By John Jalsevac
(To view the ad, go to www.catholicvote.com)
February 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the past number of weeks an extraordinarily popular, life-affirming ad by Catholicvote.com has been making the rounds on the internet, having been viewed 1.6 million times on Youtube alone. However, the makers of the ad are now reporting that CNN has refused to air the ad on its station, making it the second major network to reject the ad and its positive message.
The ad shows an ultrasound of a baby in a womb, while superimposed text explains that during his life the baby’s father will abandon him, and his single mother will struggle to support him. But, “despite the hardships he will endure,” the ad continues. “This child will become the 1st African American President.” The ad concludes with a picture of President Obama and the slogan, “Life. Imagine the Potential.”
Due to its popularity, the ad’s makers had originally sought to have it aired during the Super Bowl on NBC. But the ad was rejected, ostensibly because of its “advocacy.”
In a letter to supporters, Brian Burch from Catholicvote.com, says that following the NBC rejection, “We contacted CNN, thinking their audience contains precisely the type of people we want to reach. Further, given CNN’s track record of running advocacy ads, we were confident we would succeed. Not so.”
Burch reports that after several weeks of repeatedly contacting the network, he has received a letter from CNN, reading: “Thank you for your patience. We have decided to pass on this creative. CNN doesn’t accept advocacy ads that portray personal decisions in a manner that suggests a position in favor of the advocacy message, without having permission of the persons involved.”
Burch, however, says that the excuse is “absurd.” In the first place, he observes, the ad does not in any way suggest that President Obama himself is pro-life. He also points out that CNN has in the past accepted ads that have imputed positions to individuals, without their permission.
In 2005 CNN ran an ad sponsored by the pro-abortion activist organization NARAL, that indicated that Judge Roberts “excused” violence against abortion clinics. FactCheck.org called the ad “false” and described that ad like this: “An abortion-rights group is running an attack ad accusing Supreme Court nominee John Roberts of filing legal papers ‘supporting … a convicted clinic bomber’ and of having an ideology that ‘leads him to excuse violence against other Americans’ It shows images of a bombed clinic in Birmingham, Alabama.”
Burch observed, “CNN is willing to run ads insinuating that a federal judge supports violent criminal activity, but it won’t allow an ad celebrating the potential of all human life, including Barack Obama?”
Burch concluded his letter, saying, “Of course, all is not lost. CNN’s refusal will only create more attention for our ad, which has been widely discussed even among abortion groups like NARAL and nationally-syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman. The ad remains a viral hit on the Internet … We have successfully provoked a national conversation about the gift of every human life—which is why we created the ad to begin with.”
(To view the ad, go to www.catholicvote.com)
To complain, go to: https://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form3.html?2