Re: Gubernatorial lawsuit

[Dan Billings <billingsdan@yahoo.com>]

The rule is a station does not have to provide equal
time if the coverage is part of legitimate news
programming.  In the past, the networks got around the
issue by covering debates sponsored by other
organizations.  By doing this, the networks were
covering a news event and not directly providing the
time.  I'm not sure if there are court cases that have
set this line or not.

In Maine, the stations almost always allow all the
candidates on the ballot.  This year, there is an
Independent candidate who has raised less than $20,000
for his campaign and is likely to get less than 5
percent of the vote.  He's in the debates, but I'm not
sure what public interest is served by it.  In Maine,
the Green Party is a major party and their
gubernatorial candidate qualified for nearly $1
million in public financing so there is no reason not
to include him.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine

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