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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Court Rules In Favor Of Allowing Political Ads On Public Television

The public airwaves are about to get inundated by corporate political ads. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down an FCC ban on political advertising on public TV and radio stations – arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment. Originally the ban was imposed to protect the educational nature of public broadcasting stations – keeping the airwaves free from advertising for goods and services and issue advocacy. But as Judge Carlos Bea wrote in his ruling, "Public issue and political speech in particular are at the very core of the First Amendment's protection." This is essentially the same reasoning that the Supreme Court used to give corporations unlimited power to spend as much money as they'd like in our elections. So now – when you listen to NPR expect a wave of corporate ads pushing to repeal Obamacare, expand fracking, and cut down Wall Street regulations. The public airwaves are about to become Karl Rove's litter box. This could also mean the death of investigative journalism – as more and more public media outlets become beholden to corporate sponsors and decide not to bite the hand that feeds them. Our public TV and radio airwaves are just the latest portion of our commons to be hijacked by corporations that are solely interested in boosting their profits rather than providing for the common good. Stay tuned.

5 comments:

  1. If they want to accept political advertising, then they will have enough $$$ to survive without any taxpayer support!

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  2. Public tv has never been anything but politically biased. This just proves the point and makes it official propaganda.

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  3. They have "almost" ads now. With political ads they will lose this viewer and, right, we will not need to donate any more.

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  4. Investigative journalism?...On Public Broadcasting?? Get real.
    Public Broadcasting is the Liberal bastion of Leftist propaganda supported by the tax payer. On the other hand conservative talk radio presents a conservative view point..supported by voluntary paid advertising...

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  5. Guess i won't listen or contribute anymore.

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