Today, PZ Myers wrote about a group of atheists in Iowa who put a pretty bland ad on a bus, only to have it yanked by the department of public transportation when some god-bots complained. This comes on the heels of CNN refusing to air ads which were critical of Lou Dobb's support of the Birthers.
I've seen this happen a lot, and it's frankly disturbing. (I do know, and I want to be clear on this, that this is not a first amendment issue. Private actors and all that.) This is almost always a situation where a progressive group wants to air an ad that takes on conservatives, when the network or media outlet finds some excuse to not run the ad. The Swiftboat ads and their brethren, however, not only run with any restrictions, but also inevitably get free air time to discuss the "controversy."
It's especially frustrating since it's such a one-sided affair. I'm sure it has happened at some point that there was a conservative ad that a network or whomever refused to run, but if that has occurred, it has slipped my mind. Yet there are dozens and dozens of liberal ads over which the networks have dug out their "offensive and controversial" policy and nixed.
I'm not suggesting any remedy -- that the advertising media should be forced to run ads they don't like or any other such oppressive solution. But the media (especially news networks) should either be entirely content-neutral (with exceptions for blatantly inappropriate content) or they should be much more even handed in enforcing standards of truthfulness and controversy.
I've seen this happen a lot, and it's frankly disturbing. (I do know, and I want to be clear on this, that this is not a first amendment issue. Private actors and all that.) This is almost always a situation where a progressive group wants to air an ad that takes on conservatives, when the network or media outlet finds some excuse to not run the ad. The Swiftboat ads and their brethren, however, not only run with any restrictions, but also inevitably get free air time to discuss the "controversy."
It's especially frustrating since it's such a one-sided affair. I'm sure it has happened at some point that there was a conservative ad that a network or whomever refused to run, but if that has occurred, it has slipped my mind. Yet there are dozens and dozens of liberal ads over which the networks have dug out their "offensive and controversial" policy and nixed.
I'm not suggesting any remedy -- that the advertising media should be forced to run ads they don't like or any other such oppressive solution. But the media (especially news networks) should either be entirely content-neutral (with exceptions for blatantly inappropriate content) or they should be much more even handed in enforcing standards of truthfulness and controversy.
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