PRESS RELEAE
May 1, 2012, 6:06 p.m. EDT
DISH-Network refuses to run advocacy ad in L.A. market targeting Hershey Company over its rejection of a 13-year-old boy for enrollment at the Milton Hershey School due to his HIV-positive status; TV network states it has contracts with the agency representing Hershey as well as other networks that Hershey advertises on and it would be a conflict of interest to run an anti--Hershey campaign
LOS ANGELES, May 01, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --AIDS advocates will continue to press Hershey Company--which funds the school--to denounce the discrimination and facilitate the boy's enrollment at the school
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), today criticized the DISH Television Network over its refusal to broadcast a 30 second paid television advertisement in the Los Angeles market that was produced by AHF and targets the Hershey Company over a high profile case of AIDS discrimination at the prestigious, Hershey-funded Milton Hershey School. The television spot, which was to start running on stations on the DISH Network in the Los Angeles market May 1st, was rejected by DISH executives who stated they have contracts with the agency that represents Hershey as well as with other networks that Hershey advertises on and it would be a conflict of interest to run an anti--Hershey campaign.
"We are extremely disappointed that DISH Television censored a paid television advocacy ad in which AHF speaks out against the Hershey Company over HIV/AIDS discrimination at the Hershey School," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Technically, as a satellite broadcaster, DISH may have a bit more cover than a traditional broadcaster regarding infringing on our free speech rights under the first amendment; however, it is ironic that we specifically sought to place this spot through DISH on stations like MSNBC, which are filled with policy programs and serious talk shows whose bread and butter is lively debate and discussion about many controversial issues and topics. We think it is cowardly of DISH to block our message as they have."
In rejecting the spot, DISH officials also noted that they would have to apply a 'Controversial Issues' filter to the TV spot, a move which would block it from almost every network they air, based on the restriction documents DISH receives from the programmers. DISH officials also added that even on the networks that technically allow this type of content, they would risk receiving subscriber complaints.
Background on Hershey School AIDS Discrimination
The Milton Hershey School--a boarding school for low-income students funded by the Hershey Company--recently rejected the boy for admission citing his HIV-positive status as the reason, misguidedly calling him a "direct threat to the health and safety of others." AHF has also launched a website www.EndHIVStigma.org where the public can learn more about the case, learn the facts about HIV/AIDS and send e-letters to three Hershey Company board members who also sit on the board of the Milton Hershey School Trust, urging them to denounce the discrimination and facilitate the boy's admission into the school.
According to the Associated Press (claim:Hershey School Rejects HIV-Positive Pa. Boy)(claim:By Peter Jackson)(claim:12/1/11): "A private boarding school connected with the Hershey chocolate company says it was trying to protect other students when it denied admission to a Philadelphia-area teenager because he is HIV-positive. The AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on behalf of the unidentified boy in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Wednesday, claiming the Milton Hershey School for disadvantaged students violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. School officials acknowledged that the 13-year-old boy was denied admission because of his medical condition. They said they believed it was necessary to protect the health and safety of the 1,850 others enrolled in the residential institution, which serves children in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade and where students live in homes with 10 to 12 others."
Ryan White was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana who, in the mid-1980s, was expelled from middle school because he was HIV-positive. A lengthy legal battle with the school ensued and White became a galvanizing force in educating the country about HIV & AIDS at a time when misinformation about the disease was widespread. After his death in 1990, the U.S. Congress passed a major piece of legislation named in his honor, the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs for low-income American.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 166,000 individuals in 25 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org
SOURCE: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
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