Nonprofit backers of broadcast political ad sales disclosure...

Nonprofit backers of broadcast political ad sales disclosure cheered an FCC Media Bureau public notice that fans and foes of such disclosure said (CD April 8 p5) signals the FCC won’t retreat from making all TV stations put online what’s in their political-ad paper files July 1. It’s an “Important Step for Transparency in Political Advertising,” said the headline in a Campaign Legal Center news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1hdp8x4). It lets “a little more sunshine breakthrough [sic] in the multi-billion dollar business of political advertising, despite pushback from some FCC licensees,” said CLC Policy Director Meredith McGehee. The Public Interest Public Airwaves Coalition, which had opposed broadcaster proposals for stations to provide less information to the FCC than what’s available for public inspection in their main studios, “recognizes the dominant role that television plays in our nation’s political contests,” said the coalition in the CLC release. “By putting already public information online, the FCC will ensure that anyone who wants access can get it,” said Lisa Rosenberg, government affairs consultant for the Sunlight Foundation, another coalition member. It’s a “small and inconsequential price for TV stations for the millions in additional revenue they get” from political ads, said Chairman Charles Benton of the Benton Foundation, a coalition member.