Re: Local Political Coverage

[Dave Faneuf <tklaundry@juno.com>]

On Sun, 2 Sep 2001 12:06:39 -0400 (EDT) <umar@nerodia.wcrb.com> writes:
>
> I, on the other hand, don't believe there should be *any* special 
> rules
> governing political advertising. If a station doesn't want to do 
> business
> with politicians it shouldn't be required to, and it should be free 
> to
> charge whatever it would charge any other advertiser under the
> circumstances.

The problem is there are special rules for SOME political candidates,
stations are required to accept ads from candidates running for FEDERAL
offices,I believe if you are going to have that rule for one type of
candidate you need to have it for all.  As for stations charging whatever
they want, it's okay by me, why should someone who decideds to run for
office get a break on prime air time?

> 
> By the way, I notice that 73.1944 ("Reasonable access") under 
> Subpart H
> ("Rules applicable to all broadcast stations") does not exempt
> non-commercial stations from the requirement to allow access by 
> candidates
> for Federal office. Is there something I'm missing, or could Cheryl
> Jacques walk into WGBH Tuesday morning and demand (presumably, free) 
> time?

Actually using Cheryl Jacques as an example brought a smile to my face. 
She and Bill Galvin are the most agressive candidates (announced or
unannounced) using broadcast air time via newscasts!

df

>