Public TV Tells Craig To Cut It Out Minnick Denounces Senator’s Latest Ad; Public TV Says Use Of Clips Unauthorized

Idaho Public Television has asked Sen. Larry Craig’s campaign to stop using an ad that focuses on a short clip of opponent Walt Minnick during a televised debate.

Minnick also called Monday for Craig to pull the ad, saying it uses his comment out of context to create a misleading impression. Minnick dubbed the ad a “video smear tactic.”

Public TV acting general manager Peter Morrill said the ad makes unauthorized use of copyrighted material from public TV.

“We have never authorized any of our material to be used in political campaigns,” Morrill said Monday. “We really see public television as a place that people go to for quality information, and we don’t think it serves the public good to give permission to political campaigns to excerpt our material.”

Craig said his campaign would adjust the ad to avoid violating the copyright law, but would continue to run it.

“They are accurate,” Craig said. “They tell exactly what Walt said during the debate, so they will run.”

Craig added, “Walt is now experiencing the kind of ads that I’ve been experiencing for the last month.”

Political ads from both sides in the race have become increasingly nasty as the election approaches. Sometimes, they’ve departed from the truth.

The new ad, which began running statewide Friday, opens with an announcer saying, “Almost 2 million gallons of high-level radioactive liquid waste and 261 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel rods are stored above Idaho’s Snake River aquifer. What’s Walt Minnick’s solution to removing nuclear waste?”

It then shows a short clip of Minnick during the Sept. 29 Idaho Public TV debate, saying, “I do have a solution: We should leave it where it is.”

The announcer then continues, “Walt Minnick’s running a negative campaign of lies to hide the fact that the only solution he can come up with is,” and then the clip of Minnick is shown again, with an echo effect on the sound as he says, “We should leave it where it is.”

“That’s not a plan, Walt, that’s a disaster,” the announcer concludes.

Minnick said his point was that the world’s nuclear waste should be left where it is until a permanent repository is opened, rather than shipped to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory for interim storage.

“Everyone knows that my position is that we should leave it where it is: In foreign countries, in Nebraska, elsewhere in the United States,” Minnick said Monday.

Under questioning, Minnick admitted that his position does mean existing waste would be left in Idaho until there is a permanent place to store it.

During the debate, Minnick’s statement continued:

“And I do have a solution: We should leave it where it is until we can ship it to a permanent nuclear waste storage site. And we shouldn’t be shipping it willy-nilly around the country, down our highways and across our roads or bringing it in from 41 nations around the world until this happens. Let’s leave it where it is until we can send it to a permanent site that the scientists, not the politicians, pick.”

Craig’s campaign pointed to new Minnick ads that criticize Craig for accepting money from the tobacco and nuclear industries and conclude, “Craig: a campaign of smoke to hide the fact that he’s inhaling PAC money.”

Craig said, “I am tremendously disappointed in the negative campaign. I’ve noticed now for two months a barrage of negative campaign ads against myself and Congressman (Helen) Chenoweth.”

But he said he didn’t consider his own new ad negative. “I do not believe when you simply reflect what a candidate has said, that that’s negative.”

, DataTimes