The airwaves belong to the public. Broadcasters have been granted hundreds of billions of dollars worth of exclusive licenses to operate on these airwaves, free of charge, on the condition that they serve the public interest.

The biggest expense in modern communications is the cost of communicating on television. Broadcasters have been raising their ad rates just before elections and scaling back on substantive coverage of campaign issues.

To fulfill their public interest obligation and to strengthen our democracy, broadcasters should be required to provide a reasonable amount of free air time for candidate ads, debates and issue discussion before every election, as is done in virtually all of the world's other democracies.

According to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, in a survey done in May 2002, 73 percent of the public supports free air time, with 20 percent opposed and seven percent having no opinion. The poll also found that just 31 percent of Americans realize that the public owns the airwaves, and that 70 percent mistakenly assume that broadcasters pay license fees to use assigned frequencies on the airwaves, while just 11 percent know they get them for free.

Throughout 2002, Utah Progressive Network, Common Cause, and the League of Women Voters will host forums across the state at which civic activists, community leaders and elected officials will discuss the free air time issue.

What can you do? Contact the Alliance for Better Campaigns at Better Campaigns, or call: 1-888-6-FreeTV to get the information you need to become a Free Air Time Activist. You can sign our Free Air Time Declaration, gather signatures in your community, show "The Case for Free Air Time" video to neighbors and friends, and sign up to receive updates and action alerts about the Free Air Time Campaign.

Information on this and related causes is available by visiting the Utah Progressive Network website or by calling 801-466-0955, extension 102.