Tired of sleazy political ads? They are unlikely to go away. But Ohio voters had a brief moment of relief last year when more than a score of local TV stations exercised a rarely used authority and pulled down a loathsome ad that had pirated content from a rival ad, reversed its message and misled the public.
The stations were able to take the action because the federal law guaranteeing that a candidate can air any message, however mendacious, in the name of free speech does not apply to third parties that place political ads. These groups — including the “super PACs” now inundating the primaries’ airwaves — can be challenged by local stations to either prove their ads’ accuracy or be denied airtime.
In this case, a woman’s praise of Cincinnati firefighters for saving the life of her great-granddaughter was part of her message opposing limits on collective bargaining for public employees. The offending third-party group showed the woman’s tribute. But it slyly deleted her clearly stated opposition, adding “she’s right,” but then urging passage, not defeat of the limits.
Since then, no television stations in Ohio or anywhere else have reported pulling down ads. But to encourage more truth in political advertising, the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania has a campaign — “Stand by Your Ad” on Flackcheck.org — urging voters to complain to their local TV stations when they believe they are being lied to in third-party ads. The Web site posts examples of egregious ads and the e-mail addresses of the people running the relevant stations.
TV stations’ responsibility to the public is also at the heart of a proposal being considered by the Federal Communications Commission. It would require stations to post on a central Web site which groups are buying how many ads for how much money. This is no substitute for the full disclosure mandate that Congress is denying voters, but it would be a welcome start.