That will change in 2010. CBS has approved an ad from evangelical group Focus on the Family
that will feature college football star Tim Tebow and his mother.
Though the topic of the ad has not been confirmed, it is widely
believed to be a pro-life spot: Tebow's mother was advised by doctors
to abort him during pregnancy and decided not to.
CBS' decision to air the ad has enraged liberal pundits. Five years ago, CBS rejected a similarly controversial ad from the United Church of Christ. The network may have been motivated solely by the $2.8 million Focus on the Family paid for the spot. But liberal bloggers still charge a double standard. Think Progress' Amanda Terkel points to several liberal spots that were turned down by CBS in the past for violating the network's policy banning advocacy ads. "In 2004, CBS rejected MoveOn.org’s 30-second ad about President Bush, which Salon called 'a low-key attack on Bush's fiscal irresponsibility' that’s unlikely to make anyone very angry,'" she writes.
CBS' decision to air the ad has enraged liberal pundits. Five years ago, CBS rejected a similarly controversial ad from the United Church of Christ. The network may have been motivated solely by the $2.8 million Focus on the Family paid for the spot. But liberal bloggers still charge a double standard. Think Progress' Amanda Terkel points to several liberal spots that were turned down by CBS in the past for violating the network's policy banning advocacy ads. "In 2004, CBS rejected MoveOn.org’s 30-second ad about President Bush, which Salon called 'a low-key attack on Bush's fiscal irresponsibility' that’s unlikely to make anyone very angry,'" she writes.
- "Super Bowl of Hypocrisy" At Firedoglake, Attaturk echoes Terkel's remarks and adds Tebow's celebrity may have swayed the network. "CBS is apparently going to have no problem allowing an anti-choice ad from Tim Tebow (ironically, a Brett Favre-like object of a media man crush — except imagine Brett Favre as a proselytizing bible-thumper, yeah it’s that horrific)."
- How's This Not Controversial? Change.org's Michael Jones focuses on Focus on the Family's stance on gay rights, and contrasts it to that of the UCC. "Sounds like CBS is employing a double standard here, telling a pro-LGBT Church that their advertisement is too risque, but telling a rabidly right-wing religious group that they can run their advertisement right smack in the middle of the most watched television program of the year. Twice."
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