T
The420Guy
Guest
Washington, DC: In response to a complaint filed by the NORML Foundation,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled last Friday that five
major networks should have identified the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP) as a sponsor of television programs embedded with
anti-drug messages after receiving government dollars for doing so.
The NORML Foundation filed the complaint with the FCC on Feb. 17, 2000
alleging that the ONDCP's practice of offering millions of additional
advertising dollars for network programs that included anti-drug messages
was in violation of the federal anti-payola statute. The FCC agreed,
stating, "listeners and viewers are entitled to know by whom they are
being persuaded."
The networks were not fined by the FCC, but were put on notice. The FCC
wrote in its decision, "sponsorship identification is required and we
caution the networks to do so in the future."
The ONDCP's involvement with the networks was revealed by journalist Dan
Forbes of Salon.com almost a year ago. Through a series of congressional
hearings it was revealed that over a two-year span the networks received
a total of $25 million in tax dollars for including anti-drug messages in
scripts, which drew the ire of members of Congress and First Amendment
activists.
"This was a sinister attempt by the drug czar to secretly alter program
content by offering millions of dollars to those willing to use the
programs for government propaganda," said Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director. "This FCC ruling clearly puts the incoming drug czar and the
networks on notice that this is a violation of federal law and will no
longer be tolerated."
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director at (202) 483-5500. To view NORML's initial complaint and network
responses, please visit www.norml.org/news/fcc_complaint/index.shtml.
NORML Foundation
1001 Connecticut Ave, NW #710
Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 483-8751
fax: (202) 483-0057
email: foundation@norml.org
internet: www.norml.org
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled last Friday that five
major networks should have identified the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP) as a sponsor of television programs embedded with
anti-drug messages after receiving government dollars for doing so.
The NORML Foundation filed the complaint with the FCC on Feb. 17, 2000
alleging that the ONDCP's practice of offering millions of additional
advertising dollars for network programs that included anti-drug messages
was in violation of the federal anti-payola statute. The FCC agreed,
stating, "listeners and viewers are entitled to know by whom they are
being persuaded."
The networks were not fined by the FCC, but were put on notice. The FCC
wrote in its decision, "sponsorship identification is required and we
caution the networks to do so in the future."
The ONDCP's involvement with the networks was revealed by journalist Dan
Forbes of Salon.com almost a year ago. Through a series of congressional
hearings it was revealed that over a two-year span the networks received
a total of $25 million in tax dollars for including anti-drug messages in
scripts, which drew the ire of members of Congress and First Amendment
activists.
"This was a sinister attempt by the drug czar to secretly alter program
content by offering millions of dollars to those willing to use the
programs for government propaganda," said Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director. "This FCC ruling clearly puts the incoming drug czar and the
networks on notice that this is a violation of federal law and will no
longer be tolerated."
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director at (202) 483-5500. To view NORML's initial complaint and network
responses, please visit www.norml.org/news/fcc_complaint/index.shtml.
NORML Foundation
1001 Connecticut Ave, NW #710
Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 483-8751
fax: (202) 483-0057
email: foundation@norml.org
internet: www.norml.org
