Earth Equity News

Pickens' and News Networks Tussle about Latest Ad. By Steve McClellan, Reuters, August 28, 2008. "Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens doesn't take no for an answer. At least he didn't when NBC -- and sibling cable networks CNBC and MSNBC -- apparently rejected his latest ad stating the case for the U.S. to decrease its dependence on foreign oil... 'The ad is not acceptable... because the spots address controversial issues... You have not established to our satisfaction that there is a reasonable basis for the claim that we are not doing a thing here,' NBC wrote in rejecting the ad... Pickens and his team were puzzled because all the previous ads they placed... were at least equally controversial... The letter sent to NBC on Pickens' behalf by the Washington law firm Patton Boggs and dated August 27 charged the network with 'selectively applying the First Amendment and denying your viewers access to information that is important to their education and understanding...' In a statement issued Wednesday evening after approving the ad, NBC said: 'We have been airing seven of the eight advertisements that were submitted for broadcast by T. Boone Pickens. As we were in the process of clearing the eighth, Mr. Pickens released his statement prematurely.'"