Media For Democracy
Take Action! Demand Truth in Political Advertising
The political mud season has descended upon us as a withering array of attack ads are slated for broadcast on local TV affiliates.
The Bush reelection campaign kicked off the effort with the release in mid-March of ads that portrayed Senator John Kerry as a "flip-flopping" politician who is both "weak on defense" and intent upon raising taxes "by at least $900 billion" -- a figure that the Bush campaign later could not verify.
Kerry's camp shot back with an ad that faults the Republican spots for "misleading America," and rebuts the president's tax claim against Kerry without going into specifics.
One problem: many of the ads are untrue. And we expect to see more misleading attacks in the media as the campaigns go negative.
Joshua Micah Marshall of "Talking Points Memo" suspects that the campaigns are telling lies to voters because they underestimate our intelligence and ability to see the truth: "They've got funds to run the ads. And they figure people's memories are short and the press is too lazy or stupid to call them on it."
We at Media for Democracy demand better. Voters can't rely upon combative political campaigns to tell them the truth. Mainstream news reporters must step into the breach to separate political truth from fiction.
Join Media for Democracy in a new initiative to demand that local newscasters devote more airtime to examining political ads that play in their markets, and report innacurate ads to their viewers.
Take 15 minutes to write a letter telling the anchors and news directors at your local station to expose misleading attack ads. Here's how:
1. Identify the names and addresses of your local broadcast news directors by typing in your zip code at <http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/> http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/ and clicking "GO".
2. Draft a letter that's brief, courteous and to the point. Specifically, Media for Democracy is asking that local newscasters devote more airtime to a thorough examination of deceptive political ads. We also ask that they expose ads that mislead or lie to voters. Many ads already being aired have been proven to contain misleading information. It's, therefore, incumbent upon the news stations to provide their viewers with reports that sort truth from fiction.
3. It helps to illustrate your point by mentioning misleading ads that the station is already broadcasting.
4. Be sure to include your name, address, and phone number when submitting your letter. If they decide to read your letter on the air they will want to verify authorship.
5. After you have sent your letter (via email, fax or post) to newscasters, let us know about it. Paste a copy of the letter into the space provided below and submit it to Media for Democracy. We will track responses from local stations.
Thank you.
Elizabeth, Rebecca, Doug, Danny and Tim
The Media for Democracy Team
