NBC Refuses To Run Ad Thanking The Troops
They’re claiming it’s “too political.”
NBC said it declined to air the ad because it refers to the group’s Web site, which the network said was too political, not because of the ad’s message…
Alan Wurtzel, NBC’s head of standards and practices, said the network decided not to run the Freedom’s Watch ad because the group insisted that the spot contain the URL address of its Web site.
The Freedom’s Watch Web home page contains links for visitors to demonstrate their support for the troops. It also contains a welcoming message that states: “For too long, conservatives have lacked a permanent political presence to do battle with the radical special interests groups and their left-wing allies in government.”
“We have a policy that prohibits acceptance of advertising that deals with issues of public controversy,” Wurtzel said. “This particular ad, in and of itself, is fine. It thanks the troops for their action overseas. We asked them to eliminate a URL address where a person is asked to contact elected officials and told not to cut and run on the war on terror.”
Here’s the ad:
The “too political” claim seems pretty far-fetched to me, even if they’re talking about the content at Freedom Watch’s URL. And besides, the war isn’t the sort of “controversy” that you’d think media outlets would want to avoid. Accusing Hillary of being a lesbian? Accusing Mitt Romney of being a polygamist? Those things are controversial.
The war? Sure there’s a lot of debate about it, but that’s something Americans live with every day. As long as NBC doesn’t show favoritism to one side or the other of the issue, what’s the problem?
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