CBS has rejected an advertisement about radical-Islam's threat to peace on the grounds that the subject is "too controversial" and "too emotional."
Executives at CBS refused to run an advertisement on WTIC-AM in Hartford, Conn., for an upcoming symposium called “The Radical-Islamist Threat to World Peace and National Security” sponsored by The People’s Truth Forum.
The ad was scheduled to begin airing today, July 18, on WTIC-AM, but last week controversy began brewing.
The ad by the non-partisan fact-based organization aims to educate Americans on controversial topics of national security, says Jeffrey Epstein, president of People’s Truth Forum.
According to Epstein, he received notice from the local WTIC-AM station that the corporate office felt the message was "issue" related and that the agreement was being kicked up to CBS's legal department for a final decision.
Late last week Epstein said he receieved a call from a WTIC sales representative telling him that CBS had retracted the ad agreement. According to Epstein, CBS's official statement was: "Too many people might be emotionally affected by the subject matter - it's too controversial to be aired at this time."
HUMAN EVENTS contacted WTIC-AM and confirmed that the ad indeed was rejected because it was deemed "too controversial" and "too emotional."
“It’s hypocritical to say that an ad for a symposium that would present fact over fiction regarding Islamist terror would emotionally affect people, when the coverage they’re running regarding the Museum of Tolerance- that’s ripping families apart from the survivors- and those that lost relatives in 9/11 does not?” Epstein told HUMAN EVENTS.
In an email to Human Events, Epstein wrote: "CBS is blocking a potent message from being disseminated to both our citizenry and the region’s first responders (law enforcement agencies and firefighters) who would benefit from being in attendance."
Epstein believes that the decision not to run the ad was a “total political agenda on their behalf,” and says that WTIC-AM was ready to run the advertisement until CBS weighed in, calling the ad “issue-related,” despite several endorsements from congressmen and senators.
Among the congressional supporters is Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who wrote in an endorsement for the symposium, “I find it deeply troubling the very nature of the threat that seeks to destroy our way of life is not being discussed among major decision makers in Washington.”
