On June 2, 2003, the Federal Communications Commission by a 3-2 vote (3 Bush appointees, one of which is Commissioner Michael Powell, the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell), and with the White House’s endorsement, swept aside checks and balances developed over six decades. A series of bills, threatened vetoes, court orders, lobbying, secret meetings, votes, and broken promises ensued, resulting in the passage of the change of rules by Congress as 24 lines in the middle of the huge omnibus spending bill that passed January 22, 2004.
The two companies which benefited most from the final version of the rule changes are Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, and Viacom, which owns CBS.
Two weeks ago, CBS refused to air a 30-sec ad from liberal online activist group MoveOn.org during today’s Super Bowl.
According to Boston Globe,
"MoveOn.org's 30-second ad, which has aired on CNN, is a gentle yet powerful depiction of how hard today's children will have to work to pay off the country's mounting deficit.”
28 members of the House of Representatives wrote a letter to CBS which stated,
"The choice not to run this paid advertisement appears to be part of a disturbing pattern on CBS's part to bow to the wishes of the Republican National Committee.”
Or vice versa. The Bush 2000 campaign received $1,070,728 from media companies, more than any single campaign in history. But . . .
YOU CAN STILL SEE THE AD! During the Super Bowl half time show, at 8:10 and 8:35pm EST, switch over to CNN to watch the ad CBS won’t air.
- February 1, 2004
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