Faith-based communicators react to nixing of church ad Dec. 6, 2004 NEW
YORK (UMNS) – A nationwide group of faith-based communicators has added
their voice to challenge the refusal of the CBS and NBC television
networks to air a message from the United Church of Christ. The
statement, drafted by Communication Commission of the National Council
of Churches USA, calls the networks actions “arbitrary” and contrary to
the principals of freedom of speech and equal access to media. The
two networks have refused to run the commercial because the
all-inclusive message “implies acceptance of gay and lesbian couples,”
according to the United Church of Christ. The
ad states that — “like Jesus” — the United Church of Christ seeks to
welcome all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic
circumstance or sexual orientation. The ad has been accepted and will
air on a number of networks including ABC Family, AMC, BET, CNN,
Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land. The
United Church of Christ made public a statement it said it received
from CBS. “Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay
couples and other minority groups by other individuals and
organizations, and the fact that the executive branch has recently
proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union
between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on
the (CBS and UPN) networks.”
News reports quoted an NBC
statement that the ad “violated our longstanding policy against
accepting ads dealing with issues of public controversy.” ABC said it
would air the advertisement on its ABC Family cable channel but not on
its broadcast network. “This
is not about gays and lesbians; this is about the constitutional rights
of a responsible organization to exercise the freedom to speak on a
medium licensed to serve the public interest,” said the Rev. Larry
Hollon, top executive with United Methodist Communications, the
denomination’s communication agency. “This
decision calls attention to the reality that, for self-serving reasons,
corporations in control of major media are in a position to filter and
even block the legitimate speech by responsible voices,” Hollon said. The
National Council of Churches, founded in 1950, is the leading force for
ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC’s
36 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and Living
Peace member denominations include 45 million people in more than
100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation. The
statement from the Communication Commission of the National Council of
Churches USA follows: “The
controversial issue here is not the content of the ad, but the
arbitrary standards of the network gatekeepers. Church doors are open to
all who would come; but broadcast channels are increasingly closed to
all but the wealthy and well-connected. “It
is important to note that the broadcast networks are not being asked to
give free time to the United Church of Christ to express its message --
the church is ready to pay dearly for that privilege, even though the
networks do not pay for their highly profitable use of the broadcast
spectrum. “The
Federal Communications Commission, in giving free access to the
public’s airwaves to commercial corporations--with virtually no strings
attached--has handed them powerful control over America’s media “public
square.” The for-profit keepers of that square are all too willing
to promulgate messages laced with sexual innuendo, greed, violence, and
the politics of personal destruction, but a message of openness and
welcome that merely says ‘church doors are open to all’ is being
silenced as too controversial! “Advocacy
advertising abounds on TV: agribusinesses, drug manufacturers, gambling
casinos, oil companies, even some government agencies regularly expose
viewers to messages advocating their products and programs, in the
interest of shaping public attitudes and building support for their
points of view. “Are
only the ideas and attitudes of faith groups now off limits?
Constitutional guarantees of religious liberty and freedom of speech,
not to mention common fairness, beg for leadership by the FCC to assure
that America's faith community has full and equal access to the nation's
airwaves, to deliver positive messages that seek to build and enrich
the quality of life.” Initial signers include the following: Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., president, National Council of Churches USA (Shreveport, La.)
Wesley M. Pattillo, associate general secretary for communication, National Council of Churches USA (New York, N.Y.)
Fr. Bernard R. (Bob) Bonnot, Roman Catholic author, producer (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Sr. Maureen Fiedler, SL, Ph.D., Host, Interfaith Voices (Washington, D.C.)
Jo Bales Gallagher, National Training Center for Resource Center Directors (Richmond, Va.)
Daniel Gangler, director of communications, Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Mike Hickox, director of communications, New England Conference of United Methodist Church (Lawrence, Mass.)
Larry Hollon, general secretary, United Methodist Communications (Nashville, Tenn.)
Vince Isner, director, FaithfulAmerica.org (Washington, D.C.)
N. J. L’Heureux, Jr., executive director, Queens Federation of Churches (Richmond Hill, N.Y.)
Kermit Netteburg, Seventh-day Adventist Church (Silver Spring, Md.)
John L. Peterson, communication director, The Interfaith Alliance (Washington D.C.)
David W. Reid, publisher, Vital Theology (Fort Collins, Colo.)
Eric C. Shafer, director for communication, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Chicago, Ill.)
Louis C. (Skip) Schueddig, president, The Episcopal Media Center (Atlanta, Ga.)
Nikki Stephanopoulos, director, News and Information, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (New York, N.Y.)
Shirley W. Struchen, executive director, Religion Communicators Council (New York, N.Y.)
Jerry L. Van Marter, news director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Louisville, Ky.)
William C. Winslow, retired communications officer, United Church of Christ (New York, N.Y.) Additional signers will be listed on the Commission’s website, www.ncccusa.org/about/comcomadvocacy.html News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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