Channel 7 Catches Flak for Allowing Press Commentary : Television: Political watchdog group tells potential candidate for state insurance commissioner to leave the air, but commentator says he will stay until he makes a decision.

A political reform group is criticizing KABC-TV Channel 7 for allowing Bill Press to remain on its news broadcasts while conducting an exploratory campaign for state insurance commissioner. Press says he will remain on the air until making a decision to run.

“KABC should have asked Bill Press to leave the moment he even began thinking about running for office,” said Mark Haarer, acting director of California Common Cause. “The airwaves have a tremendous impact on how people think, and this relationship will have a tremendous impact on his potential candidacy. It is unfair and may be an abuse of the airwaves for a candidate or potential candidate’s own selfish need.”

While Common Cause has complained directly to KABC when similar cases arose in the past, it has not done so this year, Haarer said, because its executive director, Walter Zelman, also is exploring the possibility of running for state insurance commissioner. Zelman began a leave of absence from his job Sept. 25.

“I did not surrender my constitutional rights when I went to work on radio and television,” Press responded in an interview. “I think it is outrageous for anyone to think I would have to. As a civil libertarian, I find that offensive.”

KABC General Manager Terry Crofoot and news director Roger Bell did not return phone calls from The Times. A broadcaster seeking public office does not come under federal regulation until becoming an official candidate. If he or she remains on the air after that, the station is subject to equal-time requests from other candidates.

Press also co-hosts a weekday talk show on radio station KABC-AM (790), whose general manager, George Green, has no objections to Press remaining on the air.

“He hasn’t made an announcement to me, and until he makes an announcement, he’s not a candidate,” Green said. “Our position is that he has to announce his candidacy, and we’ll treat that situation as we did we with Bruce Herschensohn”--another KABC-AM commentator who continued in his job until he declared himself a U.S. Senate candidate in 1986.

But critics believe that what the Cap Cities/ABC-owned stations are doing is ethically wrong. Bill Zimmerman, campaign consultant for Conway Collis, a Board of Equalization member who has declared his candidacy for insurance commissioner, contends that Channel 7’s decision to allow Press to remain on the air gives him an electoral advantage.

“For a minor office, there are all kind of studies that indicate that name identification is the single largest determinate of voting patterns,” Zimmerman said. “If you don’t have name identification, you have to spend a great amount of money to get it. Bill is getting tens of thousands of dollars of television time weekly and none of that is being disclosed as an in-kind campaign contribution by KABC.”

Press launched his self-described exploratory campaign Oct. 5 with a $250-per-person fund-raiser at a Beverly Hills hotel, and claims to have raised nearly $300,000. Press has also conducted Los Angeles and San Francisco press conferences on earthquake insurance and has participated in three candidate forums.

“Many times, an exploratory campaign is nothing but a device from keeping it an official campaign,” veteran political consultant Joe Cerrell said. “Some people conduct exploratory campaigns when they’re not sure if they are going to run or to keep a job or stay on the air. In Bill’s case, I think it is a case where he wants to stay on the air.”

Press said he has yet to decide if he will officially seek the Democratic nomination for insurance commissioner.

“It looks very good for me, but I have not made a final decision,” Press said. “Running for statewide office is an enormous undertaking, particularly for someone who has never run for public office. I have to be sure all the elements are there before I make a final decision. If my final decision is to go, then I will resign my position, but not before.”

Candidates for all offices on the June ballot are required to file a declaration of intention with the Secretary of State’s office between Jan. 29 and Feb. 7, then must file nomination papers between Feb. 12 and March 9. Press could remain on the air without KABC-TV and KABC-AM falling under the equal-time requirements until turning in his nomination papers.

Press said that he has neither shied away from nor emphasized insurance-related issues on his commentaries.

“The way I approach my job is to discuss the hottest issue of the day,” Press said. “I only talk about insurance when it is far and away the biggest story of the day. I think I probably have talked about insurance three times in the past four or five months.”

This is the third time in four years that Common Cause has raised this issue. In 1985, Zelman wrote to Channel 7 and KABC radio to furlough Herschensohn.

The stations rejected the request. Herschensohn resigned from both stations after announcing his candidacy on Channel 7, then returned after being defeated.

In 1987, Zelman questioned the propriety of Channel 7 allowing Press to give a farewell commentary Nov. 3, 1987, a day after announcing he would be resigning from Channel 7 to seek the 1988 Democratic Senate nomination.

Crofoot, then KABC-TV news director, said at the time that the Federal Communications Commission had concurred with the station’s decision to permit Press on the air and not offer equal time to his then-rival, Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, because Press had not qualified for the ballot yet.

Press withdrew from that race before the June primary, rejoining Channel 7 in April, 1988.

Under federal law, stations must provide equal time to opposing candidates whenever a candidate appears on a broadcast outside of bona-fide newscasts, interview programs, documentaries and on-the-spot coverage of news events.

The practical impact of the law forces candidates with jobs in the media to relinquish their positions during the campaign.

The law also applies to actors turned candidates, which barred Ronald Reagan movies from the airwaves during his political campaigns.

In 1980, when KHJ-TV inadvertently ran “Starfighters,” a movie starring Rep. Robert K. Dornan, the station gave his opponent, Carey Peck, 16 minutes of air time to equalize the time Dornan was on the screen.

Perhaps the strictest interpretation of the law came when George Takei sought a Los Angeles City Council seat in 1973. Channel 4 refrained from showing animated versions of “Star Trek,” which included him supplying the voice of Mr. Sulu.