Campaign files complaint with Federal Communications Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Kucinich for President campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission yesterday against CNN and its parent company, Time Warner, Inc., for arbitrarily establishing criteria for its scheduled Monday Presidential debate that will exclude the Democratic candidate from participation.
On Wednesday, the campaign was notified by CNN that its
criteria included a showing of 5% or better in a national poll. In two polls
completed earlier last week by CBS
News/New York Times and by the Pew Research Center, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich
scored 4%.
“The CNN criteria specifically exclude the diverse and anti-war
voice of Mr. Kucinich and his grass-roots supporters,” according to the
complaint. “The exclusion of Mr. Kucinich undermines the
purpose of the (Federal Communications) Act and is a blatant violation of the Act,
including its equal time provisions.” Also, “Mr. Kucinich is a successful
candidate because of his anti-war message and strong criticism of the American
healthcare system, issues that are not championed by his presidential primary
opponents. In these and other policy issues, his opponents share very similar
policy platforms that differ from Mr. Kucinich.”
The filing also points out that Kucinich was invited to
participate in the upcoming South
Carolina debate by the Congressional Black Caucus,
which is co-sponsoring the event. The invitation, which he accepted on May 20,
stated, in part that Kucinich “will be guaranteed a rare opportunity to present
your message to millions of voters unfiltered by any political organization or
by any news organization.”
The complaint also argues that the Monday event “is not a
true presidential primary debate without including all credible
candidates. Instead, it is effectively
an endorsement of the candidates selected by CNN” and is a breach of the
federal requirement “to operate in the public interest and to afford reasonable
opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of issues of public
importance.”
The campaign is
asking the FCC to order CNN to allow Kucinich to participate.
See also:
NBC un-plugs Kucinich from Presidential debate
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