What if A Political Candidate Comes After You?

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Yesterday, we told you about state Senator Chris Walters (pictured), who sent a “cease and desist” letter to several Charleston radio companies demanding they stop running ads that he says falsely claim he testified on behalf of a convicted child molester. While none of those companies (West Virginia Radio, Bristol Broadcasting, and L&M Broadcasting) responded to our request to discuss the issue, broadcast attorney John Garziglia helped us out with an explanation on what managers facing the same issue might be up against.

Garziglia says these cease and desist letters are a regular occurrence during an election, typically filed by a candidate thinking he or she is being wronged by incorrect or scandalous assertions. “For the most part, the lawsuit threats never amount to anything once the election is over. A radio station receiving such a lawyer letter should check with its communications counsel. The potential culpability of a radio station for material in a political advertisement varies.”

However, Garziglia says, the Charleston, West Virginia ads in question appear to have been placed by a union-funded group called West Virginia Family Values and this third-party ad buy takes the spots outside of the “no liability” zone created by federal law. “If an ad is purchased by a candidate or authorized committee for public office, and the candidate’s voice appears on the ad, the ad is ‘use.’ For a ‘use,’ the radio station is shielded from liability for its content. This is the no-censorship provision of the FCC’s political rules, which requires that a radio station run, without alteration, any political ad which is a ‘use.’ In exchange, federal law shields the radio station from liability for the content of such a political advertisement. The Charleston ads, however, were apparently purchased by a third party, which takes the ads outside of the ‘use’ category. Thus, the radio stations could be potentially liable for content, assuming that the candidate is able to overcome the hurdle of being a public figure in bringing such a lawsuit.”

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