wfn.org | ELCA Communication Officer, Others, Respond To TV Ad Rejection

[NEWS@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 3, 2004

ELCA Communication Officer, Others, Respond To TV Ad Rejection
04-230-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In the wake of the CBS and NBC television networks'
refusal to air an advertisement from the United Church of Christ (UCC),
communication officers from several religious denominations and
organizations decried the "arbitrary standards of the network gatekeepers"
that kept the ad from being broadcast.
     In a Dec. 3 public statement issued through the Communications
Commission of the National Council of Churches USA, the communication
leaders complained that the "for-profit" broadcasters "are all too willing
to promulgate messages laced with sexual innuendo, greed, violence and the
politics of personal destruction, but a message of openness and welcome
that merely says 'church doors are open to all' is being silenced as too
controversial."
     The Rev. Eric C. Shafer, director of the Department for Communication
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was among those who
signed on to the statement.  The ELCA and the UCC share a relationship of
"full communion," in which the churches agree to engage in cooperative
ministries and, under certain circumstances, clergy from one church body
may serve in a congregation of the other church.
     The ad, part of the UCC's new identity campaign that began airing
nationwide Dec. 1, stated that -- as Jesus did -- the United Church of
Christ (UCC) seeks to welcome all people, regardless of ability, age,
race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation.
      CBS-TV and NBC-TV rejected the UCC ad, saying its all-inclusive
welcome was "too controversial."  In a written explanation, CBS-TV said it
declined to air the ad because it implied acceptance of gay and lesbian
couples among other minority constituencies.
     "Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and
other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," read an
explanation from CBS-TV, "and the fact the Executive Branch has recently
proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between
a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and
UPN] networks."
     Similarly, a rejection by NBC declared the spot "too controversial."
     The ad has been accepted and is airing on several networks including
ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS,
TNT, Travel and TV Land.
     "Church doors are open to all who would come; but broadcast channels
are increasingly closed to all but the wealthy and well-connected," the
religion communication leaders said in their statement. The UCC did not
ask the networks for free time to air the message, the communication
leaders' statement said.  The church was willing to "pay dearly" for the
privilege to air the spot on the networks, it said.
     The communication leaders noted that there is plenty of advocacy
advertising on television for agribusinesses, drug manufacturers, gambling
casinos, oil companies and some government agencies.
     "Are only the ideas and attitudes of faith groups now off limits?"
the communication leaders asked. "Constitutional guarantees of religious
liberty and freedom of speech, not to mention common fairness, beg for
leadership by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assure that
America's faith community has full and equal access to the nation's
airwaves, to deliver positive messages that seek to build and enrich the
quality of life."
     In focus groups and test market research conducted before the
campaign's national rollout, the UCC found that many people throughout the
country felt alienated by churches. The television ad is geared toward
those people who, for whatever reason, have not felt welcomed or
comfortable in a congregation, according to a UCC news release.
     "We find it disturbing that the networks in question seem to have no
problem exploiting gay persons through mindless comedies or titillating
dramas, but when it comes to a church's loving welcome of committed gay
couples, that's where they draw the line," says the Rev. Robert Chase,
director of the UCC's communication ministry.
     The UCC has nearly 6,000 congregations and 1.3 million members. Its
national office is in Cleveland.
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     The United Church of Christ maintains a site at http://www.ucc.org on
the Web.

     The ad rejected by the broadcast networks can be viewed online at
http://www.stillspeaking.com on the Web.

     The communication leaders' statement will be posted at
www.ncccusa.org/about/comcomadvocacy.html on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news