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| Are You Ready For Some Censorship? |
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Posted by CN Staff on January 28, 2004 at 07:46:30 PT By Paul McMorrow Source: Boston Weekly Dig 
When upwards of a billion people worldwide tune into CBS for the Superbowl this weekend, the network that brought you Big Brother will further blur the boundaries between literature, bad TV and dismal political reality. That's right football fans, watch what you say and do, because Big Brother, er, Les Moonves, will be watching.Last week, an iron fist fell swiftly on the insurgents at MoveOn.org, the nation's largest online grassroots advocacy group. And although it's unlikely that MoveOn co-founders Wes Boyd and Joan Blades will be dragged to the Ministry of Love and tortured for their indiscretions, CBS has seen to it that the two stinking hippies won't be badmouthing President Bush during CBS' broadcast of the Superbowl, either. MoveOn's latest stab at the "Misleader," as they refer to Bush, was a nationwide ad contest seeking the best 30-second denunciation of the president. Despite angry censure from Texas congressman Tom DeLay, who laid into MoveOn for accepting two submissions (out of more than 1,000) that compared Bush to Hitler, the winning ad is far from belligerent. Salon.com's Michelle Goldberg called it "A simple, poetic indictment." "Child's Pay" by Denver's Charlie Fisher, depicts children manning blue collar jobs like washing dishes, working assembly lines, vacuuming hotel rooms, ringing groceries and driving garbage trucks. The silent commercial closes with the tagline "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?" The MoveOn Voter Fund, MoveOn's political action committee, received such a positive response to "Child's Pay" that it decided to run the ad during the Superbowl, in addition to using it to tar the Bushies in key swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Florida during the Democratic primaries. Since requesting donations to pay for Superbowl airtime for the commercial a few weeks ago, the MoveOn Voter Fund has raised 90 percent of its $10 million goal. But when MoveOn submitted "Child's Pay" to CBS, cash in hand, it was summarily rejected. In a January 19 interview with the New York Times, CBS Execute Vice President Martin D. Franks defended the decision, attributing it to a decades-old, company-wide policy of Viacom (Viacom owns, among other networks, CBS, MTV and Comedy Central). Viacom networks do not run advertisements that stake out a position on "matters of public debate where there are discernible sides, and we don't want those who have deep pockets to have an undue influence on the debate. Pick an issue, NAFTA, gun control, abortion." Asked about past ads that have run on CBS that advocate anti-drug and anti-smoking positions, Franks said that CBS does air public service announcements, but not ads that stake out ground in public debates. "Is it an absolutely perfect system? Absolutely not," Franks told the Times. "On the other hand, the MoveOn.org ad wasn't even close. I didn't need to rewind that one in the VCR." Franks and Viacom might not be the benevolent guardians of the airwaves that they appear to be, though. According to a June 2003 report by Public Citizen's Aaron Craig, Viacom has close ties to the Republican National Committee's new chairman, Ed Gillespie. Prior to joining the RNC, Gillespie exploited his close relationship with White House insiders to make a killing with his lobbying firm, Quinn, Gillespie & Associates. Gillespie's clients paid him to persuade the White House to take up their various corporate agendas. Between 2000 and 2002, Viacom was one of Gillespie's largest clients, paying the lobbying firm $720,000. Last June, Viacom and Gillespie got what they paid for, as the FCC loosened its rules on the concentration of media ownership in a given market. Earlier this winter, CBS and its parent company Viacom appeared to pay Gillespie and the RNC back for the favorable FCC decision they helped buy. When Gillespie objected loudly to a controversial CBS miniseries on Ronald Reagan, the network caved to the RNC's pressure and pulled the series off the air. CBS' Martin Franks did not return the Dig's phone calls to his New York and Washington offices seeking clarification of Viacom's relationship with Gillespie and the RNC. Various advocacy groups are crying hypocrite for the dissonance in CBS' treatment of MoveOn and the White House. For the past two years, CBS aired White House ads that linked casual drug use to terrorism; the firm that produced those ads, Ogilvy & Mather, also produced this year's White House anti-drug ad, and it is expected to convey a similar message. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) vehemently objects to CBS' contention that criticism of budget deficits is controversial, while linking dime bags to al-Qaeda is not. "If your network is to be consistent," reads a petition on NORML's Web site, "then you must also adhere to this policy when it comes to anti-marijuana propaganda ads. Clearly decriminalization is a 'controversial issue of public importance' that divides American public opinion, and any public service announcement on the subject that promotes only one side of the issue must be considered an issue ad." After initial reluctance to charge CBS with partisanship, MoveOn struck CBS hard last Friday, issuing two combative press releases. "CBS [is] guilty of political favoritism...Network [airs] White House anti-drug ad as it lobbies for favors from Bush White House," asserted MoveOn's PR firm, Fenton Communications. "It seems to us that CBS simply defers to those it fears or from whom it wants favors - in this case, the Bush White House," Eli Pariser, MoveOn's campaign director, declared. Note: While Juggling Breasts, Violence and Propaganda Are Not Offensive, Political Truth Is, CBS Says. Information on NORML's e-mail campaign to CBS is available online at: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=4749626&type=ML Source: Boston Weekly Dig (MA) MoveOn.org CBS' Eye Just Got Blacker ONDCP Links Drugs, Drinking in New Ads MoveOn Accuses CBS of Bias Ad Rejections by CBS Raise Policy Questions Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #8 posted by BUDSNAXZ on January 28, 2004 at 19:49:54 PT |
| I am absolutely appalled at your obvious loyalty to the corporations and political parties that pay you off to present only what they want Americans to hear and to squelch any dissenting opinions. What happened to real fair and balanced coverage? You have effectively trashed another part of the constitution (Freedom Of Speech). I know the moneys good now, but I’m sure you all know where you will be going on judgment day [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by jose melendez on January 28, 2004 at 15:59:15 PT |
| Wo win again! "Local stations we own, as well as CBS affiliates owned by others, are free to accept or reject such advocacy advertising for their own air based on how they believe such decisions serve the public interest in their communities." see drudgereport: CBS DEFENDS NOT AIRING MOVEON.ORG SUPER BOWL AD... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by mayan on January 28, 2004 at 14:17:37 PT |
| To check out the ad and to ask CBS to air ads like it, go to: http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/ [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 28, 2004 at 09:00:08 PT |
| That's OK I just wanted you to be able to comment if you wanted to say anything. The news is really interesting these days. The good is good and the bad stands out like a sore thumb! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by The GCW on January 28, 2004 at 08:24:45 PT |
| That's another one I missed here... There is so much good news. Even the bad news is good news these days. Thanks. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 28, 2004 at 08:16:14 PT |
| Here's our copy too. I thought you might want to add a comment. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18238.shtml [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by The GCW on January 28, 2004 at 08:06:02 PT |
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CN ON: Ottawa Won't Prosecute Medical Marijuana Activists http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n180/a06.html?397 Citizen groups that provide medicinal marijuana to the chronically-ill are rejoicing today amid news that Ottawa will not proceed with trafficking charges laid against two men operating a well-known Toronto care centre. The Globe and Mail has learned that the federal government will refrain from pursuing a prosecution against two men who operated a Toronto organization whose workers were devoted to dispensing cannabis to patients suffering from persistent illnesses like AIDS and other ailments. The men's preliminary hearing was to have started today. "This is exciting," said Warren Hitzig, one of two individuals charged with a number of drug-related offenses. "By not convicting me, you're basically opening the door for others to operate." Cont. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 28, 2004 at 07:59:03 PT |
| I know now more then ever why the laws against marijuana haven't been changed after all these years of trying. We are exposing the reality of media control day after day. [ Post Comment ] |
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