Dayton Daily News...
More TV stations pull pro-Issue 2 ad
30 have voluntarily kept controversial ad off the air.
By Laura A. Bischoff

October  14,2011

COLUMBUS — Thirty television stations across the state have voluntarily pulled a pro-Issue 2 ad that opponents say distorts a Cincinnati woman’s words to mislead Ohio voters, according to We Are Ohio, the campaign committee opposing the collective bargaining reforms. 

Building a Better Ohio, which favors Issue 2, took video and audio clips from a We Are Ohio ad and incorporated them into their own 30-second spot without making it clear that the star of the ad, Marlene Quinn, wants Ohioans to vote no on Issue 2. Quinn, a great-grandmother from Cincinnati, said she feels violated that Building a Better Ohio used her likeness without her permission. 

We Are Ohio sent letters urging the stations to stop running the ad and started an online petition drive. 

When told that more than two dozen stations had pulled the Building a Better Ohio ad from the airwaves, Republican political strategist Bob Clegg exclaimed, “Oh my God, that’s a lot.” 

Clegg, who did not work on either ad, said while television stations aren’t allowed to refuse candidate ads, they have more discretion to unilaterally pull issue ads. Still, such a move is very rare, he said. 

Building a Better Ohio said earlier this week that it was on firm legal footing to air the ad, regardless of the fact that it did not seek Quinn’s permission to use her words and likeness. 

“The campaign opposing Issue 2 will continue to use their high-priced lawyers to bully and intimidate stations into violating their legal obligations, but we will not yield in our effort to educate voters with the facts. We absolutely stand by the ad, and we will not agree to pull it or replace it. We continue to make our case to stations about our right and their obligation to broadcast this message,” said Building a Better Ohio spokesman Jason Mauk. 

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