TV Stations Won’t Back Down from Political Ad File Proposal
TV stations didn’t back down from their political ad file proposal, envisioning putting online some but not all information in that part of the public inspection file now kept on paper at broadcaster studios. Lawyers for the 11 owners of 200-plus stations that made an alternative proposal to what’s in a rulemaking notice answered Media Bureau staffers’ questions last week on whether they'd amend the plan. The broadcasters are willing to provide some additional information than what they proposed last month, though not as much as nonprofit groups that seek more disclosure want or as much as the rulemaking sought (CD March 2 p7).
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The bureau continues working on an order to require at least some of campaign TV spot spending data to go online, and is working to address industry concerns that also have drawn the attention of Commissioner Robert McDowell, agency and industry officials said. Chairman Julius Genachowski appears to want a 3-0 vote if possible on an eventual order requiring much of what’s in public inspection files to be available on the Internet, industry officials said. A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment.
One possible hurdle to a unanimous vote is McDowell, who has repeatedly said he thinks what the commission proposed in October is too onerous, communications lawyers watching the proceeding noted. Unclear to them is the extent to which Genachowski is willing to compromise to get a 3-0 vote. It may take the bureau a little while longer to figure out how to proceed, a broadcast lawyer said. “The commission recognizes the importance of getting the public files -- and especially the political files -- online in advance of the general election,” said Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright of Free Press. “I think there is a very good chance that the FCC will make these rules operative in the near term.” Genachowski had committed in October, when the rulemaking was approved over McDowell’s partial concurrence, that the rules would take effect in spring (CD Oct 27 p7).
The 11 companies will post online the “total amount of money spent on behalf of each candidate” at a station, the broadcasters said in response to questions from bureau staff. The companies don’t “support the substantial additional reporting burdens of aggregating spot purchases for each type of spot, particularly given that this information is not required by the Commission’s existing rules and that there appears to be no reasonable justification for this additional information,” said an ex parte filing Thursday on a meeting with Chief Bill Lake and other front-office bureau officials. Asked by the staffers if the group would support listing “information about the office for which the candidate is running, the name of the buyer, and the name of the candidate,” lawyers for Barrington, Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps, Gannett, Hearst TV, Meredith Corp., the Washington Post Co. and the others said “yes.”
Because a “one-size-fits-all format would be too inflexible and potentially burdensome, expensive, and intrusive,” the broadcasters won’t agree to post political commercial information in a “format prescribed by the FCC,” the filing said. Nonprofit groups such as Free Press and the New America Foundation want to eventually have standardized information, making it easier for researchers to compare data among stations. The broadcasters said they won’t agree to give the commission the information for online posting, instead of also having the option of putting it on their sites. The “statutory framework enacted by Congress for online posting does not support stations having to post on the FCC’s website political ad information under discussion, and they advised the Media Bureau that they would not support such a proposal,” the filing said. Public interest groups want fcc.gov to be the repository for such data, as the rulemaking proposed.
The broadcasters won’t update campaign ad data as frequently as nonprofits have sought. Groups like the Campaign Legal Center have said the data ought to be refreshed daily right before elections (CD Feb 17 p5). The 11 companies would post information twice in the last week before an election, “provided that stations would not be required to make such postings over the weekend, when the personnel and financial burdens of such postings would be more acute,” the filing said (http://xrl.us/bmyfos). “They continue to believe that their proposal reasonably balances concerns about burdens on stations with the desire for transparency.” When stations don’t have to charge candidates the lowest unit cost for spots, “the requested information would be posted online once a month,” the filing said. LUCs cover ads aired shortly before elections.
Free Press called “without merit” NAB’s concerns (CD March 12 p3) that campaign finance law limits online reporting of ad spending to the Federal Election Commission. “Congress has afforded the FCC broad recordkeeping authority, particularly with regard to broadcast licensees,” the nonprofit said (http://xrl.us/bmyfe3). The rulemaking is “consistent with the FCC’s statutory mandate,” the group reported officials told an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, in a filing posted to docket 00-168 Thursday, the same day and place where the broadcaster filing appeared. The rulemaking “directly promotes Congress’s goal of making publicly accessible important information about how stations are serving the public interest and how they are selling airtime to candidates and issue advocacy groups,” Free Press said.