Turning CBS into PBS

Liberal political advocacy group MoveOn.org has charged CBS Television and parent Viacom with political favoritism after the network agreed to run a White House anti-drug ad during the Super Bowl but has rejected the group’s 30-second spot. - Sandy Brown

CBS is said to have refused to run MoveOn’s winning ad, citing its policy not to run commercials dealing “with controversial issues of public importance.” CBS will instead run ads from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy — apparently an issue of public importance that is not controversial. Who would of thought an ad criticizing a $1 trillion deficit was more “controversial” than an ad about the war on drugs? Here’s what the true libertarians have been saying for a long time — the biggest reason to worry about concentrated media in a world where media is regulated is exactly this. - Larry Lessig

I’d suggest this event is of particular utility within the context of undergraduate classes (political science, media studies and communication, journalism, what have you). I have occasionally been surprised by the broad espousal of “American” models of private media control (and the unquestioned assumption that those who have sufficient financial backing will be heard) by students in my classes. Perhaps an organized airing during class of “the funded advertisement you will NOT see” during the Superbowl (available here), just prior to the Superbowl, would be almost as potent a disruption of this All-American institution as the advertisement itself? - Lane DeNicola

I go through this every two years. Basically, ABC, CBS and NBC don’t accept advocacy ads (cable and local stations often do). So when some group gets its ad rejected by ABC, CBS or NBC, it cries foul and political bias and censorship. But everyone in the issues realm is basically shut out. Whether that’s a good policy or not is another question. - Howard Kurtz

What the hell? If we were talking libertarianism, then we’d be looking to deregulate media and let media companies merge to their hearts’ content. And in a world without regulation, then a network could turn down commercials at its whim because there’s nobody other the the marketplace to whom it should answer. And in this big-media consolidation world, there are, oh, about 200 other channels where MoveOn could peddle its cant. Mind you, I think CBS’ refusal of the ad was way wrong, but that’s not because of big-media consolidation, it’s because some executive at CBS had his head up his ass. - Jeff Jarvis

Links in this entry:

Post a comment

TrackBack URL for this entry:

November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003

Turning CBS into PBS

altermedia news u.s.a. » free speech: missing in america.

Those darned liberal media!

<BIG>C</BIG>an't <BIG>B</BIG>e <BIG>S</BIG>hown

This page which contains an entry consisting of 435 words and 6 paragraphs was generated in 57.09 seconds.