Belo to give free air time to candidates

Initiative also calls for 18 television stations to increase political coverage WASHINGTON - Political candidates in 18 markets across the country will get free air time under

Friday, March 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Initiative also calls for 18 television stations to increase political coverage

WASHINGTON - Political candidates in 18 markets across the country will get free air time under a broadcasting initiative announced Thursday by Dallas-based Belo Corp.

Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Belo, said the corporation will also commit its television stations to provide three in-depth political stories a week in the last 30 to 45 days of this year's campaigns.

"We are stepping up in a consequential and significant way the amount of time on television we devote to elections across the country," Mr. Decherd said.

Belo owns 18 television stations, including KOTV (Channel 6) in Tulsa, and eight daily newspapers, including The Dallas Morning News.

The free air time offered to qualified federal and gubernatorial candidates involves a four-minute statement of why candidates deserve the voters' support, and a one-minute segment responding to a local issue.

The four-minute responses, called "It's Your Time," will be aired together with news or public affairs programming. The one-minute segments will be aired as station news directors see fit, Mr. Decherd said.

The segments will also be offered to local PBS stations, he said.

Belo made similar five-minute segments available to candidates in the 1996 and 1998 elections.

Some campaign finance advocates are urging broadcasters to offer free air time to counter the perceived advantage of candidates who can buy the most television advertising.

Paul Taylor, executive director of the Alliance for Better Campaigns, praised Belo's past leadership but said the company's plan is "behind the curve."

He said television stations owned by Scripps, Hearst-Argyle and Capitol Broadcasting have offered candidates more free time in the 2000 elections.

The Alliance, a public interest group, has urged broadcasters to provide candidates with a nightly five-minute forum to describe their positions during the last month of a campaign. Many of the stations owned by Scripps, Hearst-Argyle and Capitol have made such offers.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, praised Belo's initiative.

"Good for them," she said. "People who live near Belo stations are fortunate. They are getting better access to democracy than other stations provide."

Mr. Taylor and Ms. Jamieson agreed that television has been providing less news about political races than in the past.

A study conducted for the Alliance and the Annenberg center by New York-based ADT Research found the networks were devoting 20 percent less coverage to this campaign than they did in 1988, the last time both major parties had competitive primaries.

Mr. Decherd said Belo will increase the amount of political coverage this year to include feature stories on ad content and issues analysis three nights a week. Belo stations will carry general election presidential debates live, when possible, Mr. Decherd said.

Five-minute candidate debates will air daily on Belo's two cable news networks, NorthWest Cable News and Texas Cable News (Channel 38 in Dallas). The company's media Web sites will offer issue statements, electronic town meetings and voter information links.