:: adgruntie :: Absolute bullflop

+ CBS & NBC claim all-inclusive United Church of Christ ad is "too controversial." The ad shows very very briefly, two men holding hands who are denied entrance to a church. If this is what the controversy is all about then this is very sad indeed.

Ronnquist said she feels as though Americans are losing the freedom of the press.

"The media is now owned by the Bush administration," she said, referring to President Bush’s call for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

According to wire service Knight Ridder, spokespersons for both CBS and NBC cited long-standing policies against accepting what is known as issue advertising.

The church received a written explanation from CBS, which said the ad is unacceptable because it challenges the exclusion of minorities by other institutions and because "the executive branch (the Bush administration) has recently proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman," according to Knight Ridder.

Now that *is* disturbing. There is nothing in the ad that claims that these two men are "married" or in any kind of civil union. Just because they are holding hands??? Give me a fucking break here. If the stations want to claim it is "issue advertising" (whatever that means- since it seems to be a very loosely defined thing and easily open to the stations individual interpretations at least of late), then let it be that. The fact that they go on to say that it has to do with the same-sex marriage issue is appalling.

The ad will air on less moronic stations with a mix of broadcast and cable networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land. Good for them.

If you want to see the ad, it can be viewed at stillspeaking.com.