DEMOCRACY NOW! FREE SPEECH VICTORY IN FRESNO

DEMOCRACY NOW! FREE SPEECH VICTORY IN FRESNO
By Mike Rhodes

“What part of the ad did they find objectionable,” asked Gerry Bill who is a director on the Fresno Free College Foundation (FFCF) board. Was it Democracy Now? Maybe the City attorney didn’t like the idea of “The War and Peace Report” airing on KFCF 88.1 FM in Fresno. Whatever the motivation behind the denial to place advertising on Fresno City buses, it was an attempt to limit free speech and control important information available to the public.

When KFCF placed the order to have an ad saying DEMOCRACY NOW, KFCF 88.1 FM, WEEKDAYS 9 AM, THE WAR AND PEACE REPORT it looked like everything would go smoothly. The ads were being placed on both Fresno City transit buses and billboards around town to correspond to a fund raising marathon and the threat of war in the Mideast. Vista Media, who places ads on Fresno transit buses, had approved the ad to start in mid-February. There was never any problems with placing the billboard ad.

In early February a KFCF representative received a call from the sales representative at Vista Media saying that the City of Fresno will not accept the ad for the buses. They were told that the City of Fresno’s policy was that "they don't do political" advertising and that they don't allow radio
stations to promote individual shows, only generic advertising. It was pointed out to the advertising agency that there are already several bus ads on transit buses promoting local radio shows and that this is a violation of the stations First Amendment right to free speech.

This was not a free speech fight that was going to be won by arguing with the advertising agency. Vista Media claimed that their hands were tied, so the station took its complaint to City Hall and made plans for a press conference. If the City refused to place the ad the station was determined to take the case for free speech to the public. The ensuing publicity would get the word about Democracy Now out to an even larger audience. But, reason prevailed and the City Attorney’s office realized that they were in an undefendable position. They agreed to place the ads and said the “misunderstanding” was the result of a mistake by staff.

Defending free speech is a constant struggle in this community. One can never take it for granted. This case reminded several people of earlier Free Speech struggles involving transit bus ads in Fresno. In 1981 the Latin American Support Committee placed an ad on the buses that said NO VIETNAM IN EL SALVADOR. That ad had been refused by the advertising agency as being “bad for business” and “too controversial.” In that case, the group took their complaint against the advertising agency to the City Council who unanimously supported placing the ads and directed the ad agency to put the ads on the transit buses. An earlier case involved the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom who put up THINK BEFORE YOU REGISTER FOR THE DRAFT bus ads which were removed. That legal struggle ended up with the City of Fresno removing all advertising on buses for over 10 years.

The publicity surrounding the two earlier cases far surpassed the value of the bus ads. The free speech struggle to get those two ads on the buses resulted in numerous interviews on TV, radio, and articles in The Fresno Bee. The groups could never have afforded to pay for all of the “free” media they received. Fresno is fortunate to have groups that are not only willing to defend their free speech rights but know how to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves in that struggle.

(For more information about KFCF 88.1 FM in Fresno go to http://www.kfcf.org )

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