PR Watch, March 13, 2003
TV Networks Continue to Ban Ads for Peace (NYT reg. required, also see it here)
"MTV has refused to accept a commercial opposing a war in Iraq [directed by Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple], citing a policy against advocacy spots that it says protects the channel from having to run ads from any cash-rich interest group whose cause may be loathsome. ... 'It is irresponsible for news organizations not to accept ads that are controversial on serious issues, assuming they are not scurrilous or in bad taste,' said Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard. 'In the world we live in, with the kind of media concentration we have, the only way that unpopular beliefs can be aired sometimes is if the monopoly vehicle agrees to accept an ad.' ... Broadcast operations with blanket no-advocacy policies include CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting, along with cable channels like CNN and MTV, a Viacom subsidiary. The policy at CBS protects the integrity of its news department, the public discourse and local sensibilities around the country, said Martin Franks, executive vice president. ... 'On the CBS television network,' he added, 'we think that informed discussion comes from our news programming.' " Source: The New York Times, March 13, 2003
TV Networks Continue to Ban Ads for Peace (NYT reg. required, also see it here)
"MTV has refused to accept a commercial opposing a war in Iraq [directed by Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple], citing a policy against advocacy spots that it says protects the channel from having to run ads from any cash-rich interest group whose cause may be loathsome. ... 'It is irresponsible for news organizations not to accept ads that are controversial on serious issues, assuming they are not scurrilous or in bad taste,' said Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard. 'In the world we live in, with the kind of media concentration we have, the only way that unpopular beliefs can be aired sometimes is if the monopoly vehicle agrees to accept an ad.' ... Broadcast operations with blanket no-advocacy policies include CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting, along with cable channels like CNN and MTV, a Viacom subsidiary. The policy at CBS protects the integrity of its news department, the public discourse and local sensibilities around the country, said Martin Franks, executive vice president. ... 'On the CBS television network,' he added, 'we think that informed discussion comes from our news programming.' " Source: The New York Times, March 13, 2003
