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ORGANIZATION ISSUES MONEY/POLITICS NEWS INDEX |
WCMH-TV provides time for candidates and issues
For release: October 6, 2000 Contact: COLUMBUS -- NBC 4 (WCMH-TV) is the first television station in Ohio’s capital to pledge to devote five minutes of airtime to candidates or political issues. For 30 days prior to the November 7th election, NBC 4 will be devoting a minimum of five minutes per day of cumulative coverage (Monday-Friday, 5:00 p.m.- 11:35 p.m.) to issues or candidates in the 2000 election. 'We are delighted to make this commitment to help Central Ohio viewers make an informed decision when casting their ballots during this November election,' said Michael Jack, President and General Manager of NBC 4. 'We pride ourselves on being Columbus’ daily news source and see this as being one more extension of our mission to serve our community.' NBC 4 will be providing coverage of candidate-related stories for Presidential and Congressional races and statewide issues. In addition, the station will invite candidates from various key races to summarize their positions on the most high profile issues in a segment called 'In Their Own Words.' These segments will air during NewsChannel 4 at Noon, the weekend edition of NewsChannel 4 Today and NewsChannel 4 at 5 and 6 on a regular basis. In addition, NBC 4 will include expanded election information and links to their website and 'Decision 2000.' NBC Network announced Wednesday that their 13 owned and operated television stations, which include WCMH locally, would provide brief nightly candidate-centered segments for the month prior to November 7. Ohio Citizen Action has been asking local television stations to open up the airwaves to nightly candidate forums. This is part of a national effort led by the Alliance for Better Campaigns in Washington, DC. It is co-chaired by former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and former newscaster Walter Cronkite. Nationally, seven percent of television stations have committed to air nightly candidate-centered segments. In Ohio, WCPO and WLWT in Cincinnati, WEWS in Cleveland and WKBN in Youngstown have also pledged to air these nightly segments. A 1998 presidential commission on the public interest obligations of television developed the five minutes-a-night standard. This commission included broadcasters and civic organizations. Five minutes a night of candidate discourse would be substantially more than many television stations have provided so far this year. During the height of the presidential primaries, the typical station in a national survey offered just 39 seconds a night of candidates talking about issues, according to a University of Southern California report. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said, 'It’s great to see citizens and the media standing up to reduce voter reliance on TV commercials and increase the amount of objective coverage of the leaders and issues on this November’s ballot.' Beginning on October 8, Ohio Citizen Action plans to randomly monitor all the network television stations from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus. 'We will compare the amount of time devoted to candidate-centered programming with the amount of time devoted to political advertisements,' said Catherine Turcer, Campaign Finance Reform Director at Ohio Citizen Action. Ohio Citizen Action campaigns on issues from toxic waste and food safety to utility and insurance rates to political reform. A non-profit, non-partisan organization, OhioCitizen Action was founded in 1975. # # #
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