COVER STORY : AT THE CENTER OF THE DOLE FIRESTORM

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) got plenty of attention when he scolded Hollywood about sex and violence in movies, TV and pop music. But, as The Times reports today (see Page A1), Dole’s comments aren’t changing the face of show business. Yet. The creative and business powerbrokers will tell you they’ve always been thoughful about what they produce. Here, then, are some snapshots of life on the front lines:

DAVID WESTIN

President, ABC Television Network Group

“The television industry, in all its various facets, is more conscious of the responsibilities that are placed on it than ever before,” says David Westin, 43, who is in charge of all the network’s divisions and program units. “Certainly it is an issue that has risen on a national agenda.”

So Westin was especially frustrated by Dole’s broadside. The broadcast networks, he believes, have been responsive by working with the creative community and by placing parental-advisory labels before programs in question, he says.

“In order for this dialogue in our country to really be constructive, and I think it could be, we need to get beyond reduction--instances of more or less violence--and get to how it’s depicted and in what context,” Westin says. “There is violence depicted in some of the great artworks of all time, and it’s a more sophisticated and subtle discussion than simply more or less.”

Westin says he uses his two daughters, 12 and 16, and his extended family in Michigan as public-taste barometers.

The important questions, he says, are: “What’s the context? To what end is violence used? And what’s the moral of the story?”

A lack of context is why Westin sometimes has problems with the short spots networks use to advertise feature films, which often depict explosions or other violence--but with no context.

ABC’s “NYPD Blue” has probably shown more naked body parts than any other series in network television history. Though Westin distinguishes between sex and nudity, he says “NYPD Blue” has fallen well within the realm of good taste when portraying sexual situations.

“There’s a place for romance and sexual relations in adult drama on television,” Westin says. “We can’t program 22 hours of prime time designed exclusively for young children.”