Fair and Clear Campaign Transparency Act Introduced

(Image credit: Architect of the Capitol)

A trio of Democratic House members have introduced a bill that would require broadcasters to make their reports on political ad sponsorships machine readable.

H.R. 5897, the Fair and Clear Campaign (FCC) Transparency Act was introduced in the House by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.T), and John Yarmuth (D-Ky.).

Currently broadcasters have to make public--in their FCC public files--reports of the airtime they have sold or donated for political ads, but they don't have to do it in a standard format that can be "easily analyzed by researchers and watchdog groups," Eshoo said in announcing their bill.

A Senate version has been introduced by Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.).

“Our simple legislation empowers researchers, watchdogs, and the public to make sense of information broadcasters are already required to report by requiring the FCC make this information machine-readable," added Eshoo.

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.