HOUSTON – Recently, a KPRC 2 viewer asked how our station could run a candidate’s political ad that he thought contained untruthful information.
“I don’t understand how you can run such untrue political ads on your station,” the viewer wrote via email.
We took that question directly to KPRC 2 General Manager Phil Lane.
“By law, we are required to run them as they come down. In fact, we are not allowed to censor or edit those ads. Federal law requires us to run them as they come down, and that’s our duty,” Lane said.
The Federal Communications Commission’s guideline for broadcast television license holders is clear on the issue.
“Broadcast stations are prohibited from censoring or rejecting political ads that are paid for and sponsored by legally qualified candidates,” according to an FCC fact sheet on the issue.
But KPRC 2′s news department routinely investigates politicians’ claims to determine the truth.
Many of those claims are examined here: SEE KPRC2′s TRUST INDEX PAGE