PressEthic

According to an article on the Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting website, ABC Radio Networks released an internal memo on October 25 to its affiliate stations, instructing them not to air commercials from about ninety advertisers during Air America programming. The memo bears the subject heading, "Air America Blackout," and orders advertising coordinators

Please be advised that Hewlett Packard has purchased schedules with ABC Radio Networks between October 30th and December 24th, 2006. Please make sure you blackout this advertiser on your station, as they do not wish it to air on any Air America affiliate. Please see below for a complete list of all advertisers requesting that NONE of their commercials air within Air America programming.

A list of ninety of the largest advertisers in the country follows.

FAIR offers a very limited analysis, saying simply, "the ABC memo is evidence of the potentially censorious effect that advertisers' political preferences can have on the range of views presented in the media." The piece then mentions a quotation from an unnamed Fox News executive, who told FAIR that, "the problem with being associated as liberal is that they wouldn't be going in a direction that advertisers are really interested in.... If you go out and say that you are a liberal network, you are cutting your potential audience, and certainly your potential advertising pool, right off the bat."

Researchers at Media Matters for America have reached ABC for comment on a piece about the controversy. ABC doesn't challenge the authenticity of the memo, but backs up its content, saying, "It is not uncommon for advertisers and/or agencies to request that their ads run or not run in specific programming environments or dayparts. ABC Radio Networks does not solicit nor encourage these requests from advertisers. If a request is made by an advertiser/and [sic] or agency we make our best effort to comply."

So far one of the advertisers on the list has publicly contradicted ABC's defense. Outdoor apparel and camping equipment retailer REI released a statement of its own, denying any request to withhold its advertising from Air America. REI seems worried about how its placement on the list might impact its public image, saying, "It is unfortunate that this misinformation has been widely distributed. We are currently working with our advertising agency and the ABC radio network to track down how this happened."

The memo and its response raise questions about the role of advertising in determining content. Regardless of whether all of the companies on the list did actually request to have their spots removed from Air America, FAIR wonders, "if similar 'blackout' lists exist for other shows, including conservative-leaning programs."