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    • Anti-abortion activist uses FCC rules to run ads on ‘The View’ that criticize the show
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    Anti-abortion activist uses FCC rules to run ads on ‘The View’ that criticize the show

    Mars Posted on

    David Bauder
    | AP Multimedia Editor

    An anti-abortion ad aired last week on “The View” criticizing the show’s personalities was the most visible manifestation of a campaign that uses a federal law that prohibits broadcasters from refusing it.

    In the ad, a narrator says, “I’m so sick of stupid celebrities and lying journalists,” while the screen shows photos of “The View” host Whoopi Goldberg, her colleagues and others. other celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, Robert DeNiro. , Billie Eilish, Wolf Blitzer, Rachel Maddow and Dana Bash.

    The ad compares the celebrities to Nazi leaders Joseph Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl, criticizes Americans for their supposed support of abortion rights and includes graphic images of aborted fetuses.

    In an on-screen warning, ABC made clear that it was keeping the message at bay: “The following is a paid political advertisement, and the ABC Television Network is required to air it under federal law. The advertisement contains scenes which may be disturbing to children. Viewer discretion is advised.

    The ads are the work of a longtime anti-abortion activist

    Randall Terry, a longtime anti-abortion activist, is behind these ads. Terry is a fringe presidential candidate who qualified for office in a dozen states as a standard-bearer for the Constitution Party, a status that allowed him to get air time for his advertisements.

    Under Federal Communications Commission regulations, broadcast stations are prohibited “from censoring or rejecting political advertisements paid for and sponsored by legally qualified candidates,” a standard that Terry met.

    “It’s the last bastion of free speech,” Terry said in an interview. “The only place you can still have free speech is on a licensed station as a federal candidate.”

    The FCC rule only applies to candidates, not political organizations, that meet its criteria and does not apply to cable networks or web properties such as podcasts. CNN, which is not required to air the ad and said it would not meet its standards anyway, issued a statement calling it “outrageous, anti-Semitic and dangerous.”

    Terry already has another ad — featured on his website but not yet on television — that specifically targets CNN’s Jake Tapper.

    “I’m not going to be president,” Terry said. “I have no illusions. The goal is to cause Kamala’s defeat.”

    To that end, many of his ads are anti-Harris and, except for a brief on-screen message, don’t even mention his candidacy. He ran ads at the local level throughout the campaign, in each of the states where an abortion measure is up for a vote. In total, 40 local announcements were made, as well as a series of national announcements, Terry said.

    Its target audience is people aged 50 to 80, an age group most likely to watch television, who are likely Democratic, Catholic and black voters.

    Christian F. Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women, said she was concerned that the ads represented manipulation of FCC regulations and encouraged hateful rhetoric.

    “It’s really concerning,” Nunes said. “No one should be able to use their candidacy as a free pass to utter hate speech. »

    Terry is probably more sensitive than any activist to using FCC rules to help spread his message, said Jack Goodman, a Washington lawyer and former general counsel for the National Association of Broadcasters. He is not aware of any efforts to change the regulations over the years.

    How far can advertisements go?

    The rules do not allow broadcasters to modify advertisements to use what may be considered offensive images or language; The question of whether or not an ad can contain obscenity, for example, has not been tested in court, Goodman said. On his website, Terry’s previously unreleased Tapper advert contains an obscenity, although he said he would likely use a cleaner version for television.

    He does not object to the warnings that some channels have displayed before his advertisements.

    “They are doing what they feel is in the best interest of the station,” Terry said. “It’s up to them. I can’t blame them for that. Look, these are difficult images to see.

    Nunes said she suspected the ads would backfire on Terry among many women, driving them to the polls to vote against what he advocates.

    Mars
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