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Group Claims Political Pressure Stopped TV Ad
By Jay Gallagher
Gannett News Service, Albany Bureau
April 22, 2002
ALBANY -- A New York City television station refused to air an ad critical of Gov. George Pataki after getting a call from a group associated with the governor, the head of a student-reform group charged yesterday.
Charles Juntikka, a Manhattan lawyer who runs a group called Students for Reform, said WABC-TV turned down the ad, even though it had been accepted by stations in Rochester and Albany and by WCBS, the all-news cable station New York-1 and on cable Channel 12, which serves the New York City suburbs.
However, the station manager, Thomas Kane, said the ad was rejected because it was in poor taste, not as the result pressure being exerted on the station.
The ad said, "it's time to clean up the mess in Albany" and urged viewers to call the governor and ask him to support campaign-finance reform and lobbying reform.
"Where do they get off not running our TV ads because the Pataki people don't like it? Juntikka asked, "they caved in to that pressure. It's just outlandish."
But WABC-TV station manager Thomas Kane said the ad was turned down because of its content.
"We don't air overly objectionable ads, " he said. "It's just throwing flames. I don't view it as constructive."
He added, "It had nothing to do with pressure."
Pataki campaign spokeswoman Lisa Stoll wouldn't respond directly to Juntikka's assertion that the campaign leaned on the station to not run the ad. Instead, she attacked Gannett for writing about the controversy.
"It is clear the the Gannett News will allow itself to be used by a group whose only interest is drawing attention to itself and raising money for itself," she said "If Gannett wants to allow its papers to be used like that, it's their business."
Juntikka based his claim on pressure being brought to bear on the station on a phone conversation he taped with WABC ad salesman.
On the tape, which Juntikka played for a reporter, the salesman is heard to say the station got a call from "someone knew it was coming from the Pataki camp or something like that." Therefore, he said, the ad might not run.
But Kane said Juntikka misinterpreted a common TV-ad practice of one side merely checking on what ads the other side is planning so they can plan a response.
"It's called a 'competitive check,' " Kane said. "We provide the information as a matter of course."
The president and general manager of WUSA-TV in Washington., D.C. confirmed that such "competitive checks" are a staple of the TV business.
"They have a right to ask, " said Ardyth Diercks, and stations usually provide the information.
And she said that while stations are obligated to air ads for candidates during the election season, they can use their own judgment on what issue ads to air.
"You don't have an obligation to take an issue ad you find misleading or in bad taste," she said.
Juntikka wouldn't disclose how much his group has spent on the ads, other than to say it amounts to "many tens of thousands" of dollars, much of it his own. He said he's trying to raise more money to continue the ad campaign.
Copyright © 2002
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