PAID TO TAKE A POSITION III
Armstrong Williams has issued an apology for being a paid advocate of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Reading the letter I still find myself asking some questions. During my radio career numerous organizations have bought advertising on shows I've hosted promoting their point of view. Issue ads are a part of the broadcasting landscape. His letter makes it seem as if that is all he did...that is, accept issue advertising. The difference is that issue ads are clearly commercials, while it seems Williams was promoting the issue as an integral part of his show, without disclosing that the discussion of the issue in it's entirety was a paid ad. That makes the issue of whether or not he really believed in the legislation entirely irrelevant.
Tribune was right to cancel his column and those radio stations that carry his show need to consider carefully whether they can trust him again to follow the rules.
posted by Dan Pierce @ 10:22 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Armstrong Williams is an honest individual who made an honest mistake. He has apologized and he is willing to accept the consequences of his actions. I for one would trust him far sooner than the CBS crew. I like Armstrong and he is was promoting something that he believed in long before he was asked to do it for a fee.
Raymond Firestine
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