Cable and satellite TV operators, as well as radio stations, will likely soon have to begin publishing online records about the groups buying political and other ads.
A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote tomorrow is expected to bring those industries in line with broadcast TV, which already has to make the online disclosures.
A 2012 rule forced television broadcasters to post information on an online FCC database detailing the size of ad buys and the name of the person, campaign or group who sponsored it.
Advocates have pressed to expand the rule, saying the broadcast television disclosures opened the public’s eyes to the amount of money being spent and who is spending it.
“The new rules would facilitate public access to disclosure records for all these media and allow the public to view and analyze political advertising expenditures more easily in each market as well as nationwide,” the FCC wrote in proposed rules adopted in late 2014.
The order is a small victory for transparency advocates ahead of the Presidential Primary season. Advocates, though, have unsuccessfully pressed the FCC to take greater steps to identify the true sponsors of political ads.
The commission will also vote on whether to release the 2016 Broadband Progress Report. It said that around 34 million Americans still lack access to fixed broadband. As it has before, the Chairman's draft of the report includes a finding that "advanced telecommunications capability" isn't being deployed to Americans in a "reasonable and timely fashion." That gives the Commission more authority to facilitate deployment.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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