This is a strange story that's been brewing over the past week. Apparently, CBS refused to accept and air an ad from the United Church of Christ (UCC). NBC announced that "Because the commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, 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."

This link will take you to a story summarizing some the details and includes a link to the ad. This is a link to AmericaBlog which includes copies of the official denial from CBS. It also shows that the negotiations for airing this ad had been ongoing for ten months. Here is a quote from that AmericaBlog link that sums up a least one problem with the rationalization by CBS:

3. The second sentence from CBS "Because this commercial..." seems to be suggesting that because the Bush administration is opposed to civil rights for lots of different people, then ANY pro civil rights or pro-equality/inclusion message about any minority groups in America is "current" and "controversial" and thus CBS will no longer run ads promoting anything positive about blacks, gays, or people with disabilities, among other groups.

And more generally, CBS is saying that all the Bush administration has to do is make an issue controversial by talking about it, and CBS will pull the ad, becausea then, per se, the ad is about a controversial current issue. Think about that. CBS just gave the Bush administration absolute veto power over ANY AD the network ever runs. If the Bushies don't like an ad by a company that gives more money to Dems, they can complain about that company and its products, thus making that company part of the "current controversy" and the ad gets yanked.