welcome to red America
by John at 12/01/2004 12:06:00 PM
Tolerance, apparently, is too controversial for broadcast TV.
We on the left call it the "so-called liberal media" for a reason.
NBC and even "liberal" CBS have declined to air an advertisement for the United Church of Christ (see it here). The ad promotes their church as a place of inclusion over intolerance, including a subtle emphasis on the acceptance of homosexuals. Shocking, isn't it?
So, here is what Viacom (owner of CBS and UPN) had to say about that:
"Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," the group states an explanation from CBS reads, "and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."
The ad is unacceptable because it implies other groups might not be as accepting of certain minorities as the UCC is, and because the message is at odds with the political goals of Our Leader? Well, the first part is a damned fact, and the second part (leaving out the implication that public debate on important issues is a bad thing) is a non-sequitor because the commercial doesn't address homosexual marriage at all!
These broadcasters get to use our frequencies for free, and as part of that agreement they are obligated to serve the public interest, not just the narrow interests ($$) of the mega-corporations that own them. The UCC, interestingly, had a hand in establishing this:
In 1959, the Rev. Everett C. Parker organized United Church of Christ members to monitor the racist practices of WLBT. Like many southern television stations at the time, WLBT had imposed a news blackout on the growing civil rights movement, pulling the plug on then-attorney Thurgood Marshall. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. implored the UCC to get involved in the media civil rights issues. Parker, founding director of the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, organized churches and won in federal court a ruling that the airwaves are public, not private property. That decision ultimately led to an increase in the number of persons of color in television studios and newsrooms. The suit clearly established that television and radio stations, as keepers of the public airwaves, must broadcast in the public interest.
Unless I miss my guess, serving the public interest does not just mean pleasing religious conservatives and serving the expressed interests of the Executive Branch.
I wonder if the right-wing will speak out against this clear case of stifled religious expression?
(yoink! Talking Points Memo)
We on the left call it the "so-called liberal media" for a reason.
NBC and even "liberal" CBS have declined to air an advertisement for the United Church of Christ (see it here). The ad promotes their church as a place of inclusion over intolerance, including a subtle emphasis on the acceptance of homosexuals. Shocking, isn't it?
So, here is what Viacom (owner of CBS and UPN) had to say about that:
"Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," the group states an explanation from CBS reads, "and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."
The ad is unacceptable because it implies other groups might not be as accepting of certain minorities as the UCC is, and because the message is at odds with the political goals of Our Leader? Well, the first part is a damned fact, and the second part (leaving out the implication that public debate on important issues is a bad thing) is a non-sequitor because the commercial doesn't address homosexual marriage at all!
These broadcasters get to use our frequencies for free, and as part of that agreement they are obligated to serve the public interest, not just the narrow interests ($$) of the mega-corporations that own them. The UCC, interestingly, had a hand in establishing this:
In 1959, the Rev. Everett C. Parker organized United Church of Christ members to monitor the racist practices of WLBT. Like many southern television stations at the time, WLBT had imposed a news blackout on the growing civil rights movement, pulling the plug on then-attorney Thurgood Marshall. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. implored the UCC to get involved in the media civil rights issues. Parker, founding director of the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, organized churches and won in federal court a ruling that the airwaves are public, not private property. That decision ultimately led to an increase in the number of persons of color in television studios and newsrooms. The suit clearly established that television and radio stations, as keepers of the public airwaves, must broadcast in the public interest.
Unless I miss my guess, serving the public interest does not just mean pleasing religious conservatives and serving the expressed interests of the Executive Branch.
I wonder if the right-wing will speak out against this clear case of stifled religious expression?
(yoink! Talking Points Memo)
The joy of hearing things like this is that MORE people will end up seeing this ad due to all the hubbub surrounding it now that it's been made into an issue. I went out and looked at the site and ended up spending my lunch hour reading about the church. Had these stations not decided against showing the ad, I probably would have seen it on TV, but I wouldn't have gone out to investigate. Good ad.
I suppose that is a bright side, if it turns into a big enough story. CNN Money picked it up, and a few papers are running an AP article. Otherwise it looks like only liberal web magazines care.
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