. So interest was running high among media executives who sat in on a panel discussion on the matter earlier this week at the Edinburgh International TV Festival in Scotland. "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" was billed as a "provocative look at chat show fakery." Not until later did the audience learn that one of the panelists wasn't a "researcher" for Springer's show, as advertised, but an actress hired by festival organizers to play that role. Nor are they apologizing for the deed. One indignant executive complained afterward: How can any of the guests here ever be trusted again? It's a question that critics of the industry also have been asking for some time.

Employers cited for their help to working moms

Working Mother magazine has released its 14th annual list of the best 100 companies for women staffers who have young children. At Bristol-Myers Squibb, for instance, employees can receive free formula, mailed in installments, for their baby's first year. Chase Manhattan Bank provides a child-care center - the largest such corporate facility in the US - as a safety net for those occasions when a baby-sitter calls in sick or fails to show up on time. The magazine does not rank its choices numerically, but the following are cited as exceptionally progressive:

Bank of America

Cigna

Deutsche Bank

Fannie Mae

First Tennessee Bank

IBM

Eli Lilly

Lincoln Financial Group

Lotus Development

Prudential Financial Services

- Associated Press

Compiled by Robert Kilborn, Lance Carden, and Ross Atkin

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