Group: TV coverage of local elections stinks
By Tom Sheehan Lee Newspapers
Published: Wednesday, November 2, 2005 10:31 AM CST

MADISON - Wanna be a politician? OK, you've got 10 seconds to explain your positions on Medicaid, welfare-to-work and the state's school aid formula.

Good luck.

An advocacy group's study of five Milwaukee commercial television stations found the average candidate news sound bite lasted just 10.7 seconds during election coverage during the four weeks leading into the 2004 general election.

The figure is included in an FCC petition, challenging the renewal of the stations' broadcast licenses for allegedly failing to serve the public interest through meaningful election coverage.

The petition was filed Tuesday by the Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition, which consists of nine advocacy groups, labor unions and a few former candidates. The coalition backs its claim with a study by the national Center for Media and Public Affairs, which studied election news coverage in three television markets - Milwaukee, Chicago and Portland, Ore.

Overall, 5.2 percent of newscast time on the Milwaukee stations during the period studied was devoted to elections, and 77 percent of that involved the presidential or U.S. Senate race, according to the petition. Less than 1 percent was devoted to state-level elections, the study found.

“In the month leading up to the election, campaign coverage once again took a back seat to crime, accidents, storms, sports and celebrities on Milwaukee TV,” said Mike McCabe, director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a coalition member.

The study takes an irresponsible jab at broadcasters, however, and fails to provide a comprehensive look at news and election coverage during all of 2004, said Frank Biancuzzo, president and general manager of WISN-TV.

WISN aired a live debate between U.S. Senate candidates Russ Feingold and Tim Michels during prime time, for example. But the study doesn't count that as state or local election coverage, despite the help to voters, Biancuzzo said.

“Their main assertion is that there was too much coverage of the presidential race, and the presidential race is a local race,” Biancuzzo said.

The FCC has no specific time of coverage requirement for elections or any other type of public interest coverage, said John Laabs, president of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. The coalition probably would need to change the FCC rules before they have a case, Laabs said. Stations can meet the general requirement for broadcasting in the public interest in a variety of ways, also including public service announcements and community involvement, Laabs said.

“I'm confident under current rules, stations in Milwaukee have fulfilled their obligations,” Laabs said.

The stations' licenses are set expire Dec. 1, but they'll continue broadcasting as they respond to the petition. The FCC could take about six to eight months to decide the case, if it doesn't dismiss the challenge sooner, Laabs said.

Other stations included in the study and having their licenses challenged are WDJT, WITI, WTMJ and WVTV.

Other members of the Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition, which has requested an FCC hearing, include: League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Common Cause in Wisconsin, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Milwaukee County Labor Council, Wisconsin Citizen Action, the Coordinating Committee Against Hate Speech, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin and Peace Action Wisconsin.

Tom Sheehan can be reached at tsheehan@madison.com or (608) 252-6198.