TV Stations Accept Political Ad Cash -- and Leave Viewers in the Dark [View all]

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/09/24-6

Published on Monday, September 24, 2012 by Free Press

TV Stations Accept Political Ad Cash -- and Leave Viewers in the Dark

by Timothy Karr

The political ad invasion is upon us. It’s a toxic mix of half-truths and negativity that’s beaming into homes across the county — especially homes in battleground states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Media analysts project that campaigns, Super PACs and “social welfare” groups will spend a record-breaking $3.3 billion on political ads by Election Day.

For the local stations that air these ads, it’s a political goldmine. But what’s a cash windfall for stations is a nuisance for tens of millions of viewers.

And let’s consider these stations — are they offering any local news coverage to debunk the lies in these ads? Are they exposing the deep-pocketed interests behind the groups buying ad time?

To find out, Free Press took a deeper look at local news coverage in five of the cities — Charlotte, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Milwaukee and Tampa — where ad spending has been highest.

We inspected the political files of stations in these markets, identified the groups most actively placing political ads and pored over hundreds of hours of local news transcripts. In all five of these markets, we found that local newscasts were lacking when it came to covering the ads that dominated their stations.

In other words, they provided no local stories exposing the special interests behind these ads, and only one station among the 20 surveyed devoted even a few minutes to investigating whether these ads told viewers the truth.
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