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Friday,
January 30, 2004
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CBS
wrong to deny PETA ad
The
Other View
This
staff editorial is from the Daily Orange of Syracuse University.
CBS,
like any organization that depends on profit to survive,
must look out for the bottom line. But when that line
involves outright censoring of an issue-based ad, free
speech problems can rear their ugly heads.
As a major media outlet, CBS is a custodian of the freedom
of speech in this country. Though its role as such is
not a codified legal obligation, the sheer power and influence
the network has on the minds of millions of viewers in
the U.S. and elsewhere must also come with a certain amount
of responsibility to the institution upon which American
democracy thrives and grows: free speech.
Therefore, the network's recent decision to bar a Super
Bowl ad from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
involving a lighthearted gag equating pepperoni pizza
with impotence comes off as unfair.
CBS policy states they do not permit advocacy ads from
those with "undue influence on controversial issues
of public importance." Presumably, this is to protect
the network from any ideological differences and subsequent
revenue loss from those advertisers and viewers who disagree
with such a position, but if the effect is to stifle the
fairly innocuous message of PETA, it is flawed.
This is not so with liberal Web site MoveOn.org's anti-Bush
ad, the winner of their "Bush in 30 Seconds"
contest. The network is well within its rights to refuse
it airtime, since it clearly and unequivocally fits into
their decade-old policy on these sorts of advertisements.
The issue addressed here is clearly a "controversial
issue of public importance," and could affect the
loyalty of viewers and advertisers, especially during
the Super Bowl, as the nation looks on.
Whether or not one agrees with MoveOn's political message
is not the issue. Quite simply, CBS's decision on the
MoveOn ad is reasonable. |
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