I've seen six diaries and dozens of blog posts and news stories on the announcement that CBS will be broadcasting an ad produced by Focus on the Family during the Superbowl in February. The citation for that "fact," in every instance, has been a press release from...Focus on the Family. Funny thing about that press release, though: it doesn't say CBS has agreed to run the ad. Given CBS's decade's long policy that "contentious policy matters are best left exclusively to its news division," is it possible we are being played?
If I were FotF, here's what I would do:
Step 1: produce an advertisement on a contentious policy matter.
Step 2: announce that FotF will be running the ad during the Superbowl.
Step 3: watch the lazy media transcribe our press release, thus establishing the "fact" that CBS has accepted the ad.
Step 4: watch the liberal blogosphere call CBS out for hypocrisy.
Step 5: Watch all the 24-hour news networks play our "ad" for free while covering the "controversy"
I'm guessing CBS will not accept the ad. That gives FotF a bonus step 6: giving the right-wing yet another example not only of the "liberal media's" bias against Christians, but of their persecution at the hands of the liberal blogs. Both of which will be viewed as justifying another round of inteviews for James Dobson on all the cable shows.
Masterful, really.
While I wholeheartedly agree it would be the height of hypocrisy to accept the FotF ad while rejected the UCCs ad (on the ground that the subject was controversial), why do I have the sinking feeling that we are all being played?