PBS has responded to hundreds of letters from activists around the country criticizing its policy regarding free airtime for presidential candidates.
PBS has made two and half minutes available at the end of its NewsHour newscast for eight nights, reserving four nights for Al Gore and four nights for George W. Bush. FAIR pointed out in an October 25 Action Alert that this policy duplicated the exclusionary nature of the presidential debates moderated by NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer.
The full text of the PBS response appears below. PBS explains that it had two criteria for determining which presidential candidates would be granted free airtime: “(1) that on October 10, 2000, they be on the ballot in states with enough electoral votes to have a mathematical chance of winning, and (2) that on that date they reach an average of at least five percent public support in five different nationally recognized polls.”
PBS notes that only Gore and Bush met these requirements. But PBS does not explain why they chose October 10 as an arbitrary cut-off date. If rising media attention to a candidate resulted in increased poll numbers after October 10, as has happened with Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in some polls, PBS‘s rules would still exclude the candidate.
If PBS did not use the October 10 cut-off date, Nader would have met the guidelines. Around the time of the PBS announcement, Nader was polling 5 percent in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (10/13–15/00), 5 percent in a Newsweek poll (10/18–20/00), 5 percent in a Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll(10/16–18/00), 8 percent in an International Communications Research poll (10/18–22/00), 5 percent in a Christian Science Monitor poll (10/19–22/00), 5 percent in a Harris poll (10/19–26/00), and 5 percent in a Zogby International poll conducted for Reuters/MSNBC (10/24–27/00).
On an August 18 NewsHour broadcast, Gore campaign adviser Tad Devine said of Nader: “I don’t think he’ll be a significant factor in determining the outcome of this election in any single state.” The Nader campaign seems to be proving that statement false—but PBS‘s free-airtime proposal has not reflected recent developments in the presidential campaign.
The full response from PBS is as follows:
Thank you for writing to PBS regarding presidential candidate free airtime. We value your suggestions and comments.
In September, PBS contacted presidential candidates Harry Browne, Pat Buchanan, George W. Bush, Albert Gore, John Hagelin and Ralph Nader, offering them air time under two conditions: (1) that on October 10, 2000,they be on the ballot in states with enough electoral votes to have a mathematical chance of winning, and (2) that on that date they reach an average of at least five percent public support in five different nationally recognized polls. Only Vice President Gore and Governor Bush met both of these criteria.
The 5 percent public support threshold is significantly below the 15 percent level set by the Commission on Presidential Debates for inclusion in the nationally televised presidential debates. The 5 percent threshold conforms to the percentage of votes necessary in a presidential election to receive federal funding in a subsequent election.
Third party candidates and their issues have been and will continue to be covered by the NewsHour With Jim Lehrer in its regular election reporting. PBS‘s final Democracy Project Election 2000 program, “Time to Choose—A PBS/NPR Voter’s Guide,” airing November 1, will cover the issues that have been raised by third party candidates. “A Third Choice,” Ben Wattenberg’s history of third party efforts, and “I’m on the Ballot,” Award Productions’ look at the significance of third party campaigns and this year’s major third party candidates, were also featured as part of the PBS Democracy Project lineup this election season.
Thank you once again for writing to PBS. We hope you will continue to enjoy and support the wide variety of programming available on your PBS member station.
Sincerely, PBS Viewer Services
PBS Viewer Services can be contacted at viewer@pbs.org.
