 Dusty:Starlight:Culture
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Well isn't that convenient
2004-01-25 7:16 p.m. My brain is swimming, soaked in too much fancy schmancy food from the past few days. Some of my bestest friends were celebrating birthdays and a graduation this weekend, and they really know how to throw parties. MmmmMMM. Considering those circumstances, and that I have to get to steppin' with preparing my WS lectures for the next week (they'll be on ancient matrilineal power infrastructures, hollah!), I'm going to let both an email that a friend sent to me and the good folks at moveon.org speak for me this evenin'. This is something that is both frightening and very serious. I urge you to pay attention, whatever your views, for the sake of the freedoms that you might be taking for granted. Dear MoveOn member, During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House. But you won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it. Meanwhile, the White House is on the verge of signing into law a deal which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says is custom-tailored for CBS and Fox, allowing the two networks to grow much bigger. CBS lobbied hard for this rule change; MoveOn.org members across the country lobbied against it; and now our ad [which is one that is critical of the Bush Admin. -TH] has been rejected while the White House ad will be played. It looks an awful lot like CBS is playing politics with the right to free speech. Of course, this is bigger than just the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. But this isn't even a progressive-vs.-conservative issue. The airwaves are publicly owned, so we have a fundamental right to hear viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum. That's why we need to let CBS know that this practice of arbitrarily turning down ads that may be "controversial" -- especially if they're controversial simply because they take on the President -- just isn't right. To watch the ad that CBS won't air and sign our petition to CBS, go to: http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/ We'll deliver the petition by email directly to CBS headquarters. You also may want to let your local CBS affiliate know you're unhappy about this decision. Remember, a polite, friendly call will be most effective -- just explain to them why you believe CBS' decision hurts our democracy. CBS will claim that the ad is too controversial to air. But the message of the ad is a simple statement of fact, supported by the President's own figures. Compared with 2002's White House ad which claimed that drug users are supporting terrorism, it hardly even registers. CBS will also claim that this decision isn't an indication of political bias. But given the facts, that's hard to believe. CBS overwhelmingly favored Republicans in its political giving, and the company spent millions courting the White House to stop FCC reform. According to a well-respected study, CBS News was second only to Fox in failing to correct common misconceptions about the Iraq war which benefited the Bush Administration -- for example, the idea that Saddam Hussein was involved with 9/11. This is not a partisan issue. It's critical that our media institutions be fair and open to all speakers. CBS is setting a dangerous precedent, and unless we speak up, the pattern may continue. Please call on CBS to air ads which address issues of public importance today. Sincerely, --Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack The MoveOn.org Team January 23rd, 2003
P.S. Our friends at Free Press have put together a page which explains simply how CBS and the FCC rule change are integrally linked. Check it out at http://www.mediareform.net/media/ Even if you think you're too smart to let a biased media influence your perspectives, or if you're enough of a critical thinker to understand that the media isn't always "fair and balanced", consider all of the people out there who aren't. Make a call, sign the petition. xoxox,
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