Media giant Clear Channel is reneging on a deal with a Berkeley-based organization, Project Billboard, to put up a peace sign in Times Square, New York. Clear Channel, which has ties to the Bush administration, rejected the ad calling it "distasteful" and "politically charged."
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The sign showed a picture of a bomb with lighted fuse decorated in Stars and Stripes. The caption underneath reads "Democracy is best taught by example, not by war." The billboard was to be mounted on the facade of the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

In a lawsuit filed in New York federal court this week, the Berkeley-based organization Project Billboard is saying Clear Channel breached a $368,000 contract to put up the peace sign during the Republican National Convention in August.

Clear Channel Outdoor, the division that controls the company's billboard leasing, rejected the ad, calling it "distasteful" and "politically charged."

Clear Channel's corporate leadership has a history of political activism on behalf of Republicans. Tom Hicks, a major shareholder and former member of the company's board, purchased the Texas Rangers from George W. Bush in 1998 and contributed to his campaigns. Company employees have given $382,000 to Republicans in the current election cycle. This according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The company has previously been accused of using its media outlets to assist the GOP. Some company radio stations banned the Dixie Chicks from their programming after the group's lead singer, Natalie Maines, criticized Bush. Shock-jock Howard Stern accused Clear Channel of dropping his show in retaliation for anti-Bush rhetoric.