Why you’re seeing those gross political ads during the World Series
The World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees is in full swing, and millions of people in the US and abroad are tuning in nightly watch the showdown. Some fans are also being forced to watch graphic and hateful political ads — and though some ads are preceded by a broadcaster’s warning, there’s not much anyone can do about it.
An anti-abortion ad that ran last night during the World Series shows graphic imagery of fetuses alongside a message that “Abortion is murder. Don’t vote for Kamala.” The ad was paid for Randall Terry, a longtime anti-abortion activist who founded Operation Rescue, a group that stands outside of healthcare clinics and harasses patients. Terry is also a no-shot presidential candidate running on the hard right Constitution Party ticket and will appear on ballots in some, but not all, states.
Some stations evidently weren’t happy about running the ad. On Fox, for instance, some viewers reported seeing a warning that reads: “The following political advertisement contains graphic images that may disturb viewers.” It goes on to state that federal law requires Fox to carry the ads because they’re paid for by a legally qualified candidate for public office. A Fox affiliate station in Kansas City published an editorial note online warning viewers about Terry’s ads and explaining why they’re running during programming, as did ABC News.
As the disclaimers explain, the FCC has rules around political advertising on broadcast networks. Stations can’t reject or censor ads paid for by qualified campaigns — even if they’re graphic or offensive. The FCC also requires that candidates get “equal time” on air, with some exemptions.
Terry’s playbook involves taking advantage of this rule. He previously tried to get similarly graphic anti-abortion ads to run during the 2012 Super Bowl. In that case, though, he was stymied. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that a Chicago TV station wasn’t obligated to run Terry’s ad because he didn’t qualify as a legitimate presidential candidate. It also said because the Super Bowl is one of the biggest TV events of the year and has limited ad space, it may be impossible for stations to provide every candidate with airtime. The law requires only that stations give candidates “reasonable access” to time.
Terry’s graphic anti-abortion ad isn’t the only offensive one running — earlier in the series I noticed an anti-trans ad paid for by Donald Trump’s campaign, among other things referring to transgender women as “biological men” competing in sports with “our girls.”
Part of the reason these ads are so jarring is framing. Trump, obviously, is the Republican nominee for president, and he’s used similarly (or more) inflammatory rhetoric about trans people on the air. But these ads are running smack dab in the middle of a baseball game that is watched by families and kids. The Washington Post reported that other Terry ads were running on ABC during programs like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The View.
The other reason is that broadcast TV is one of the few US media formats to feature something like the equal time rule. It’s part of broadcast stations’ status as a public trust, licensed to take up rare and valuable spectrum.
At the same time that the World Series is filled with these ads, officials in Florida have been trying to stop local stations from airing ads promoting abortion access. The ads deal with Amendment 4, a ballot measure that Florida voters will weigh in on next week that would eliminate the state’s six week abortion ban. In that case, Florida state officials including surgeon general Joseph Ladapo sent letters to local TV stations demanding they stop running the ads and threatened criminal charges. A federal judge this week blocked state officials from continuing to threaten stations.