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Unfortunately, I've heard that TV and radio stations are legally required to run campaign ads. Many times, campaigns are so underfunded that they have difficulty paying for the air time, but legally, the TV and radio stations have to run them. Many years ago, WGN-AM here in Chicagoland tried to refuse political advertising in which the ads were less than five minutes long; the powers that be wanted voters to have sufficient information on a candidate on which to base an informed decision at the polls, and a thirty-second spot on the air doesn't provide voters with enough information to make such an informed decision. WGN's decision ended up in court, and a judge forced that station to air the thirty-second spots. That decision essentially forced stations to run those annoying, distorted spots.
In 1996, someone forced a number of stations to run a pro-life ad (what some understand to be an anti-abortion ad) containing graphic pictures of abortions, under the guise of calling that ad a campaign ad. I don't know if such manipulation is legal now, ten years later, but somehow, that advertiser was able to manipulate things to get the ad aired during campaign season. As it stood, that ad was very controversial; had it not been labeled a campaign ad, most of the stations to which it was offered would have refused to air it due to its graphic content. It wasn't even aired in edited form on news broadcasts under the guise of reporting the news (as is the case with other controversial campaign ads).
posted by
kidnykid
on November 7, 2006 at 7:37 AM
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