Shout Out!

Armstrong Williams, a conservative commentator and political pundit, was paid $240,000 by public relations firm Ketchum to produce what he characterized as a series of "advertising" pieces featuring Secretary of Education Rod Paige to promote the controversial "No Child Left Behind" law.  Part of his contract also included promoting the law to other black media personalities.  The source of the funding was the Department of Education.

Unfortunately, none of these facts were ever disclosed to Williams' audiences on his TV and radio programs, and the "ads" were incorporated into normal programming.  The FCC has since ordered an investigation into whether any laws have been broken, President Bush has condemned Williams' apparent conflict of interest, and Ketchum has apologized for its lack of judgment.

Should media personalities be required to disclose whenever they are paid for advertisements like this?

Click here to send your comments in an email to the following people:

George W. Bush, President of the United States

Michael Powell, Chairman, FCC

Kathleen Abernathy, FCC Commissioner

Michael Copps, FCC Commissioner

Kevin Martin, FCC Commissioner

Jonathan Adelstein, FCC Commissioner

Byron Dorgan, U.S. Senator, North Dakota

Ron Wyden, U.S. Senator, Oregon

Nielsen Media Research, the company that the TV industry uses to count program viewership, is under fire over the deployment of a new technology, called "Local People Meter" (Full story).  Critics contend that the new system undercounts African and Hispanic American viewers - Univision is suing Nielsen, saying its largely Hispanic viewership is being underestimated.  Nielsen believes its new technology is more accurate because the number of homes sampled is larger and the technology can more reliably record which programs the viewer is watching.  This is an important issue because the Nielsen rating statistics are used by network and cable stations to make programming and casting decisions, and by sponsors to make advertising decisions.

Do you think minority TV viewers are being accurately counted?

Click here to send your opinion in an email to the following individuals:

Susan Whiting, CEO Nielsen Media Research

Cardiss Collins, Chair, Independent Task Force on TV Measurement

Charles Rangel, NY Congressman, consultant to the Task Force

Brown and Williamson, the maker of Kool cigarettes, has been accused of running an ad campaign targeting young African Americans (full story).  This would appear to be a direct violation of the tobacco industry's lawsuit settlement with 46 states.

Should tobacco companies be permitted to target their advertising toward teenagers, particularly black teenagers?

Click here to send your opinions in an email to the following individuals:

Mark Smith, Director of Public Affairs, Brown and Williamson

Steve Kottak, Director of Corporate Communications, Brown and Williamson

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, State of California (President - National Association of Attorneys General)

Steven Rowe, Attorney General, State of Maine (NAAG Tobacco Enforcement Committee)

A new bill has been introduced in Congress to improve Civil Rights.  The Fairness and Individual Rights Necessary to Ensure a Stronger Society: Civil Rights Act of 2004, authored by Senator Edward Kennedy(D-MA), Reps. John Lewis(D-GA), George Miller(D-CA), and John Conyers(D-MI), is intended to guarantee equal access to publicly funded services, protection for older workers and workers returning from military service, viable remedies for on-the-job discrimination, and equal pay for women in the workforce.  Click here for a full text of the bill (H.R. 3809) or a summary by Civilrights.org.

Do you support the Civil Rights Act of 2004?

Click here to send your opinions in an email to the authors of the bill:

Senator Edward Kennedy

Representative John Lewis

Representative George Miller

Representative John Conyers