IRAK: MEDIA WATCH

New York Times: MTV Refuses Antiwar Commercial

"MTV has refused to accept a commercial opposing a war in Iraq,
citing a policy against advocacy spots that it says protects the
channel from having to run ads from any cash-rich interest group
whose cause may be loathsome. ... 'It is irresponsible for news
organizations not to accept ads that are controversial on serious
issues, assuming they are not scurrilous or in bad taste,' said
Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press,
Politics and Public Policy at Harvard. 'In the world we live in,
with the kind of media concentration we have, the only way that
unpopular beliefs can be aired sometimes is if the monopoly vehicle
agrees to accept an ad.' ... Broadcast operations with blanket
no-advocacy policies include CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting,
along with cable channels like CNN and MTV, a Viacom subsidiary.
The policy at CBS protects the integrity of its news department,
the public discourse and local sensibilities around the country,
said Martin Franks, executive vice president. ... 'On the CBS
television network,' he added, 'we think that informed discussion
comes from our news programming.' "