MILWAUKEE — Less than a month from Election Day and the crush of campaign ads is becoming nearly impossible to escape. Many of TMJ4 News viewers have asked if those ads can stop airing, especially ones with lies or strong words. However, federal law says television stations have to air political ads without any censorship.
Jenny Nelson, a mom of two from Glendale says political ads even pop up when she is watching family programming with her kids. She wants it to stop.
"It has brought up some discussions that I don’t feel I have even had to have with my children," said Nelson. "Especially when they ask, ‘mom what’s rape?' It is hard to bridge that discussion with an eight-year-old.”
TMJ4 News has also received dozens of emails from you, our viewers, with comments like:
"You choose to show these propaganda pieces, you can just as easily choose not to” and ”What ever happened to truth in advertising?"
So, we set about answering some of those questions for you with the non-political, non-partisan organization Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The executive director Matt Rothschild helped dig into what is the law when it comes to political advertising.
First, can television stations just not air political ads?
Matt Rothschild: "Under federal law, actually the Federal Communications Act of 1934, it's not allowed for TV stations or radio stations to censor political ads from the candidates themselves."
Can television stations limit the amount of times a candidate’s ad runs?
Matt Rothschild: “You have to run it as many times as the candidate pays for it, and you also have to give other candidates an equal opportunity to run their ads as well. Once you have one candidate in the door, you can't shut the door on the other candidates.”
Can television stations not air an ad because it is violent or has harsh language in it?
Matt Rothschild: "The Federal Communications Act of 1934 was so worried that stations were going to be censoring political candidates that they said essentially, you can't do anything about the content except run it."
Are TV stations allowed to charge political candidates more to run their ads?
Matt Rothschild: “TV stations have to offer the lowest rate that's available to other customers. I know a lot of stations are making a ton of money, but you're not making a ton of money because you're charging the highest price possible. You're charging low prices. But the volume is so great that TV stations and radio stations are doing pretty well right now.”
Rothschild suggests voters try to either mute their TVs or turn away when a political ad comes on so they don’t listen or become influenced by what they say. He instead says to look up the candidates yourself and see what they stand for, and then make your choice and who to vote for.