In the US presidential elections in 2008 just over a billion dollars will go into ad slots in local newscasts. It’s a spend that’s second only to car ads (in case you wondered what was more important to Americans than politics – it is driving).

I think there’s a lesson here for UK television news. Currently the rules forbidding political advertising are laid down in section 321(2) of the 2003 Communications Act, but they are well summarised here:

a) No advertisement shows undue partiality in matters of political or industrial controversy or relating to current public policy; and

b) No advertisement is broadcast by, or on behalf of, any body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature, and no advertisement is directed towards any political end.

Ofcom will determine whether an ad or a proposed ad is ‘political.’ The term ‘political’ here is used in a wider sense than ‘party political.’ The prohibition includes, for example, issue campaigning for the purposes of influencing legislation or executive action by local, or national (including foreign) governments.

Particular care is required where advertising mentions any government, political party, political movement or state-specific abuse, so as not to break the spirit of these rules, which are intended to prohibit lobbying or electioneering on politically controversial or partisan issues.

c) No advertisement has any relation to any industrial dispute (other than an advertisement of a public service nature inserted by, or on behalf of, a government department).

If you want to provide advertising funded television news then you have to find advertisers interested in reaching the television news audience. FMCG ads are mostly aimed at 16-34 year-olds, which skews advertising-funded programming towards maximising its efforts to reach this audience.

Political advertising would potentially offer a major new revenue source for supporting TV news programmes.

Of course you would need fixed term elections at regular intervals, and more elected offices.

But what would you prefer? An impartial, regulated TV news culture with a robust political advertising market that allows you or groups you support to buy airtime, or an unregulated print news culture where proprietorial or editorial intervention effectively takes those decisions for you?