Hi there,

If you think Democracy Now!’s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and authoritarianism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. Today, a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, which means it’ll go 2x as far to support our independent journalism. Democracy Now! is funded by you, and that’s why we’re counting on your donation to keep us going strong. Please give today. Every dollar makes a difference—in fact, gets doubled! Thank you so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Peace Groups Resort to Buying TV and Newspaper Ads to Get Their Message Out: Cable Giant Comcast Charged with Censorship for Rejecting Anti-War Commercial

StoryFebruary 11, 2003
Watch Full Show
Listen
Media Options
Listen

Related

Today we’ve heard about how a federal judge has denied a march permit to New York City peace activists for February 15th. We’ve heard about how over 70 city councils across the country have passed anti-war resolutions. And about a direct action protest this morning in New York City, where activists locked down in front of the entrance to the Holland Tunnel.

Well right now we turn to another form of dissent.

A new protest tactic has emerged in the last months. Peace, civil liberties, and economic justice groups, have begun taking out full-page ads in national newspapers like 'The New York Times.' Just today, the Economic Policy Institute took out a full-page ad headlined: 'Ten Nobel Laureates Say the Bush Tax Cuts are the Wrong Approach.'

Other ads have included:

*Not in Our Name has taken out full page ads in 'The New York Times' and the international edition of 'USA Today,' publishing the Statement of Conscience and its signers.

* Tom Paine has published a famous add with a picture of Osama Bin Laden pointing at the reader in Uncle Sam style. The caption reads: “Uncle oSAMa Says:I Want YOU To Invade Iraq. “Go ahead. Send me a new generation of recruits. Make my day.”

But there are other ads you likely haven’t seen.

On the night of President Bush’s State of the Union, the Princeton-based AntiWar Video Fund attempted to air a 30-second spot in the Washington, D.C. area. But cable giant Comcast rejected the ad because it claimed some of the claims in the commercial were unsubstantiated.

On its website, the AntiWar Video Fund’s web site claimed that Comcast had pinpointed two specific comments as troublesome — that going to war would be “a violation of international law” and that such a war would be run by a “self-appointed group of mercenaries.”

Other groups are using a different tactic to get their message out ­ direct action. This morning a group of peace activists chained themselves together to block traffic entering the Holland Tunnel on the New York side.

Tape:

  • MoveOn.org commercial
  • Win Without War commercial

Guests:

  • Pat Pattillo, associate general secretary and director of communication of the National Council of Churches.
  • Jenny Crumiller, organizer with the Anti-War Video Fund.
  • Brian Sloman, media buyer Spectrum Marketing.
  • Kate Crain, spokesperson for activists who blocked traffic in the Holland Tunnel this morning.

Related links:

Related Story

Web ExclusiveMay 06, 2024Lawsuit by Abu Ghraib Torture Survivors Ends in Mistrial Even as CACI’s Role Made Clear in U.S. Court
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top