Detroit Free Press notes pro-Granholm ads controversy

A bit of coverage from the Detroit Free Press in a follow-up to the story I broke on the blogosphere about the Catholic Times/Catholic Weekly:

Catholic weeklies catch static for ads

You can't blame Mark Myczkowiak for looking forward to Nov. 8.

Myczkowiak is the general manager of a pair of Catholic publications: Catholic Weekly and Catholic Times.

He finds himself in the middle of the abortion controversy in the waning days of the election season because of ads placed on behalf of a Catholic candidate who does not share the church views on the subject.

That would be Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was denounced by the conservative Catholic group Fidelis of Michigan on Thursday for advertising in a publication authorized by a church with which she is at odds. [click here for that text.]

Myczkowiak said Friday the publications had to accept the ads to preserve tax exempt status.

Granholm's ad, sponsored by the state Democratic Party, doesn't mention her position on abortion or other life issues, focusing instead of government assistance to the needy.

Myczkowiak said he's had more complaints from Catholic Democrats about publishing ads from Republican challenger Dick DeVos than about Granholm. But there's still time. Both candidates, along with Right to Life of Michigan, have political ads running in the final pre-election issue

My reaction:

Myczkowiak, from my understanding of the law, is not correct in saying that he "had to accept the ads to preserve tax exempt status." He just would have had to give up his DeVos ads as well (like the Michigan Catholic does). That said, he still could have placed the pro-Granholm ad in a less prominent location than page 2 of the Saginaw and Gaylord versions. In the Lansing version, for instance, the Granholm ad was relegated farther back in the issue while page 2 featured an ad comparing the two candidates on various life issues.

Finally, "Myczkowiak said he's had more complaints from Catholic Democrats about publishing ads from Republican challenger Dick DeVos than about Granholm."

But what legitimate reason could Catholic democrats have for protesting the publication of DeVos ads? Or does Myczkowiak just think this is a numbers game? Isn't the more valid argument the one that I outlined, namely, that a Catholic newspaper should not allow a pro-abortion (and pro-homosexual "marriage") candidate to deceive its readers for the intention of splitting the Catholic vote?

In any case, from reading the article, it is apparent that Myczkowiak has chosen to continue running Granholm ads up until the election, and that is very dissapointing to me.