MoveOn.org
February
18, 2004
Dear
MoveOn member,
After
CBS rejected our Super Bowl ad, they accepted a White House advocacy ad
about the controversial Medicare bill. When we told you about it, you made
over 50,000 calls and emails. Those efforts paid off on Friday when CBS
pulled the ad, stating that "It violated our longstanding policy on
advocacy advertising."
ABC,
NBC, and Fox have the same policy, yet they're still airing the White
House's Medicare advocacy ad. Tell them they must pull the Medicare spot
or allow both sides to be heard:
ABC
(818) 460-7477
NBC
(212) 664-4444
Fox
(310) 369-1000
Then
help us keep track of this huge number of calls, at:
http://www.moveon.org/medicare_ads.html?id=2354-1494579-SRxbPqwBrwI9o84kG4DC4Q
The
decision at CBS closely followed an announcement from Congress' General
Accounting Office that it will "examine whether the $9.5 million in
ads, airing on network and cable television through March, constitute
political propaganda, rather than neutral public education about the new
law," according to the Washington Post.
Indeed,
the ads include no educational content, only assurances seniors will save
on prescriptions. According to the non-partisan Consumers Union, publisher
of Consumer Reports, most seniors will pay more for their prescriptions
when the law is enacted than they do today.
Even
the conservative National Taxpayers Union has called on the Bush
administration to withdraw the ad, saying it seemed to be "an
election-year ploy rather than a genuine public service
announcement."
The
media firm responsible for placing the Medicare ads will also coordinate
advertising for the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. Critics are
demanding information on whether the Bush administration opened the
multi-million dollar contract to competitive bidding.
ABC,
NBC, and Fox need to act according to their own policy on advocacy ads:
either they don't allow them or they allow all views on the controversial
Medicare bill to be seen by the American public.
Thank
you for making a call today, and for all that you do.
Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
MoveOn.org Voter Fund
February 18th, 2004
P.S.
Read about CBS' decision to pull the White House's Medicare ad, at:
"CBS
Pulls Advertisement on Medicare Prepared by Administration," by
Robert Pear
New York Times,
February 14, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/politics/14MEDI.html
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