President:
Denise Woods

Vice President:
Mary Lohman

Exec. Secretary:
Guy Marentettte

Rec. Secretary:
Andrea Conti

Treasurer:
Bobbie Carper

Assistant Treasurer:
Robert Gippin

Members-at-Large:
Nancy Clem
Sherrie Weitzenhoff
Frank Kunstel

Communications:
Ingrid Kunstel

Issues & Education:
Steve Cochran

Leadership Development:
John Cross

October 11, 2008

TRUTH BRIGADE

URGE ABC TO AIR AL GORE’S AD

ACTION AND CONTACT

Contact ABC by completing an on-line form sponsored by Al Gore’s We Campaign to re-power America.  Click here to go to the form.

DESCRIPTION

MEDIA -- AFTER AIRING ADS FOR BIG OIL, ABC REFUSES TO AIR WE CAMPAIGN AD: Since September, Al Gore's We Campaign has been running its "Repower America" television ad that criticizes the "hundreds of millions of dollars" that big oil spends on lobbyists and ads to keep Americans "stuck with dirty and expensive energy." Not surprisingly, coverage of the presidential race by the corporate media has been fueled by ad revenue from the hydrocarbon industry. For example, CNN's coverage is sponsored by the coal industry, while CBS is sponsored by Exxon Mobil. Following Tuesday's presidential debate, ABC aired one of Chevron's greenwashing "Human Energy" ads, but has so far refused to air the We Campaign's "Repower America" ad. ABC claimed in a statement to the We Campaign, "Per our Guidelines, national buildings may be used in advertising provided the depictions are incidental to the advertiser's promotion of the product or service. Given the messages and themes of this commercial, the image of the Capital building is not incidental to this advertising." The offending section of the ad shows the words "Big Oil spends hundreds of millions to block clean energy" superimposed over a photo of the U.S. Capital dome. Cathy Zoi, CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection responded by urging supporters to ask ABC to reconsider its decision.