CNN Reverses Self on Group’s Ads

CNN reversed itself Thursday and said it would air an industry lobbying group’s commercials opposing a potential global warming treaty, a week after abruptly yanking them off the air.

The Global Climate Information Project must first correct the ads or substantiate some questionable claims, CNN spokesman Steve Haworth said.

CNN’s switch came on the same day the group of chemical, automobile and oil lobbyists, who paid for the commercials, ran a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal urging the network’s corporate parent not to “be a party to censorship.”

The ads, which already ran on CNN for several weeks, warn that proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions could sharply raise prices of gasoline and other goods. In ordering them pulled, CNN cited questions about their accuracy and a policy of not allowing advocacy ads when an issue is attracting significant news attention.