Two open government advocacy groups have filed complaints with the FCC against 11 stations over allegedly failing to disclose certain information about their political ads, TVNewsCheck reports:
They are WDIV Detroit (Post-Newsweek), KNXV Phoenix (Scripps), WTVJ Miami (NBC), WMUR Boston (Hearst), WFLA Tampa (Media General), WTVT Tampa (Fox), WWJ Detroit (CBS), KMGH Denver (Scripps), WCNC Charlotte, N.C. (Gannett), KMSP Minneapolis (Fox) and WTVD Raleigh-Durham, N.C. (ABC).
The groups — the Campaign Legal Center and the Sunlight Foundation — accused most of the stations of multiple infractions, 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.
Advertisement“These complaints may lift the curtain on why the National Association of Broadcasters has fought so hard against putting the political files online,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center in a prepared statement.