"Shameful report" exposes right-wing TV ad

I'm coming to this story belatedly; still catching up after several days out of town.

Owen over at Boots and Sabers blog had his undies in a bundle this week over WISN-TV's news coverage of a commercial being aired by the Coalition for American Families, Wisconsin's newest right wing goon squad.

In a post entitled, "WISN's Attack Story," B&S says the Milwaukee ABC affiliate "had a shameful report" about the group's television commercial.

The commercial in question features a Latino actress speaking to camera. She says:

"Governor Doyle wants to raise taxes and fees by $368 million so he can give illegal aliens lower college tuition.

"We followed the rules.

"We became citizens.

"We work hard to save money so our daughter will be the first one in our family to go to college.

"We shouldn't have to pay more taxes to fund illegal aliens.

"It's hard enough to save the money to send our own children to college."

Back to Owen at B&S: "First, they brought out a woman from some liberal Hispanic organization to denounce the ad as racist. Unless we are now considering illegal aliens to be a race unto themselves, I fail to see how the ad could be construed as racist.

"Second, they attacked the ad as factually incorrect. WISN completely misconstrued the ad, which, I may mention, they never actually showed on the air. The ad is saying that Doyle wants to increase taxes and fees by $368 million. This is true. Part of those increases by Doyle are intended to fund the illegal aliens provision. Also true. . .

". . .Coalition for America's Families is attacking Doyle's tax increase and are highlighting specific, and particular egregious, spending increases. What does WISN expect them to do? Scroll a complete list of every new spending program that Doyle has proposed? That would take a 3-hour infomercial.

"WISN either deliberately twisted the ad in order to portray it as factually incorrect, or they are so utterly incompetent that they do not know how to interpret the English language.

"WISN's report might as well have been a response ad from a liberal 527. It was advocacy dressed up like a news report."

Those were excerpts. You can read the whole rant yourself here. Watch the ad here.

What actually aired

OK, we've given Owen more than his fair share of space, even if I have edited his outrage somewhat. My turn now; the blogmaster always gets the final word.

The actual story that ran on Channel 12 (WISN) was a far cry from what Owen described. It almost qualifies as what Charlie Sykes would call a blatant act of journalism.

Instead of just cashing the check from the Coalition for America's Families (Going to have to think of a shorter handle for them), and airing the ads, WISN actually asked a few questions and checked a few facts.

Here's what their story said:

ANCHOR: A T-V COMMERCIAL THAT WILL START AIRING TOMORROW IN MILWAUKEE IS ALREADY STIRRING SOME CONTROVERSY. THE AD FROM 'THE COALITION FOR FAMILIES' CALLS ON WISCONSINITES TO CONTACT GOVERNOR DOYLE TO EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT A PLAN TO OFFER IN-STATE COLLEGE TUITION TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS. SOME LATINO COMMUNITY LEADERS SAY THE COMMERCIAL HAS RACIAL OVERTONES.

REPORTER: Beginning Monday viewers in the Milwaukee area will see this commercial... it's from a conservative non-profit group based in Middleton... The ad claims that Governor Doyle's budget proposal allowing undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition is hurting taxpayers.

COMMERCIAL : "We shouldn't have to pay more taxes to fund illegal aliens ."

REPORTER: We showed the ad to Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the director of a local low wage and immigrant worker center... she calls it a racial attack and anti-immigrant...

CHRISTINE NEUMMANN-ORTIZ: "That really is what racism has always been about, denying equality, humanity and equal opportunities to others."

REPORTER: Factually the ad doesn't add up...

COMMERCIAL Governor Doyle wants to raise taxes and fees by $368 million so he can give illegal aliens lower college tuition

REPORTER: The reality is much different, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Undocumented immigrants under Governor Doyle's proposal would save about 65 hundred dollars a year in the technical college system and just under 4 grand in the UW System. It's estimated that around 120 undocumented students would take advantage ... putting the actual budget cost at anywhere from 775 thousand dollars to around 475 thousand dollars... a big difference from 368 million.

NEUMANN-ORTIZ: They're kind of playing on race and they're playing on a convenient scapegoat.

REPORTER: The release of this commercial comes the same week a group of Republican legislators are expected to try and remove the bill from the budget... an effort they expect to win...

COMMERCIAL: Do we want to reward illegal behavior by giving special breaks for illegal aliens?
REPORTER, BRENDAN CONWAY: CURRENTLY UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS CAN GO TO WISCONSIN COLLEGES, BUT THEY HAVE TO PAY OUT OF STATE TUITION AND DO NOT RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID... THE HEAD OF THE GROUP THAT IS PAYING FOR THE ADS WOULD NOT SAY HOW MUCH THEY ARE SPENDING.. BUT HE SAYS IT'S AIRING ENOUGH OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS THAT THE TYPICAL VIEWER SHOULD SEE IT 5 TIMES

Xoff's final word: Are there racial/racist overtones to the commercial? Of course. Why use a Latino actress, who speaks in Spanish-tinged English, to deliver the message? Because they want viewers to think of illegal Mexican immigrants. Does Owen think the commercial is talking about illegals from Iran or Ireland?

They want you to think these students just waded the Rio Grande to enroll at UW. In fact, to qualify a student would have to: (1) be a graduate of a Wisconsin high school, (2) have lived in the state three years, (3) either have applied for a permanent resident visa or certify he/she will apply for one as soon as the person is legally eligible. These are students who are trying to do the right thing.

If this isn't an appeal to racism and isn't pandering to people's worst instincts and fears, why, of the thousands of spending items in Doyle's state budget, have they chosen this relatively inexpensive, obscure provision -- one that might apply to 120 students, and one they know the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee is certain to remove?

What do you think?

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AP story says nine other states have passed similar legislation.