Posted on 10/11/2017 10:37:57 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
Introduction. As noted above, in light of the fundamental importance of the free flow of information to our democracy, the First Amendment and the Communications Act bar the FCC from telling station licensees how to select material for news programs, or prohibiting the broadcast of an opinion on any subject. We also do not review anyone’s qualifications to gather, edit, announce, or comment on the news; these decisions are the station licensee’s responsibility. Nevertheless, there are two issues related to broadcast journalism that are subject to Commission regulation: hoaxes and news distortion.
Hoaxes. The broadcast by a station of false information concerning a crime or catastrophe violates the FCC's rules if:
the station licensee knew that the information was false,
broadcasting the false information directly causes substantial public harm, and
it was foreseeable that broadcasting the false information would cause such harm.
In this context, a “crime” is an act or omission that makes the offender subject to criminal punishment by law, and a “catastrophe” is a disaster or an imminent disaster involving violent or sudden events affecting the public. The broadcast must cause direct and actual damage to property or to the health or safety of the general public, or diversion of law enforcement or other public health and safety authorities from their duties, and the public harm must begin immediately. If a station airs a disclaimer before the broadcast that clearly characterizes the program as fiction and the disclaimer is presented in a reasonable manner under the circumstances, the program is presumed not to pose foreseeable public harm. Additional information about the hoax rule can be found on the FCC’s website at Broadcasting False Information.
News Distortion. The Commission often receives complaints concerning broadcast journalism, such as allegations that stations have aired inaccurate or one-sided news reports or comments, covered stories inadequately, or overly dramatized the events that they cover. For the reasons noted above, the Commission generally will not intervene in such cases because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own.
However, as public trustees, broadcast licensees may not intentionally distort the news: the FCC has stated that “rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.”
The Commission will investigate a station for news distortion if it receives documented evidence of such rigging or slanting, such as testimony or other documentation, from individuals with direct personal knowledge that a licensee or its management engaged in the intentional falsification of the news. Of particular concern would be evidence of the direction to employees from station management to falsify the news. However, absent such a compelling showing, the Commission will not intervene. For additional information about news distortion, see Broadcast Journalism Complaints.
Political Broadcasting: Candidates for Public Office. In recognition of the particular importance of the free flow of information to the public during the electoral process, the Communications Act and the Commission’s rules impose specific obligations on broadcasters regarding political speech.
Reasonable Access. The Communications Act requires that broadcast stations provide “reasonable access” to candidates for federal elective office. Such access must be made available during all of a station’s normal broadcast schedule, including television prime time and radio drive time. In addition, federal candidates are entitled to purchase all classes of time offered by stations to commercial advertisers, such as preemptible and non-preemptible time. The only exception to the access requirement is for bona fide news programming (as defined below), during which broadcasters may choose not to sell airtime to federal candidates. Broadcast stations have discretion as to whether to sell time to candidates in state and local elections.
Equal Opportunities. The Communications Act requires that, when a station provides airtime to a legally qualified candidate for any public office (federal, state, or local), the station must “afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office.” The equal opportunities provision of the Communications Act also provides that the station “shall have no power of censorship over the material broadcast” by the candidate. The law exempts from the equal opportunities requirement appearances by candidates during bona fide news programming, defined as an appearance by a legally qualified candidate on a bona fide newscast, interview, or documentary (if the appearance of the candidate is incidental to the presentation of the subject covered by the documentary) or on–the–spot coverage of a bona fide news event (including debates, political conventions and related incidental activities).
In addition, a station must sell political advertising time to certain candidates during specified periods before a primary or general election at the lowest rate charged for the station’s most favored commercial advertiser. Stations must maintain and make available for public inspection, in their public inspection files, a political file containing certain documents and information, discussed at page 28 of this Manual. For additional information about the political rules, see Political Programming.
It is all propaganda now. Who gets to decide when enough is enough? I’m with the President. ....close down a few....see if it improves.
More appropriate headline...
ASS KISSER RINO SUCKS UP TO DEMOCRAT PROPAGANDA MACHINE IN SHOW OF GREAT COWARDICE....
The left, the ‘we call ourselves right’, the elites, the media, the stars, the swamp creatures, the rinos, the ‘entertainers’; they convene and plot against us. Out of the blue, incoming from all directions. They’ve nowhere to hide and no place to escape. The London blitz has now made its way to American politics. “THE BIG UGLY” is now in play. What is being seen is far more entertaining than the biggest blockbuster on any movie screen. Feeling quite deviant, find the plot more than entertaining. Running low on popped corn.
BRAVO! PDJT! The nation awaits the second act. We’re LOVIN’ THIS.
DJT = MAGA
Partisan no, but lying and deceiving yes.
Sorry Bennie. The First Amendment does not protect FAKE NEWS.
sasse is an asse. Are all our “leaders” such ignorant, uninformed nincompoops?
Sobering.
Newspapers also? Or is this just broadcasters?
The RINOs just keep on outing themselves.
They can’t help it..................
Losing a license is remotely possible for an over-the-air broadcast station, although it's not a realistic scenario in the least.
But in any event:
The "networks" aren't licensed by the FCC or any other comparable gov't body. So the question is basically moot.
(Some of the networks also hold a few over-the-air broadcast licenses. But it's inconceivable that a federal appeals court would ever uphold an FCC decision to revoke a broadcast license just because a deliberately false news story was run on the parent network. Just not the way the law is gonna work.)
Sasse that figures. A never Trump RINO.
Thanks. Are you a lawyer or something?
Who the #### would believe he wants to increase it ten fold lol!?!?!
The alphabets would disgust me if i’ve watched them in years.
Well, I read about them here so they disgust me anyway.
Now I watch shows on amazon prime, which means i’m STILL contributing to a liberal.
But i’ve shut out target and budweiser (ever since the gay marriage commercials on the NFL last year) so i’m doing my part.
Target’s stock has SUNK
Little Bennie reminding us that he is ready welling and able to become the new McAmnesty when the current one dies.
Where would GWBush had been if he had fought the press as Trump has done, hung them on their own petard of open political bias instead of objective “news”? How much in 2007, 2008 would Obama and Billary, Inc. gotten caught up, and caught in it, and how would have altered GOP chances in November 2008?
As the poster above pointed out, they own stations in the major city and those stations are licensed and taking those licenses would definitely hurt them.
But, if you remember Janet Jackson’s nipple, it was the affliates that faced discipline.
Convenient that pretty much every gop scum that speaks out against the President isn’t up for reelection until 2020. The 2018 people are keeping their mouth shut for the most part.
“The President’s words matter”
Does that include his agenda that he’s talked about for two years now?
The specific wasn’t about “negative press”. It was about “making stuff up.”
LOL! Excellent.
Coming to a theater on your desktop THE BIG UGLY, starring Harvey Weinstein, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Roger Goodell.
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