The Alabama Policy Institute (API) is joining Gov. Bob Riley, Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP) and others in utilizing the Internet to educate Alabama voters of the dangers of expanding gambling in the state.
The videos are produced by the group’s New Media division and are available via the API’s YouTube Channel for New Media. The first video, released April 8, was viewed more than 1,200 times in its first five days of release. A second video will be available by the end of April with at least one more to follow, according to Gary Palmer, president of the API.
The message of the videos, like others produced by others around the state, is that the Sweet Home Alabama campaign is using deceptive tactics to promote the expansion of gambling in Alabama.
“They say this will end illegal gambling by making it legal,” Palmer said. “That’s like saying we are going to end illegal drug use by opening crack houses.”
In the video, he says the Sweet Home Alabama ads blanketing TV, radio and mailboxes fail to inform Alabamians of the social costs of gambling.
“The gambling interests promise the moon, but when you take into account all the economic and social costs the state and local governments must bear, in the long run, all the gambling interests bring … is the economic equivalent of a hole in the ground.”
Todd Stacy, press secretary for Riley, who also appears in the first video, said he is glad the API and others are telling the truth about the Sweet Home Alabama campaign.
“Sweet Home Alabama sounds good but it’s a fraud. It should be called Sweet Hoax Alabama,” he said.
Stacy said the reality of the legislation is that a small group of individuals would get very wealthy by building mega-casinos in Alabama, which is something the Sweet Home Alabama ads fail to mention.
Joe Godfrey, executive director of ALCAP, praised the efforts of groups and individuals who have used the Internet to get their message to the public.
“Financially we can’t compete in traditional media outlets,” he said. “The Internet is a useful resource for us, but we are dependent on people forwarding the message to others.”
To view the API video and other anti-gambling videos, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org.
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