KUSI Called Upon To Acknowledge Campaign Contribution to CPR Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Evan McLaughlin
Cell #: 619-850-2790

KUSI Called Upon To Acknowledge Campaign Contribution to CPR Campaign

Broadcast of Station-Sponsored Sign-A-Thon Must Include Disclaimer Like Other Campaign Commercials

SAN DIEGO – (Wednesday, September 14, 2011) – An attorney for the Just Say No, San Diego campaign demanded this morning that KUSI-TV acknowledge the 90-minute pension initiative “Sign-A-Thon” it plans to air on Thursday evening is a reportable campaign contribution to the ballot measure’s campaign committee, not news.

In a letter to the station’s general manager this morning, attorney Stephen Kauffman notified KUSI that its Sign-A-Thon triggers disclosure requirements because communications to the campaign indicate the program’s purpose is advocacy for the qualification of the ballot measure.  If the station fails to add a written disclosure during the show or fails to report a campaign contribution, formal complaints will be filed with the San Diego Ethics Commission and the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

“The monetary value of KUSI’s Sign-A-Thon is unknown to us, but 90 minutes of evening programming on the station is very significant,” said Evan McLaughlin, a spokesman with the Just Say No, San Diego campaign. “KUSI admits they’re providing major resources to aid the petition gathering efforts, so they need to come clean about being a financial supporter by disclosing that to their viewers and the voting public.”

The Sign-A-Thon is being promoted by KUSI and supporters of the pension ballot measure campaign as an effort to advertise in favor of having San Diego voters sign petitions to qualify the initiative for the June 2012 ballot. The proponents have until Oct. 14 to submit 94,346 valid signatures of City of San Diego voters in order to qualify the measure.

The Just Say No, San Diego campaign has been notified by KUSI that a response to the letter is forthcoming today. The letter is attached.

The “Just Say No, San Diego” campaign is a sponsored committee of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, 4305 University Ave. #340, San Diego, CA  92108. ID # 1338947.

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