Recently in Censorship Category

The US military plans to spend more taxpayer money in an effort to influence media coverage on Iraq. The Washington Post reports that the military command in Baghdad has issued a request for bid on a two-year, $20 million public relations contract.

Apparently the incumbent PR firm, the Rendon Group, isn't doing a good enough job.

There is a concern that existing media coverage does not adequately present the official perspective on events in the Middle East. And apparently Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is none too happy about that. As the statement of work asserts,

Therefore, it is essential to the success of the new Iraqi government and the Coalition mission that both communicate effectively with our strategic audiences (i.e., Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international, and U.S. audiences) to gain widespread acceptance of their core themes and messages.

The successful contractor will be tasked with providing

the full range of strategic communication, media relations, communication research, and public relations services required to meet Coalition mission, monitoring and reporting Arabic and Western print and electronic media, including gathering raw data, analyzing and reporting effectiveness of communication programs, developing and staffing communication plans, developing and providing public relations products, and identifying methods for applying products to improve MNF-I’s mission performance.

The services provided by the contractor(s) have a core objective…engage and inspire targeted audiences.

The project is expected to require a team of 12-18 PR professionals, who will monitor US and international news sources and develop "product placement" that supports the Bush administration's "core themes and messages" on Iraq. Product placement will include preparing press releases, developing talking points and FAQs, writing op eds for publication, providing media training to officers, etc.

The worse things get on the ground, the more the administration spends ramping up the propaganda machine. And with with that machine in full force, the specter of media intimidation and censorship cannot be far behind.

As the Washington Post reports,

The monitors are to analyze stories to determine the "dissemination of key themes and messages" along with whether the "tone" is positive, neutral or negative. The media outlets would be monitored for how they present coalition or anti-Iraqi force operations.

What will happen to those outlets who are perceived to be too negative in tone or not sufficiently appreciative of the administration's "core themes and messages"?

This weekend's news provided two examples highlighting the conflict conservative religious academic institutions face when confronted with issues related to academic and journalistic freedom.

The University of Notre Dame will continue to allow controversial arts programs—including a GLBT film festival and performances of 'The Vagina Monologues'—on campus in spite of the fact that they may be construed as contradicting the Roman Catholic church's teachings on sexuality.

Although university president Rev. John I. Jenkins had earlier questioned the appropriateness of allowing events such as 'The Vagina Monologues' to be performed on campus, after listening to students and faculty he admitted that there was "no reason to prohibit performances" and that student discussions of the play were "serious and informed." He added,

"I am very determined that we not suppress speech on this campus. I am also determined that we never suppress or neglect the Gospel that inspired this university ...

"If I didn't learn anything from all this, ... I'd be very disappointed and surprised. What I learned was we do really need to find ways to advance discussion about issues that have to with women."

Kudos to Notre Dame for common sense and a mature approach to academic inquiry and free speech. While Notre Dame is within its rights as a private institution to determine what views and values might be sanctioned within its walls, it recognizes that the gospel and free speech perhaps need each other to flourish, and that one does not need to be championed at the expense of the other.

Not so at North Central University, a Twin Cities campus operated by the Assemblies of God, a conservative Pentecostal denomination. The university's administration was apparently upset over the April 4 issue of the student newspaper 'Northern Light', which included coverage of the Soulforce Equality Ride and an op-ed piece critical of the denomination's teaching concerning 'speaking in tongues'...

'Outrageous' is the word that immediately comes to mind.

Breaking News: "Viacom, NBC-owned cable channels become next to reject UCC's ads"

Now a bunch of cable networks owned by NBC and Viacom have rejected the UCC ad: USA, Telemundo, Nick@Night, TV Land, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Bravo and even the gay oriented LOGO network! Independently owned Discovery and Univision have aslo decided not to run it.

Reasons provided include that the ad takes "a position on controversial issues or may be deemed as disparaging to another religion" or is of a "political nature".

Funny how the commercial and cable networks will run ads from the Swift Boat Veterans or the Mormon Church. Funny how some of these networks run religious programming that is disparaging of virtually all religions and viewpoints other than conservative fundamentalism. Funny how these networks will give unlimited time on their Sunday morning boradcasts to representatives of right wing religious organizations with extreme political viewpoints...

Funny how the cable networks will run comedy programming with liberal references to negative stereotypes of 'fags', 'wetbacks', 'niggas' and Scientologists and endless vulgar references to every imaginable body function... Yes Comedy Central, I'm referring to you. How can the network that runs The Daily Show, Chapelle's Show, Mind of Mencia and Southpark (all of which I enjoy, by the way) reject something as wholesome as a humorous UCC ad on the grounds that it is too political or controversial?

Here's what UCC representative Ron Buford had to say today about the networks' "heartbreaking" rejection:

"This is `sorry, cable trouble' all over again," said Buford, who is African American, harkening back to the 1950s when some television stations refused to run network news that positively portrayed the Civil Rights Movement.

"There could not be a more concrete example of what happens when our media is in the hands of a few corporate elites who simply don't agree with you. They can simply turn you off. Click, goodbye," said Buford, who insists that the UCC's commercials are neither "political" nor "advocacy," but a sincere attempt by the church to address the oft-ignored feelings of rejection and alienation that many people say they have experienced from organized religion.

Oh, this makes my blood boil. Hat tip to the UCC's Chuck Currie again, writing this time on Street Prophets. 

The so-called 'liberal' television media has banned inclusive religious advertising, again. The United Church of Christ's new ad, scheduled to air on cable starting April 3, will not be screened on ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX due to those networks' position that such advertising constitutes controversial issues advocacy.

The new 30-second 'Ejector Pew' ad features several people — a black woman, a gay couple, a Middle Eastern man, an elderly man in a walker — who are ejected from their church pews at the press of a button. This is followed by a voiceover which says, "God doesn't reject people, neither do we."

What a remarkable world we live in, when the American Family Association or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints can run ads on network TV, but a mainline church cannot — because its message of welcome is considered too controversial or political. Considering the filth and smut that gets passed off on FOX as news and entertainment, this is absurd in the extreme.

Or as the UCC asks, "Mainline churches should be silent while right-wing extremists get to speak their mind? Do you care?"

Some related links:

• Chuck Currie - UCC seminarian and blogger
• UCC To Networks: Stop Playing Favorites
• Are Christians Being Silenced? How about the United Church of Christ?