CNN, NPR to refuse ads for ‘Death’

CNN and National Public Radio said they won’t accept ads for the controversial film “Death of a President,” about the fictional assassination of President Bush.

CNN told the movie’s distributor, Newmarket Films, in an e-mail Tuesday that it “has decided not to take the ads because of the extreme nature of the movie’s subject matter.”

An NPR spokeswoman said it refused to run sponsorship announcements on behalf of “Death of a President” because the film would likely generate significant controversy, causing NPR to cover the film as a news story, which would create confusion among its listeners.

Newmarket co-founder Chris Ball said, “To refuse to accept ads for a movie is tantamount to saying it shouldn’t be seen, and this runs counter to everything we are supposed to believe in as a free society.”