Should Metro ads be censored? I vote no

October 29, 9:08 AMDC Transportation ExaminerKatherine M. Hill

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Fallout 3 cover and poster. A screenshot of a transit
station is at the bottom of this post.

Fallout 3, a post-apocalyptic action game from Rockville-based Bethesda Softworks, hit store shelves yesterday amidst a firestorm of Metro-based controversy.

This is the kind of story where I look like a jerk: I saw the ads in New York and thought, “Those billboard seem wildly inappropriate.” It’s the same way I felt about Cloverfield’s posters and general plot, and I am Legend’s move from California to New York (I’m also furious that the film didn’t follow the plot of the novel).

The posters (see right) made me feel uncomfortable. I felt better when the advertisements were far out of sight. I was glad I hadn’t been faced with it every day in DC.

But apparently other riders haven’t been as lucky and the advertisements in the city have caused a firestorm of backlash and controversy, as the ads have been place in Metro Center for an extended period of time. I make an effort to avoid Metro Center, and when it can’t be avoided, I make a blind run for my swiftly leaving train.

While out of town I missed the letter to the editor in The Washington Post (requires log-in) from resident Joseph Anzalone. Anzalone calls the ads inappropriate, and says that residents don’t need a reminder that the nation’s capital could be the target of an attack. And he asks for WMATA to police ads, which, despite inner conflicts, is where I vehemently disagree: 

The ads should be removed, and the appropriate office at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority should be directed to exercise better judgment regarding what can be displayed in our transportation system. 

In an occasionally uptight, frustratingly serious city like DC, it’s implausible that Anzalone is alone. The video game blogs seem okay, but the other bloggers do not; there is no mistake in assuming that everyone is furious. Residents are entitled to feel uncomfortable; I did in New York, and I question the strategic placement of these ads. But I don’t think it’s worth the controversy, and I think it’s better to dwell in making DC a better place for its residents than continuously worry about a terrorist attack. Worry prevents us from living our lives and moving forward; it keeps us from living productive lives and making the world a better place. 

I don’t think it’s WMATA’s job to police advertisements in the interest of taste or protecting the feelings of riders. (I also disagree with the findings of New York Times Co. v Sullivan, which found that a publican can be held responsible for its ads.) There are ads in stations and in cars that I find more tacky and offensive (or just plain weird) than the call to arms, fear for your life missives from Fallout 3. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that New York’s MTA could not block bus ads it did not approve of as it violated rights of free speech (does anyone think this conflicts with the aforementioned 1964 ruling?) The ruling opens a new can of worm then, as to whether these ads constitute as free speech, which, in the face of the question, I find the answer is always yes. (Anzalone wrote that the ads don’t qualify as free speech.) …Which brings me back to the argument that just because it’s not good or appropriate, or, we simply don’t like it, doesn’t mean it can’t be around.

The commercial speech doctrine clearly states that advertisements which don't contain false or misleading messages are completely protected under the First Amendment.          

The ads I find questionable—pandering to poorer riders for “legal aide,” patronizing language, scams, sexist, racist and classist imagery—are in every stop and adorn buses for every line. They are a question of moral integrity, yet draw no ire; only mine, and when I’m ready to hit the post button I stop. These ads, despite their tacky existence, have a right to exist. It’s too bad that they are not the source of controversy with the same frequency as the advertisements for Fallout 3.