Free Airtime Means Agenda-Free Citizenship - Don Seaman-TVB

Welcome TVB our newest MediaBizBloggerIf you were to ask someone to name three words that are most associated with the ideals of the United States of America there39s probably a 100 chance that one of them will be quotfreedomquot We live in a world where that word amp8211 and concept amp8211 are both in danger of losing significance due to it being used to advance a political agendaThat39s why it39s so important to demonstrate how much power the word quotfreequot has and why such a simple concept is so important to our national mindsetIt39s for this very reason that our free overtheair television station groups such as Dispatch Hearst PostNewsweek and Scripps are donating significant amounts of free airtime to qualified candidates during the election seasonThis effort goes beyond a fiduciary cost of doing business The station groups are elevating their role in society to serve their communities as only they can by providing the highvisibility platform of televised Town Halls Debates and other local programming for the free discussion of the issues for any candidate who takes them up on the offerClearly there39s been a substantial amount of discussion about Super PAC money and its influence upon the political campaigns this year But this is no kneejerk reaction to the recent availability of Super PAC money as most stations have participated in these programs for years going back to 2000Above and beyond the free political airtime stations are also enlisting their multimedia capabilities resources and partnerships to give the voting audience as much unbiased information as they can provide Among these resourcesamp183 Dispatch Broadcast Group stations in Ohio and Indiana will be contributing free political airtime along with extended coverage of the conventions They39ll also offer electionthemed online content notably Ohio39s WBNS and ONN stations39 quotCandidate Matchquot an interactive tool used to match a voter39s key issues and values with the most likeminded candidateamp183 Hearst Television39s quotCommitment 2012quot includes an election app that will allow voters an quotanytimeanywherequot aspect for election information They also have an exclusive deal with PolitiFact quotthe Pulitzer Prizewinning factchecking website of the Tampa Bay Timesquot Their stations will have original segments using the website39s quotTruthOMeterquotamp183 PostNewsweek Stations facilitate getting voter questions straight to the candidates through quotVoter39s Voicequot quotVoter Video Patrolquot provides cameras to voters to document the issues facing their neighborhoods quotMeet the Candidatequot segments are taped at the stations at no charge and run in local news quotCandidate Comparisonsquot is a side by side look at candidates39 positions and quotAd Watchquot and quotTruth Testquot factcheck political ad claimsamp183 Scripps Television Station Group39s quotDemocracy 2012quot program includes a Floridacentric election information website for this complicated and pivotal battleground state They39ve also added an quotAsk the Candidatesquot area to their overall online election coverage Along with the Center for Responsive Politics they39re making searchable online databases available to research and track campaign contributionsWhat also shouldn39t be lost in this thicket of political discourse is that this is all being done by the local television broadcasters who provide free overtheair television to all Americans This isn39t news and information that you pay for via a subscription What they are providing is political information not infotainmentThe bottom line is that the station groups are using their onair and online media assets not for the betterment of their own bottom line but for the protection of one of our most basic freedoms informationIn today39s connected landscape without free overtheair TV and its commitment to a shared participation in our society our democracy would be considerably less freeDon Seaman joined the TVB in January 2012 as Manager of Marketing Communications where he is responsible for promoting and raising awareness of the TVB and of Local Broadcast Televisionamp8217s value propositions within the traditional and digital media industries Don can be reached at dontvborgRead all Don39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Local MattersCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Free Airtime Means Agenda-Free Citizenship - Don Seaman-TVB

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