To the editor:
This letter is in reference to the ongoing issue concerning the network CBS and its refusal to air advocacy ads during the Super Bowl. The First Amendment doesn’t mean a whole lot if people are denied access to the airwaves. CBS has a constitutional obligation to air opposing points of view. It’s the American way.
CBS is claiming that an ad from MoveOn.org, called "Child’s Pay," is too controversial; meanwhile, CBS will be airing an ad sponsored by the White House on this year’s Super Bowl. Previous ads in this series have implied that buying drugs funds terrorism, a much more controversial claim than the one "Child’s Pay" makes. CBS claims that it has a policy against running controversial issue ads. But the only line in the whole ad is a fact: President Bush has created a $1 trillion deficit. In fact, according to numbers released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office yesterday, that number is low. One has to suspect that CBS would rather protect it’s own interests than to air the opinions of the American people.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that a recent bill was custom tailored to CBS and Fox, which have been lobbying heavily to be able to grow larger. MoveOn and other groups have lobbied against this bill. Now the White House is allowed to run an ad, and groups like MoveOn Voter Fund are not. It is not hard to see that CBS is being bias in it’s decision to refuse air time for the MoveOn ad. In order to protect the First Amendment we as a country must frown upon political bias in the media. I feel CBS is acting in an unethical manner concerning the issue.
Jessica Fajardo
Jamesburg
