Free Press: Political Spots Would ‘Pollute' Public Broadcasting John Eggerton Multichannel News
4/13/2012 9:21:00 AM http://www.multichannel.com/article/483116-Free_Press_Political_Spots_Would_Pollute_Public_Broadcasting.php Noncommercial TV and radio stations, most of which have been hit hard in the pledge department by the down economy, now have the potential to rake in millions from political ads a federal appeals court has freed them to accept. That is just what Free Press is afraid of. "Polluting public broadcasting with misleading and negative political ads is not in keeping with the original vision of noncommercial broadcasting," said Free Press President Craig Aaron. "And it's certainly not the solution to funding public media." "At a time when people are turning to public broadcasting to get away from the flood of nasty attack ads, viewers don't want to see Sesame Street being brought to them by shadowy Super PACs," he said. "APTS is currently reviewing the Ninth Circuit opinion on this case and its ramifications for public television stations," said the Association of Public Television Stations in a statement. "We will comment after a full review." Noncoms can currently air funding credits, which have morphed from names and logos to mini-plugs, and can air ads so long as they are not paid for them, or paid ads for nonprofits, but they have been barred from carrying commercial spots or political or issue ads. The Ninth Circuit Thursday ruled that while the commercial spot was still in the government interest of preserving the niche nature of public broadcasting, the political speech restriction was not. The National Association of Broadcasters has yet to weigh in on the potential new competition for ads from the partially government-funded medium. It was reviewing the decision late Thursday. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
