Illinois politics

Posted at 10:36 AM on December 29, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Media, Politics

The Republican Party of Illinois has condemned one of its own for running a radio ad suggesting the candidate's Republican opponent is gay .

Candidate Andy Martin's defense is particularly stunning:

Martin says his ad is based on a "solid rumor on the Internet," CBS 2 reports. The attack is the latest of many over-the-top claims from Martin, yet WBBM Newsradio 780 is required to run the ad because it cannot censor political advertising.

A "solid rumor on the Internet"?

Martin knows something about Internet rumors. He started the "Obama is a Muslim" rumor on the Internet.

Back to the radio ad. Why can politicians get on the air and assassinate a person's character on the basis only of an "Internet rumor?" Because politicians changed the law in 1978. Under a 1971 law, radio stations were given the the responsibility for determining when a political commercial was unacceptable. That was taken away in 1978, despite objections by broadcasters that it was an unwarranted government intrusion. Now, radio stations can lose their license for refusing to air a commercial like Martin's.

Former presidential candidate Barry Commoner exploited the law two years later by purchasing political ads for his campaign that started with an obscenity.

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Comments (2)

There is a solid rumor on the internet that people will believe everything they read.

However, I don't believe it.

Posted by Erik Hare | December 29, 2009 12:10 PM

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That's interesting - because I have had stations refuse to air commercials. Length was the objection, we were asked to shorten them.

We cut some time off them, actually made them better, he must have better lawyers than I have used.

I can't wait to air my next ad I wonder how many times I can put the f word in 30 or 60 seconds. :)

Posted by BJ | December 29, 2009 12:58 PM

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