Earlier this week, the Campaign Legal Center and Issue One, two political “watchdog” organizations, filed FCC complaints against two Atlanta TV stations, WPCH and WSB, alleging violations of the rules that govern the documents that need to be placed into a station’s public inspection file regarding political “issue advertising.”
WCPO Hit With Complaint Over Issue Ad IDs
The Campaign Legal Center reiterates its charge that many stations are not complying with rules to make available online information about their political advertising, including who is paying for the spots. It adds the Scripps-owned Cincinnati ABC affiliate to its earlier list and urges the FCC to move before the election “to ensure transparency in our electoral system and to protect voters’ right to know by whom they are being persuaded.”
WJLA Hit With Political Ad Complaint
The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation filed a complaint at the FCC alleging violations of long-standing rules and law by Sinclair ABC affiliate WJLA Washington. The complaint claims that WJLA continues to refuse to disclose the “true identity” of the sponsor of political ads being run by NextGen Climate Action Committee and asks for expedited action given that Election Day is just a few weeks away.
The Campaign Legal Center and the Sunlight Foundation tell the FCC that 11 stations have violated disclosure rules, including failure to identify candidates referred to in the ads, the issue of national importance to which the ad refers and the CEO or board of the advertiser.
