Court Case Reminds Broadcasters To Take Cease & Desist Requests About Attack Ads Seriously
A recent controversial court of appeals decision on a defamation claim brought by Congressman Devin Nunes sends a signal to broadcasters about the care they need to give to reviewing commercial messages — particularly political attack ads — when questions are raised as to the truth of the assertions made in those ads.
A Republican group is launching a $1 million ad campaign aimed at pressuring Senate Republicans into calling witnesses during the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Republicans for the Rule of Law, a group of anti-Trump conservatives, said the two ads will run nationally on both Fox & Friends on Fox News and Lou Dobbs Tonight on Fox Business every day next week.
What To Do About Attack Ads
As we approach Election Day, the political ads seem to be getting more and more frequent, and often more and more nasty. We provided this overview of what a station should do when it gets an attack ad two years ago, and the ads have not become kinder in the intervening period, so we will publish it again (with a few revisions).
How To Handle Demands To Pull Attack Ads
As we approach Election Day, the political ads seem to be getting more and more frequent, and often more and more nasty. With the rise in the number of attack ads, stations are facing more and more demands from candidates who are being attacked in these ads, asking that the ads be pulled from the airwaves because the content is not truthful or otherwise presents a distorted picture of reality. What do stations do when confronted with these claims?
Almost $70 million of the record $132 million spent so far on negative advertising has been directed at Donald Trump, and the ads appear to be having an effect.
For TV viewers, this cutthroat election year is a riot of attack ads and media saturation made possible by big-money donors. For TV stations, it’s a stimulus package.One research group expects TV political spending to hit a record $3 billion, and the windfall may continue well past Election Day because regular advertisers are getting squeezed out of the schedule and could spend their ad budgets later.
