Democracy: Free Airtime

Democracy For Sale
In our democracy, speech is free, but communication is expensive and—never more so than during the campaign season. If a political candidate can't write a big check to the local television station to pay for a nightly bombardment of ads, his or her chances of being heard—and elected—dwindle. Consequently, the campaign playing field keeps tilting toward candidates who are wealthy or well financed. In fact, during the 2002 elections, the candidate who raised the most money won 94 percent of the time.

The biggest chunk of money spent in modern political campaigns goes toward television ads. In Washington, television stations earned approximately $33.5 million from political advertising in 2000.

Meanwhile, broadcast television is devoting less and less time to substantive coverage of issues, debates, conventions and candidate speeches. The less exposure that candidates receive from "free media" coverage, the more they must rely on paid ads.

A Practical Remedy

WashPIRG Foundation is working for a free airtime system for political candidates in Washington. Photo: PhotosToGo.com

In 2002, WashPIRG Foundation joined a broad, nationwide coalition to build support for a free airtime system, which would require broadcasters to air debates and interviews as well as give qualifying candidates and political parties vouchers for free ads. Coalition partners include AARP, AFL-CIO, Center for Voting and Democracy, Common Cause, Consumers Union, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, NAACP, National Council of Churches, Rock the Vote, Sierra Club and Youth Vote coalition.

Additionally, in 2002 and early 2003, WashPIRG Foundation collected 3,000 citizens' signatures on a petition in support of free airtime and educated more than 200,000 people across the state about this issue by distributing brochures through our door-to-door canvass, sending alerts to our e-mail activists, and including articles on the issue in our newsletters.

In October 2002, WashPIRG Foundation brought supporters and opponents of free airtime together for a forum at the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs. The purpose of the forum was to publicize our free airtime message to a broader audience in Washington and build public support for requiring broadcasters to give free airtime to qualified political candidates. The free airtime forum was broadcast throughout the state on TVW, the statewide cable network.