No More 'Free Lunch' for GOP Candidates

Well, the FCC waited until the eagle screamed on that one!

--ryan


FCC Orders End to Free Ads for GOP

By TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A California broadcaster cannot give Republican
candidates free air time unless the same offer is extended to other
candidates, the Federal Communications Commission ruled Friday.

Pappas Telecasting Cos., which donated $325,000 in air time on its
radio and TV stations to 13 GOP county committees last week, had
insisted the gifts were legal and did not trigger federal equal time
rules.

In briefs Friday, attorneys for Pappas argued that company president
Harry J. Pappas purchased time at his own stations and donated it to
Republican committees to be used any way they wanted.

"The FCC has no jurisdiction over an individual ... in this regard,"
attorney Kathleen Victory wrote.

But William Johnson, deputy chief of the FCC's Media Bureau, said in
his order that the facts were clear — the broadcaster had given free
time to a candidate.

"When a candidate is furnished time at no cost, competing candidates
are entitled to receive the same amount of free time in comparable
time periods," he said.

It was not clear whether the company would appeal the staff ruling to
the full commission. Calls to the Visalia company's spokesman were
not immediately returned.

"I would have been amazed if the commission had done anything else," said Tracy Westen, chief executive officer of the Center for
Governmental Studies, a nonpartisan research organization in Los
Angeles.

Westen said Pappas could appeal the ruling to the FCC, but the
broadcaster would have to decide whether to continue airing
exclusively Republican ads in the meantime.

If Pappas decides to appeal the issue and continues to run Republican
ads without offering time to Democrats, the company could face
substantial fines, Westen said.

Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra filed a complaint with the FCC
on Thursday after a Pappas television station in Fresno began running
free ads given to her opponent, businessman Dean Gardner.

Parra praised the FCC ruling, which she said "recognized that the
playing field should be even for all candidates, not just the one
that the broadcaster favors."

The company said only $3,600 of the $70,000 in donated time it had
booked for Gardner had been used through Thursday. Parra said Pappas must now make $3,600 in free air time available to her.