Letter to KSTP - Re: Refusal to Run Ads
Posted by Andy on February 17th, 2006
Dear KSTP,
I am appalled at your station’s decision to refuse the ads from Midwest Heroes & Progress for America. But I am even more appalled as to why.
From Your own letter to Progress for America - ( The reason that KSTP-TV management decided not to air the recent :60 commercial for Progress for America were the lines, “that the media only reports the bad news”, and “you would never know it from the news reports but the enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda.” )
Then your station has the gall to suggest the group edit their ads to fit your particular agenda or you won’t air them. That is censorship. This group shouldn’t have to cater its message to your selective requests like yours. Quite frankly I expected so much more from KSTP, which, as a news provider, is supposed to simply provide Minnesotans with information, not prejudge and censor what we hear.
This leads to a few questions about your station’s credibility when it comes to the free flow of information.
- How often do you turn down advertisers?
- And for what reasons?
- I’d like to see some examples of ads you refused to air in the past.
- Do you have a list of criteria for ads, or is this a case of someone’s personal objection to the ad?
- How often do you decide what is news and what is not?
- Is it common place at your station to refuse ad time to people critical of media coverage?
- I am led to believe that quite possibly your station might have a history of keeping information from Minnesotans.
- What other conclusion should I draw if you decide to take this current stance with this Patriotic group of Veterans and Military families?
- Especially when your main complaint is that they are critical of the media.
For crying out loud, do you really think that these men and women in these ads haven’t earned the right to question the media coverage of the war, when they see something totally different on the TV here at home, from what they saw with their own eyes in Iraq?
I look forward to hearing more information as to exactly why your station decided against allowing these Veterans and Military families to tell their side of the story on the air. With the coming onslaught of political ads Minnesota will soon be facing, from both sides of the political spectrum, Minnesotans deserve to know what exactly what your station’s criteria for censoring political speech is.
That way we will be able to decide what is true and what is not. We won’t have to hope you have made the decision for us already, with out us even knowing it.
Sincerely,
Andy Aplikowski
February 17th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Amen.
February 17th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
I have sent off letters to KSTP, Pat Kessler (at CCO) and the the DFL party themselves. When I get home from work, I will send the KARE11 letter.
February 17th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
The face of the Left…
In Minnesota, where “Give us this day our daily Strib” is the extent of religious training in many households, the Left is attacking the Midwest Heroes commercials as “propaganda.” Worse, they are claiming the message of the ads is “misleading.”…
February 17th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Can we remember as far back as two years ago?
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Jonathan Darman
Newsweek
Updated: 6:08 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2004
Jan. 30 - Kickoff isn’t until Sunday, but across the broad expanses of the Internet, the Super Bowl is already a hotly contested game. It’s not the Patriots-Panthers matchup that’s causing controversy. Instead, the great struggle of this year’s Super Bowl is being waged over a short advertisement—a 30-second spot with few words, none of them spoken aloud. It’s an ad underwritten by the grass-roots political organization Moveon.org criticizing the ballooning budget deficit under George W. Bush. Thanks to CBS, the network that refuses to air it during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast, it is an ad that no one will see.
February 17th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Do billboards count as political speech?
Antiwar Group Says Its Ad Is Rejected
By Raymond Hernandez and Andrea Elliot, the New York Times
12 July 2004
A group of antiwar advocates is accusing Clear Channel Communications, one of the nation’s largest media companies, with close ties to national Republicans, of preventing the group from displaying a Times Square billboard critical of the war in Iraq.
The billboard - an image of a red, white and blue bomb with the words “Democracy Is Best Taught by Example, Not by War” - was supposed to go up next month, the antiwar group said, and it was to be in place when Republicans from across the country gathered in New York City to nominate President Bush for a second term.
But members of the group, Project Billboard, contend that Clear Channel backed out of a leasing agreement last month that the two had reached in December for the billboard site, on the Marriott Marquis Hotel at Broadway and 45th Street.
February 17th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
How about stifling religious freedoms?
United Church of Christ
Barb Powell, press contact
(216) 736-2175
For immediate release
Nov. 30, 2004
CBS, NBC refuse to air church’s television advertisement
United Church of Christ ad highlighting Jesus’ extravagant welcome called
‘too controversial’
CLEVELAND — The CBS and NBC television networks are refusing to run a
30-second television ad from the United Church of Christ because its
all-inclusive welcome has been deemed “too controversial.”
The ad, part of the denomination’s new, broad identity campaign set to
begin airing nationwide on Dec. 1, states that — like Jesus — the United
Church of Christ (UCC) seeks to welcome all people, regardless of ability,
age, race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation.
According to a written explanation from CBS, the United Church of Christ is
being denied network access because its ad implies acceptance of gay and
lesbian couples — among other minority constituencies — and is,
therefore, too “controversial.”
February 17th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
It ain’t the ad it self. It’s the fact that they won’t run it because the ad says that the media is not telling you the truth. They gave no judgement of the rest of ad’s content.
February 18th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
So if they’d rejected it on ideological grounds, you’d be okay with that? You’re just upset because they’re being defensive?
February 22nd, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Well at least if KSTP came out against the ad because of ideological reasons they could lay all their cards on the table face-up. And I don’t think your other examples hold a candle of similarity to the valor of the families and soldiers in the Midwest Heroes ads.
We could postulate for days on why CBS and Clear Channel refused to run the ads and billboard you mention. But these companies are major corporations with a great deal at stake. And at stake are not merely the paychecks of wealthy executives, but the jobs of thousands of Americans across the country. Thus, in respect for their employees, alienating millions of viewers/listeners is not in these firms best interest.
But who does KSTP alienate by airing these ads? Do they think people would judge these ads as absolute gospel and refuse to watch KSTP’s news because the ads are obviously solely talking about KSTP? I have more faith in the people of Minnesota to realize that they are not singling out KSTP.
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