Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

TV stations ignore ad disclosure requirements

A decade after a landmark campaign finance reform law mandated that TV stations collect the names of board members or executive officers of groups running political ads for federal candidates or any "national legislative issue of public importance," records show broadcasters often ignore the rules.

Emergency Committee for Israel keeps spending in fight against Hagel

At least $200K spent in DC on Super Bowl political ads

Sunday's Super Bowl was the country's top rated sporting spectacle--but viewers in Washington area got something extra: more political ads. Three groups spent a total of $200,000 to air political ads for DC-area super bowl viewers. For the first time this year, these ad contracts are available online, thanks to an FCC order that went into effect last summer.

Ad site snafu raises questions about FCC oversight

For the first time last year, the Federal Communications Commission began requiring certain TV stations to post political ad buy contracts online. Yet an apparent snafu at a Florida station that kept all buys made in the final month of the election offline until earlier this month raises questions about just how well that system is working.

Censored? Information goes missing from political ad files

The Federal Communication Commission's online political ad database is supposed to make information about heavy political hitters more accessible, but a lack of clarity in the rules has resulted in some stations effectively censoring what the public is permitted to see.

Political Ad Sleuth debuts: Track the money behind the campaign ads

Above Las Vegas last week, the air invisibly crackled with attacks and counter-attacks by candidates for a House and a Senate seat -- not to mention President Obama, his rival Mitt Romney and their backers. In Denver, there was a clash of political fronts:  Outside groups like Planned Parenthood and Crossroads GPS competed for airtime with each other, as well as the candidates they are supporting.

FCC database misses huge chunk of ads

In key battleground states, huge numbers of presidential ads are airing on TV stations that are not required to post to the Federal Communications Commission's online political ad database, new data released by the Wesleyan Media Project shows. 

Missouri primary: McCaskill and Democrats helped Republican Todd Akin to Senate nomination

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Democratic outside groups, pouring in over $1 million during Missouri's Republican Senate primary, got the guy they wanted: Rep. Todd Akin, who Tuesday upset two other Republicans to take the GOP nomination.

Broadcasters put political ad buy files online today

With the 2012 election three months away, stations in some of the nation's biggest television markets will start uploading information on political ad buys to the Internet for the first time today, bringing out of the dark ages at least some information on who's behind political ads.

Broadcasters petition FCC to stay online posting of political ad files

The nation's broadcasters are trying another method to stop the Federal Communications Commission from putting information about political ads online.

Feds order online posting of political ad info next month

Information about political TV ads must be posted online by Aug. 2 under an order published this morning in the Federal Register.

OMB clears way for FCC to put political ads online

House committee restores funding for political ad disclosure

A key member of Congress bowed to pressure Wednesday and withdrew a measure aimed at blocking online disclosure of political advertisements. 

Time Warner Cable posts its political file online, so why the fuss, NAB?

If posting already-public information on political ad spending is so damaging to broadcasters, as the National Association of Broadcasters argues, then why has one of the country's biggest cable providers been doing it since 2010?