As Election 2000 gets closer, you can barely turn on the TV without being bombarded by commercials for candidates and special-interest groups. It has gotten so bad that some pols are having a hard time getting their message on the airwaves. And that's raising concerns that local television stations may be exerting undue influence over the democratic process in pursuit of higher profits. The idea that the financial interests of the broadcast industry would trump the public's interest in educated voting is sounding more absurd,'' he said. But local TV stations won't run her ads.
Station managers claim they're already saturated with political commercials.
Friedman, a former TV reporter who now runs a media consulting company, smells a rat. They can charge the moon and get it,'' says David Keating, executive director of the Club for Growth, which backs conservative candidates. Friedman isn't the only pol in this bind. Pennsylvania Attorney General D. Michael Fisher, who is being challenged by Democrat Jim Eisenhower, hasn't been able to run his ads when or as often as he would like. Stations ''want to limit their political commercials, which makes it difficult to get our message out,'' says Kent Gates, Fisher's campaign manager.