Somewhat relevant to the free-thinking spirit of old time feelies, we have this story:
While a narrator describes the church as open to all, "no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey," the camera shows brief shots of people representing that diversity, including two women, one with her arm around the other. The ad can be viewed on the Web at www.stillspeaking.com
It is this depiction of a gay couple that appears to have created the bulk of the controversy. In a statement posted on its Web site, the United Church of Christ quoted what it said is CBS's written rejection of the spot:
"Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," the church quotes CBS as writing, "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." berkshireeagle.com
Well there you go. Vaguely related :
But there's another, more insidious game being played as well. The F.C.C. and the family values crusaders alike are cooking their numbers. The first empirical evidence was provided this month by Jeff Jarvis, a former TV Guide critic turned blogger. He had the ingenious idea of filing a Freedom of Information Act request to see the actual viewer complaints that drove the F.C.C. to threaten Fox and its affiliates with the largest indecency fine to date - $1.2 million for the sins of a now-defunct reality program called "Married by America." Though the F.C.C. had cited 159 public complaints in its legal case against Fox, the documents obtained by Mr. Jarvis showed that there were actually only 90 complaints, written by 23 individuals. Of those 23, all but 2 were identical repetitions of a form letter posted by the Parents Television Council. In other words, the total of actual, discrete complaints about "Married by America" was 3. ( from nytimes.com )
Duck and cover, as they say. |
