Political Ads Blog Posts
Public Interest Groups to FCC: Don’t Gamble with the Public Interest
Less than a week before the Federal Communications Commission is set to vote on a proposal that would transform public access to information about political ad spending, it seems the agency may be on the verge of caving to industry pressure. Two out of three FCC commissioners have expressed openness to a broadcast industry counter proposal to segregate information about individual political ads, keeping that information offline and locked in dusty file cabinets.
Court OKs Political Ads on NPR and PBS
Sounds like an Onion headline, but it’s not. Yesterday a U.S. appeals court struck down a ban on political advertising on public TV and radio stations. That means your local NPR and PBS stations could start airing all those nasty attack ads that clog up the airwaves in an election year.
Distortions, Manipulations and Lies: Oh My!
It might be hard to believe, but sometimes political ads are chock full of distortions, manipulations and boldfaced lies.
But every once in a while a broadcaster shows some muscle and pulls a dishonest ad.
That’s what happened last fall when an anti-collective bargaining measure was on the ballot in Ohio. Marlene Quinn, whose great-granddaughter had nearly perished in a fire, appeared in an ad produced by pro-labor group We Are Ohio. “If not for the firefighters, we wouldn’t have our Zoey today,” Quinn said in the ad. “That’s why it is so important to vote no on Issue 2. Issue 2 makes it illegal to negotiate for enough firefighters to do their job.”
The Public's Right to Know
In the media reform world, we often say we’re fighting for “better” media. Of course, “better” is the sort of word that begs comparison: better than what? If we’re to demand more of our local broadcasters, we need to know what’s wrong with the status quo.
Broadcasters use the public airwaves free of charge, and in return are supposed to provide programming that fulfills the news and information needs of communities. The Federal Communications Commission requires broadcasters to keep public files detailing exactly how they serve local needs. But these records are generally kept in file cabinets at local TV stations and are not easily accessible. So the pressure is on for broadcasters to put these files online in a publicly searchable database.
Change the Channels
Check out the interactive map to see consolidating newsrooms near you.
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