Two Unrelated Stories...But Are They?

Trey Smith

Here are two news stories than, on first blush, are completely unrelated. Story #1 involves a Michigan ballot initiative.

Opponents of Michigan's emergency manager law who had gathered more than enough petitions to put the law on the November ballot were told yesterday that it wouldn't happen because the petitions had used the wrong font size.

Organizers had hoped to suspend Public Act 4, the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act, also known as the “emergency financial manager law” signed by Gov. Snyder last year. The Center for Public Integrity explained that with the law, "appointed managers can nullify labor contracts, sell public utilities and dismiss elected officials." Greatly contested was the ability of emergency managers under this law to nullify collective bargaining agreements.

Even though organizers had gathered 203,000 petition signatures, about 40,000 more than necessary to put a repeal on the ballot, the Board of State Canvassers was unable to accept the petitions due to a deadlock 2-2 vote with the two Republican members of the board ruling out the petitions, saying the size of the font on the heading was incorrect.

Just so we're clear, there are very specific requirements for citizens and groups who plan to circulate ballot initiatives in Michigan. As this article underscores, the controversy centers on the font size utilized for the heading of the initiative petitions.

Story #2 concerns a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling on "Friday morning to require broadcasters to post political ad data on the Web, making it easier for the public to see how as much as $3.2 billion will be spent on TV advertising in this election." But here's the part that should catch your eye.

The rule will first apply to affiliates of the four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) in the top 50 TV markets. All other stations will have until July 2014 to comply...Then there’s the crucial question of the format in which the files will be available. FCC spokeswoman Janice Wise told ProPublica that the commission is not creating a searchable database of the political ad files.

“We’ll accept whatever [file] format they provide,” she said in an email.

That will make it much more difficult to analyze the information.

So, let's recap. When it comes to citizens wanting to change laws, the requirements for circulating paperwork are very exact and stringent. Make a small error and there's a good chance your efforts will be for naught. Yet, when it comes to major corporations, the requirements for a governmental ruling in the public interest are anything but stringent. They get to choose their own format and, if each media corporation decides to choose a different one, that's okay!!