I saw a video news article on TV the other day. The station was explaining that they could not fact check political ads if the candidate was legally qualified to run for office and the ad was candidate sponsored. They could not refuse to sell ad space to a candidate, or a committee-to-elect even if they knew the ad was false or went against their station's policies.
The gentleman who managed ads for the station stated that they are allowed to fact check medications, company claims, groups, etc. They can refuse to air an ad if it goes against the station's policies or is deemed untrue. But the ability to manage political ads in the same manner is not allowed. He stated that the station is also required to give political ads the lowest price for the ad time.
I found this so surprising. I had never realized this before. I did some research and found that this is true (FCC Political Programming and FEC Advertising and Disclaimers).
This made me wonder how we ever really know what is true and not true in any political ad we see on TV. I figured I would try and put my google searching skills to work. I fell down a deep rabbit hole trying to find a non-bias place to determine facts from fiction.
I hoped to find a few websites that would fact check political ads and quickly ran into issues. Most received ratings of about 3 out of 5 stars. You really had to deep dive to figure out how they were funded and who was doing the fact checking.
I switched gears and tried to find an easy-to-follow voting record list for politicians. Again, I admit that I was not as lucky as I had hoped to be. The sites that show this are somewhat convoluted.
I discerned that there was no perfect way to scientifically fact-check politicians using data or finding a non-bias source. It takes a concerted effort to find the truth and determine what a politician is doing to help their constituents.
Even though I didn't find a magic answer to share with you all, this fact-finding search did remind me (as I read through articles on politics) that no matter what your political views - all citizens should appreciate the right to vote and take the responsibility seriously. Politicians can control our personal lives more than I think many of us appreciate. Doing some legwork to ensure you have investigated your candidates to the best of your ability is worth the effort.
Listed below are a few of the sites that I dug into, just as a reference for this blog. (I do not support the use of them or verify their information.)
It is essential that we ask questions, expect answers, and remind those in office and running for office that we will hold them accountable. The job of making sure politicians serve the people -- all people -- belongs to us.
ReplyDeleteExcellent comment!!
DeleteOften as elections near the League of Women Voters or AARP have articles explaining candidates views without bias.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I will check this out. Appreciate the info.
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