KCCI.com, IA
02/24/06
Soldier Ad Gets Pulled From TV Station
DES MOINES, Iowa -- New commercials featuring an Iowa senator are getting
pulled from one Minneapolis TV station.
The ABC affiliate station in Minnesota said the ads are false, NewsChannel 8
reported.
The ads by Progress for America are called "Midwest Heroes," and they claim to
tell the real story of success in Iraq.
"Our troops really are making us safer here in America by fighting terrorists in
Iraq," said Lt. Col. David Elwell, who served in Iraq.
They even got help from Iowa Sen. Chuck Larson, who served in Iraq.
But there's one part in the commercial that got it banned from the air on KSTP in
Minneapolis.
"You'd never know it from the news reports, but our enemy in Iraq is al-Qaida,"
the ad says.
"They object because they feel they are indeed covering the war fairly, and they
are reporting on the good things that are being done by our forces over there,"
said Tom Beell, an Iowa State University journalism professor.
Several soldiers feel the media in general are ignoring good stories related to the
military effort in Iraq.
So, Progress For America tried to buy ad time, by showing schools being built
and excited Iraqi voters.
"The majority of the news is about killing and bombing and that's to be
understood because that's a sensational thing to see on television," Elwell said.
He said some stations do better than others.
"We're just there to say that we support the troops, and what they're doing in the
war on terror," Elwell said.
Beell said most media outlets attempt to be fair; he also said the Minnesota
station overreacted.
"I think their viewers will be able to determine whether the station's being fair in
its coverage of the war or not, and a handful of ads isn't going to change their
opinions, I don't think," he said.
Stations often screen ads before deciding whether or not to accept them. At least
two other Minneapolis channels decided the 60-second spots were OK.
Progress for America's representative told NewsChannel 8 that it has not yet
decided whether they are going to run ads in Iowa.
In Minnesota, the group is spending more than $500,000 on ads, in attempts to
reach a large audience.