Public Interest Groups Prepare To Review TV Political Ad Files

Public interest groups are practically salivating that starting August 2, television stations will have to begin posting online their political disclosure files containing information about who is spending what in the 2012 election. And they're organizing to take full advantage of the more easily-available information.

Since Citizens United, groups like Free Press have been apoplectic about the onslaught of Super PACs flooding the airwaves during the lead-up to the November election, pushing political spending to new records. Now, with 95 days before the country heads to the polls, advocates for more transparency in political spending are taking some comfort in the FCC's new rule, which takes effect on Aug. 2. But don't get too excited. The files that will be available will be in PDF form, meaning it will take a lot of work to make some real sense of the spending. Plus, for starters, the FCC is only requiring the four network TV affiliates in the top 50 markets to post. That means no files for Hispanic stations, which in markets such as Los Angeles and Phoenix, the Spanish-language newscast is the top-rated newscast in the U.S. And ads placed prior to Aug. 2, don't have to be posted for another six months.