Posted on 07/25/2005 7:10:44 PM PDT by CHARLITE
On July 18, CBS/Infinity radio affiliate WTIC AM in Hartford was scheduled to begin airing commercials for an upcoming symposium on terrorism hosted by the Peoples’ Truth Forum (PTF). On July 15, a CBS/Infinity sales representative notified PTF’s president, Jeffrey Epstein, that the ads were being cancelled because of a decision by the legal division. According to Frank Salvato’s WorldNetDaily article, "CBS/Infinity Radio blacks out anti-terror conference," their official statement said, "Too many people might be emotionally affected by the subject matter…It’s too controversial to be aired at this time."
The cancellation was made a week after the first London transportation system bombings. It was the worst possible time to decide that the subject is "too controversial." Since then, there has been an attempt to repeat the London bombings and several bombs exploded in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. Terrorists have increased the frequency of attacks and probably are planning more. This IS THE time to air material about terrorism and national security.
CBS/Infinity cited subject matter rather than content in their official statement. It would be understandable if the network were to be concerned that people would be "emotionally affected" by audio of a beheading for example, but it is highly unlikely that PTF’s commercials contained such material. The advertisement posted on PTF’s website simply listed the date, time, place, speakers and their credentials. The only other text was "The organization’s primary objective is to heighten public awareness with respect to national security. Warmly invited are patriotic Americans who share PTF’s concerns for the future of our nation – especially those interested in learning more about Islamic terrorism and the threat it poses to future generations." That doesn’t sound particularly controversial or emotionally stirring to the average person. Presumably, the radio spots were similar. I believe the reasons for the cancellation were political correctness and what is known as therapism.
The symposium’s title is "The Radical Islamic Threat to World Peace and National Security." CBS/Infinity may have found that title to be politically incorrect and, therefore, "too controversial." Political correctness prevents many from facing the connection between terrorism and an extreme, militant form of Islam. It would be "intolerant" to mention it although al-Qaida has taken credit for attacks and put the world on notice that such attacks are part of a Jihad. Facts are ignored so that no group is singled out and no one’s feelings are hurt. That happens in airport security checks and will probably happen in the New York City subway passenger searches: Young, middle-eastern looking men don’t get a second glance while seven-year old cub scouts, teenaged girls and elderly grandfathers get full searches. Politically correct security measures inconvenience the public, but fail to protect it. Politically correct media coverage entertains the public, but fails to inform it.
Therapism is a worldview in which people are fragile and behavior results from disorders. Therapism’s belief that people are frail, delicate, sensitive creatures who can’t face life without being shielded and/or "treated" is patronizing and ignores personal responsibility. Therapism is prevalent in our educational system in which games with winners and losers "damage self esteem" and the use of red ink for corrections is "stressful." CBS/Infinity’s fear that "Too many people might be emotionally affected by the subject matter" is an example of that worldview. Will therapism prevent behavioral profiling in searches of New York City’s subway passengers? It might be "stressful" for a person to be singled out for a search because he was behaving in a suspicious manner. We wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s self-esteem, would we?
CBS/Infinity shielded the public from possible political incorrectness and an unpleasant topic by canceling PTF’s commercials. We can’t fight terrorism or defend ourselves from it if we pretend it doesn’t exist. Terrorism is a matter of national security that needs our continued attention. When we hide our heads in the sand, our backsides make great targets.
Char
once again cbs shows which side of the war they are on(as if there was ever any doubt)
"Too many people might be emotionally affected by the subject matter...It’s too controversial to be aired at this time."
In other news, more American soldiers we're killed by the insurgency today...
Once again the Communist Broadcast System shows which side of the fence they prefer.
A lot of non profits use high ticket fees to events as a means of generating revenue.
Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
Although you'll notice that they don't worry about hurting anyone's feelings or offending anyone when they write stories about "Christian" Identity, or "The Covenant, the Arm and the Sword".
Where's the Aquatruf club?
I've been to the Aquaturf club - good food, nice place - is this one new??
(Sorry, I just hate sloppy proofreading, but not on my own posts, of course)
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