The history of the fairness doctrine and of related legislation shows that the FCC's action in the Red Lion case did not exceed its authority, and that, in adopting the new regulations, the FCC was implementing congressional policy. 717) as abridging the freedoms of speech and press.ġ. The rules, as adopted and amended, were held unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals in RTNDA (No. After the commencement of the Red Lion litigation, the FCC began a rulemaking proceeding to make the personal attack aspect of the fairness doctrine more precise and more readily enforceable, and to specify its rules relating to political editorials. The Court of Appeals upheld the FCC's position. had failed to meet its obligation under the fairness doctrine when it carried a program which constituted a personal attack on one Cook, and ordered it to send a transcript of the broadcast to Cook and provide reply time, whether or not Cook would pay for it. 2, the FCC declared that petitioner Red Lion Broadcasting Co. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has for many years imposed on broadcasters a "fairness doctrine," requiring that public issues be presented by broadcasters and that each side of those issues be given fair coverage. Broadcast entities receive licenses from the government, and their rights come with responsibilities to provide fair, unbiased coverage so that listeners are informed. The government has more authority over broadcast media because of the scarcity rationale, which is based on the limited space of the air waves. The First Amendment rights of viewers and listeners are more important than the rights of the broadcasters in this context. The regulations and rulings are constitutional and within the scope of the agency's statutory authority. It is based on the theory that broadcast frequencies are limited, and many parties may be unable to express their views through this medium if they lack government assistance. The fairness doctrine, developed by the FCC, requires radio and television broadcasters to present both sides of public issues in discussions on broadcast stations. Red Lion argued that this application of the fairness doctrine was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The FCC also planned a rulemaking that would allow it to more effectively enforce the fairness doctrine and its implications for personal attacks. It ruled that the presentation was in fact a public attack, which required offering free reply time to Cook. It found that Red Lion had failed to comply with the fairness doctrine that affects broadcast media and requires providing free reply time to the target of the attack as well as sending him a tape, transcript, or summary of the presentation. When WGCB refused, the FCC became involved. Edgar Hoover and the CIA, and had written the Goldwater book to smear his reputation.Ĭook demanded reply time on the station to respond to what he perceived as a personal attack. He also claimed that Cook had supported Communist sympathizer Alger Hiss, had worked for a Communist publication, had criticized J. Hargis alleged that Cook had been fired from the newspaper where he worked because he had filed false charges against city officials. Cook entitled Goldwater-Extremist to the Right. It broadcasted a 15-minute presentation by the Reverend Billy James Hargis in its Christian Crusade Series, during which Hargis discussed a book by Fred J. A Pennsylvania radio station, WGCB, was operated by the Red Lion Broadcasting Co.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |