TV stations begin publishing political ad spending

From Mark Binker at WRAL.com:

A key battleground in contests for president, governor and Congress became easier to understand Thursday when the Federal Communications Commission began publishing information on how much candidates and their allies are spending on televised political advertisements...

Starting Aug. 2, 2012, the FCC will collect the information in those station public files electronically and post it online. Only certain station's in the nation's top 50 markets will be required to start sharing political information electronically immediately, with the remainder to follow July 1, 2014. Still, open government advocates and journalists say it is a big step toward openness.

The article explains why it is important that the TV ad expense is reported and why it is so hard to get good data. Good job, Mark.