7/16/04 UPDATE: The women of Project Billboard have settled out of court with Clear Channel, and will be paying $299,000 for two altered billboards in two different locations in New York.
7/13/04: A group of prominent Bay Area women and their non-profit, Project Billboard had purchased prime billboard space in New York's Times Square, just in time for the Republican National Convention and November's elections. With a $360,000 price tag for the two-month run, everyone seemed to be happy. Until the women unveiled their "pro-democracy" ad - a bomb draped in the stars and bars, with the simple message "Democracy is best taught by example, not by war." Unfortunately, the women's contract was with infamous media juggernaut Clear Channel - yes, the same Clear Channel that organized pro-war rallies across the country last year after contributing thousands to Bush's presidential campaign. Under the guise of rejecting anything "political", Clear Channel pulled the ad, even nixing an alternate version - a red, white and blue dove. Project Billboard filed a civil suit yesterday, charging Clear Channel with breach of contract. Clear Channel has since countered that it is really the Marriot Hotel, on which the billboard would have hung, that has refused the ad, a privelage outlined in their contract with Clear Channel - a contract that Project Billboard furiously maintains they are only hearing about now, even though Clear Channel rejected their ad as early June 29. Clear Channel has since offered the women space elsewhere in New York, with the stipulation that they remove the words "not by war". Project Billboard has refused and is continuing with its lawsuit.