It should be a Supreme Court issue, this blatant favoring of moneyed corporate interests over grassroots opinion on what are still ostensibly the public airwaves, but we know the current SC majority would somehow fail to see the injustice.The Supreme Court is a court of law, not justice, and anyway, you're thinking of Red Lion (a Supreme Court case), which held that the FCC could enforce the "fairness doctrine" (which is basically what you're asking for) but wasn't required to. So take it up with Obama, I guess?
Why, exactly, are people pissed about this. We have free speech. We have an obligaiton to get our competing message out there. Whining about somebody else exercising that right is fucking pointless. It makes it seem like we are afraid of their message. Fuck that.Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's a good idea. Since when is telling women to have babies even when doctors say it'll kill 'em a good idea? Also, there's the hypocrisy angle.
It is by far the most socially responsible leauge out there. Every team must interview a black coach when a head coaching position opens up.I thought this was clever satire until I read it again and saw that it wasn't. Well, they interviewed one black dude, carte blanche for everybody!
Hartley sets up ... he kicks .. it's ... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PIGS HAVE FLOWN, HELL HAS FROZEN OVER, AND THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!--WWL radio announcing the result of the NFC championship
"A decision by CBS to allow a Super Bowl advertisement for Focus on the Family, a conservative religious organization, is eliciting concerns from leaders of the United Church of Christ, which sought to buy advertising from the network but had its ads rejected.posted by ericb at 8:13 AM on January 28, 2010 [11 favorites]
'While CBS is reportedly saying that a bad economy now necessitates changes in its policy on so-called advocacy ads, this decision only underscores the arbitrary way the networks approach these decisions and the result is a woeful lack of religious diversity in our nation's media,' says the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, the UCC's director of communications. 'Because of its own economic circumstances, CBS is affording time to one religious organization while having suppressed another. This sounds as if the broadcasters think they own the airwaves when, in theory at least, they do not.'
Speaking to a National Public Radio station in Los Angeles on January 21, Guess said, 'The issue for all of us should be why one religious viewpoint is continually accommodated by the TV networks when there is a common misunderstanding in this country that all religious people hold a monolithic view on certain issues, such as reproductive choice, such as homosexuality, and this is not the case.'
Guess pointed out that the UCC encountered a similar situation in early 2005 when it sought airtime on the ABC network, only to be told that ABC did not accept any religious advertising. The very next month, Guess said, Focus on the Family was allowed primetime advertising on ABC's SuperNanny show. 'That's what concerns us, the issue of access,' Guess said.
In 2004, CBS said it was rejecting the UCC's 'Bouncer' ad as 'too controversial' because it allegedly advocated same-sex marriage. The UCC maintained this was a gross mischaracterization of the ad's intent which, instead, was to demonstrate that all people, including gay and lesbian people, should be welcome in the church. The church quickly filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, a petition that was dismissed by FCC staff in 2007 and never given full consideration by FCC Commissioners."
CBS is reportedly considering running an ad from gay dating site Mancrunch, FOX News reports:posted by ericb at 9:11 AM on January 28, 2010 [5 favorites]"The 30-second spot shows two men excitedly watching the game, before their hands brush as they both reach into a bowl of chips. Suddenly, the two begin making out, much to the shock of a guy sitting close by. According to a rep for the dating site, which operates under the slogan 'Where Many Many Many Men Come Out to Play,' the ad was submitted on Monday, January 18th. When the site followed up on the status of the ad on Friday, January 22nd, they were told by CBS that 'the spot hadn’t been officially approved yet' by network standards, and that 'all the Super Bowl spots were sold out.' ...It's important to note that the ad from Mancrunch is not an "advocacy" ad by any means, and accepting it would not indicate that they have made good on their word that ads from groups like the UCC would now be accepted.
“ManCrunch requested the spot get reviewed anyway just in case another advertiser drops out and a spot becomes available, as often happens, and CBS agreed,” added the site’s rep. ManCrunch officials said they believe CBS has no intention of airing a commercial for their gay dating service, 'but do not want to officially ‘reject’ the spot out of fear there may be a backlash from gay advocacy groups.' However, a representative from the network told Pop Tarts that advertising spots were still open, and was unsure where that comment originated. 'The ad is still under review, the process takes a little while,' a rep from CBS said. 'We still have a lot of ads we have yet to review.'
Now, if CBS rejected it based on the fact that it contains a gay kiss, that would be an entirely different story, given the fact that a few years years ago they accepted a homophobic ad for Snickers which mocked a gay kiss.
AND THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!
Mancrunch.com officials say they have just received a formal rejection of the ad from CBS.posted by ericb at 1:05 PM on January 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
CBS said in its rejection that the creative "is not within the network's broadcast standards for Super Bowl Sunday." The rejection also said the sales department "has had difficulty verifying your organization's credit status." Mancrunch.com said they offered to pay a cash advance.
"We are very disappointed that in 2010 such discrimination is happening especially given the fact that Focus on the Family is allowed to promote their way of life during the Super Bowl," said Mancrunch.com spokesperson Dominic Friesen. "We're calling on every same sex advocacy group to petition CBS and let them know this discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated."*
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What sucks about this is that commercials are usually the best part of the Super Bowl for me (and I hate commercials).
posted by cjorgensen at 6:55 PM on January 27, 2010