“Controversy seems to follow me wherever I seek it.”
– Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert announced on The Colbert Report, on August 11, WOI, the local ABC affiliate in Des Moines, IA, had decided not to run the Colbert Super PAC ads. In an email sent to Colbert, an hour before the first ad was scheduled to air, the station declined because the ads were “confusing to voters.”
In true Colbert fashion, he proceeded to go on a rant against the “Midwestern Media Elite.”
“Confusing to Iowa voters?” Colbert retorted. “Really? We’re not talking about the dips&%ts over in Nebraska. This is Iowa. Unlike WOI, I believe that Iowa voters can understand even a complex message like: Go to the Ames Straw Poll – Write-in Perry – Spell it with an ‘A’.”
While it declined to run the ad, WOI did mention, during their news broadcast, Colbert Super PAC had bought ad time in Des Moines – even showing a clip of the first ad.
WHO and KCCI, the CBS and NBC affiliates in Des Moines, took the opportunity on Friday to spotlight the move on their websites. Both made it a feature story, and it was listed as the second most read story on KCCI’s website.
WOI responded Friday afternoon by posting a statement from Ray Cole, President and COO, and having it as the lead story on their website.
“It is our policy to review all third party/issue ads in advance. The ‘Americans for a Better Tomorrow. Tomorrow.’ spots are interesting, entertaining and reflect Stephen Colbert’s keen satirical sense of humor. We were troubled, however, by the use of pictures of the real Rick Perry in connection with the call to write-in the name of the fictitious Rick Parry. In our view, the spots had the real potential of being confusing to many of our Central Iowa viewers. We took the extra step of reviewing the spots with our FCC legal counsel who informed us that, from a strictly legal standpoint, we could choose to accept the spots for broadcast. That may well have been the easier — and more profitable — route to go. But after careful consideration, we took the position that airing the spots in our news was not the responsible choice.
While many of Colbert’s so-called Super PAC members may not agree with our decision, we hope our explanation gives them insight into the reasoning behind it. Finally, I did visit personally with Stephen Colbert about this matter on the phone earlier today in an effort to provide him with further clarification on the timing and substance of our decision to reject the spots in question. We are confident that he has a better understanding of our position as well.”
