Utah station won't air Sheehan
ad
MSNBC/AP
Updated: 2:30 p.m. ET Aug. 21, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah television station is refusing to air an anti-war ad
featuring Cindy Sheehan, whose son's death in Iraq prompted a vigil
outside President Bush's Texas ranch.
The ad began airing on other area stations Saturday, two days before Bush
was scheduled to speak in Salt Lake City to the national convention of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
However, a national sales representative for KTVX, a local ABC affiliate,
rejected the ad in an e-mail to media buyers, writing that it was an
"inappropriate commercial advertisement for Salt Lake City.'
In the ad, Sheehan pleads with Bush for a meeting and accuses him of lying
to the American people about Iraq's development of weapons of mass
destruction and its connection to al-Qaida.
"I love my country. But how many more of our loved ones need to die in
this senseless war?' a weary-looking Sheehan asks in the ad. "I
know you can't bring Casey back. But it's time to admit mistakes
and bring our troops home now.'
Salt Lake City affiliates of NBC, CBS and Fox began running the ad
Saturday.
The ads were bought for Gold Star Families for Peace by Washington,
D.C.-based Fenton Communications, which provided a copy of the e-mail from
station sales representative Jemina Keller.
Station says spot may be ‘offensive'
In a statement Saturday evening explaining its decision, KTVX said that after
viewing the ad, local managers found the content "could very well be
offensive to our community in Utah, which has contributed more than its fair
share of fighting soldiers and suffered significant loss of life in the this
Iraq war.'
Station General Manager David D'Antuono said the decision was not
influenced by the station's owner, Clear Channel Communications Inc.
Celeste Zappala, who with Sheehan co-founded Gold Star Families for Peace,
said she was puzzled by the decision.
"What stunned me was that it was inappropriate to hear this
message,' she said. "How is it that Salt Lake City should hear no
questions about the war?'
The e-mail read: "The viewpoints reflected in the spot are
incompatible with our marketplace and will not be well received by our
viewers.' It added that the spot didn't qualify as an issue
advertisement.
For the ad to have been considered an "issue' advertisement a
ballot measure would have had to be at stake, D'Antuono said.
Mark Wiest, vice president of sales for NBC-affiliated KSL television, said
that in the interest of freedom of speech, his station didn't hesitate to
run the ad. KSL is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
"The bigger picture is, by suppressing the message are we doing what
is right under the First Amendment and in an open democratic society?'
Wiest said.
Bush received nearly 70 percent of the vote last fall in Utah, one of the
most conservative states north of the Bible Belt.
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