The Recovery Channel™
Coming Soon
to a TV Near You

By John de Miranda

Marshal McLuhan said, that the medium is the message, but the message of recovery is largely missing from the medium of television. What is present on both network and cable TV are lots of jokes about drinking and drug use, clever ads for beer and wine (and now distilled spirits), and news coverage of the havoc wrought by excessive use of alcohol and illicit drugs. On reality TV shows we can now even watch young people partying with their friends and puking drunk in real time, and on cop shows every other arrestee is either drunk or stoned. Any messages about recovery as a force in contemporary life are drowned in this witches’ brew of alcohol and drug glorification/demonization.

Robyn Leary wants to change this. With a small, like-minded group of significant others she has set out to create The Recovery Channel,™ an opportunity to use mass communication media to spread the word that recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction is not only possible, but widespread and a vital part of life in America. McLuhan’s “global village” includes a rather large tribe of people in recovery, their families, friends and allies. Leary is betting that the numbers and passion of this recovery tribe will be enough to commercially support recovery-specific television programming.

Nor is her vision anything less than to create a full channel with 24/7 programming. Her ideas for filling all that time are programs such as: 1) My Story: How I Got Clean & Stay Sober; 2) documentaries such as Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n; Roll and Priests and Addiction; 3) daily Recovery News broadcasts; 4) Recovery Sports; 5) Recovery-oriented book and film reviews; 6) reality shows such as Busted! Arrest and Conviction for DWI; 7) Recovery Talk, and Recovery Goes to the Movies.

The segmentation of cable and satellite television has become a major force in the world of mass, instantaneous communication. We now have a variety of all-news channels. Remember when the first one CNN was predicted to fail? Many avocations now warrant their own full time channels: golf, science fiction, travel, shopping, cartoons, sports, weather, and country music, to name a few. Demographic segmentation is no also the rule with channels devoted to children (Nickelodeon), African-Americans (Black Entertainment Television), women (Oxygen), Christians, Latinos and men (Spike).

Imagine the possibilities for a recovery channel. Tune in to watch a news broadcast exclusively devoted to the day’s news as it relates to national drug policy, recovery groups that are making a difference in their communities, demographic trends and recovery lifestyle options. How about personal profiles á la Biography that focus on notables in recovery such as Steve Tyler from Aerosmith, Congressman Jim Ramstad, or Betty Ford. Perhaps, historical figures such as actor Jason Robards or Marty Mann, founder of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence.

Think about an evening studio talk show with a lively stage band and a parade of individuals with recovery messages, comedians, advocates, researchers, prevention workers, entertainers and business leaders. Or a Road to Recovery segment that takes viewers into our nation’s communities to visit recovery schools, drug courts, sober dorms, treatment programs and people in recovery just doing remarkable things.

Leary has the skill set to move The Recovery Channel from vision to reality. A veteran journalist (still free lancing for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others) accomplished entrepreneur, independent video producer (formerly with PBS and CBS affiliates) and deal broker, she has been busy searching for investors, sponsors, partners and talent to help achieve her dream. And if you are wondering what caused this seasoned professional woman to take up the recovery cause, she has her own story of recovery and renewal which started some four years ago.

As they say on the tube, “stay tuned.” You will undoubtedly see more about The Recovery Channel on your TV soon.

Robyn Leary, P.O. Box 169, Scarborough, NY 10510; phone (914) 941-2863; fax (914) 941-2850; or e-mail at robyn.leary@verizon.net.

John de Miranda, Ed.M., is executive director of the National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disability, Inc., 2165 Bunker Hill Drive, San Mateo, CA 94402-3801; phone (650) 578-8047; fax (650) 286-9205; or e-mail at solanda@sbcglobal.net. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily the organization he represents.

*this editorial has been accepted for a forthcoming issue of