Annenberg policy center brokers talks on free TV time

Public Policy Center's Washington office hosts negotiations between networks, presidential campaign representatives The Annenberg Public Policy Center is playing a key role in the latest negotiations regarding free television time for presidential candidates --Ean issue that has been a hot topic nationally since last spring. On Wednesday, various television executives met with the Free TV for Straight Talk Coalition in the Washington office of the Public Policy Center to work toward a final agreement. Campaign representatives for President Bill Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole recently accepted a proposal from Fox television to air 10 one-minute candidate statements on various issues in the weeks leading up to Election Day. The coalition supports a plan in which 2-1/2 minute mini-speeches will be shown once a night during prime-time hours. Beginning after the last presidential debate, the candidates would deliver their speeches on alternating nights. The Public Broadcasting System has also agreed to the coalition plan. Douglas Rivlin, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center's Washington office, said Wednesday's meeting did not bring a final agreement. "It was really [just] an opportunity to bring everyone together in the same room," he said, adding that the meeting allowed all of the participants to see "what needs to be done to make this happen." Coalition Executive Director Paul Taylor noted that each network has already "put offers on the table." Fox's offer is the only one that both campaigns have approved. But Taylor explained that the coalition is hoping the networks will come together on the free television time issue. He added that he hopes to develop a "road block," so all of the networks would show the mini-speeches at the same time. If that occurs, viewers would be less likely to switch channels, Taylor said. He also noted that the mini-speeches setup would create a "running debate," that could serve as a "complement to the longer debates." Annenberg School for Communication Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson said a standard format, in which the candidates will talk directly to the camera, gives them "an alternative form of discourse for the low-involvement viewer." Taylor stressed that these mini-speeches would be better than campaign advertising, in which gimmicks, rather than actual candidate appearances, are often the focus. In addition, he said he hopes the mini-speech format will help to break the "vicious cycle" in which candidates, voters and journalists "bring out the worst in each other." "We're too smart a democracy to project such dumb political campaigns," Taylor said. Although Taylor worked "informally" with Jamieson for several months, the Annenberg Public Policy Center became officially involved with the coalition through a funding proposal, he explained. The Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trust, which gave Taylor his original grant for the coalition's formation, "sort of married us together," Taylor said. If the Pew Charitable Trust accepts a joint funding proposal by Annenberg and the coalition, the new grant will be "funnelled" through the Annenberg Public Policy Center -- the trust would give the money to the center, which would pass it on to the coalition. Jamieson said the role of the Annenberg Public Policy Center has been "to provide a base for [the coalition] to work from." Rivlin explained that center will also be involved with research following the election, to investigate the effects of free air time on various components, such as voter turnout.