It is evident that we are entering an era of increased censorship — and perhaps more importantly — fear of censorship. The signs are everywhere.

There has always been a certain amount of self-censorship by fearful broadcasters, who are subject to some measure of government regulation, the views of advertisers and public pressures. However, the election of a more conservative and Republican congress, the reelection of George Bush, and the growing clout of a well-established Christian Right have already added to the worries of the corporate honchos of the news and broadcast media. But the good news is that there are also signs that there is plenty of fight in the forces favoring free expression and media reform.

Frank Rich, writing in The New York Times, noted the trend towards censorship. Among other things, he cited the recent refusal of public television station WNET, Channel 13 in New York City to accept sponsorship from the new film, starring Liam Neeson, about 1950s sex-researcher Alfred Kinsey.

Recently, we have seen CBS and NBC refuse to air ad produced by the United Church of Christ, which said that the church excludes no one and is welcoming to all.

“Too controversial,” said the networks, that had test-marketed the ad on network-owned stations for months without controversy. CBS owned up to the fact that they were afraid of what the White House might think — since the White House is opposed to same sex marriage. There is nothing about same sex marriage in the ad.

The censorship of the ad created a media firestorm, and has been denounced by liberal groups, religious leaders and newspaper columnists — as well as ridiculed by cartoonists. Anyone who has not yet seen the allegedly controversial ad which is running on a number of cable networks, can view it online.

The UCC is now opening another front in the battle with the networks. The church’s Office of Communication is challenging the renewal of the broadcast licenses of CBS station WFOR-TV and NBC station WTVJ-TV in Miami. Citing the censoring the UCC’s ad, the church charged them with “failing to operate in the public interest.” The UCC is asking that over the next few weeks, citizens write“informal objections” to the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that oversees broadcast licenses.

The Office of Communication, the media advocacy arm of the UCC, has a long history of involvement in media reform. For example in the 1960s the church demanded that broadcasters operate in the public interest, and among other things, successfully challenged the broadcast license of WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss, for refusing to broadcast news and information about African Americans. “Who would have guessed that it would one day be our voice that was silenced?” said Rev. Robert Chase, director of the UCC’s communication ministry. “When CBS and NBC refused to air our commercial because they considered it ‘too controversial,’ we found ourselves in the very position as other groups for whom we have historically been advocates.”

The UCC has also asked the increasingly influential blogging community to endorse their campaign. This is already being enthusiastically discussed on the Daily Kos, a major liberal blog site. This campaign could very well enhance the blogging community’s growing reputation as a force with a demonstrated capacity to inform and mobilize public opinion quickly and effectively.