Posted on 10/06/2004 9:26:31 PM PDT by Libloather
My email to the FCC - fccinfo@fcc.gov - on 9/22/04
Where is the FCC on CBS?
CBS News is investigating ITSELF on felonious behavior? Isn't this the job of the FCC?
What if, after three months, CBS finds NOTHING? Is that when the FCC kicks in?
This issue should be front and center at any and all staff meetings. No FCC investigation will be noticed - by everyone on the Internet.
I fully expect a response from you within one day. Thanks for your help.
The FCC responds 10/06/04 -
You are receiving this email in response to your inquiry to the FCC.
The FCC is prohibited by law from censoring broadcast material, except when the material is determined to be obscene or, if aired during hours when children are likely to be in the audience, indecent. Generally, broadcaster station owners or licensees are responsible for deciding what their stations present to the public and the FCC cannot interfere with these programming decisions except in those instances where a violation of the law is involved.
In addition to enforcing prohibitions in the law against obscene or indecent broadcasts, the FCC previously has ruled that broadcasters, as public trustees, may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC stated that ?rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.? Documented evidence of such rigging or slanting may lead to monetary fines or, in particularly egregious cases, license revocation proceedings. Evidence of this type would include, for example, written or oral statements from ?insiders or persons who have direct personal knowledge of intentional rigging or falsification of the news. Of particular concern would be evidence that news was falsified at the specific direction or order of station management.
Complaints regarding alleged intentional news rigging, distortion or slanting can be filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. Complaints must be in writing and contain documented evidence to support the allegations. For example, it is not sufficient to allege only that a broadcast station made a mistake in reporting a news event. The complaint must include documented evidence to support a finding of deliberate falsification or misrepresentation.
Viewers and listeners are encouraged to submit their concerns and/or comments about a specific news broadcast or commentary, in writing, directly to the local station and network involved, so that the people responsible for making the programming decisions can become better informed about audience opinion.
For an overview of the FCC?s role in regulating broadcast stations, please see a publication entitled ?The FCC and Broadcasting? located on the FCC?s Internet Web sites at
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/decdoc/public and broadcasting.html
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/apolicy/docs/manual.wp
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass Medai/Factsheets/pubbroad.pdf.
How about an on-air apology from the perp involved?
Boy, I bet that got their attention.
Sounds like they are going to allow CBS's argument that it was duped pass without question, and thereby claim they have no standing to investigate. You just have to love the federal bureacracy, don't you?
It appears that a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554 is in order. If CBS is not guilty of "rigging, distorting, and slanting the news, I am Santa Clause riding a mule down Madison Avenue in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!
Complaints regarding alleged intentional news rigging, distortion or slanting can be filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. Complaints must be in writing and contain documented evidence to support the allegations. For example, it is not sufficient to allege only that a broadcast station made a mistake in reporting a news event. The complaint must include documented evidence to support a finding of deliberate falsification or misrepresentation.
What did you use for documented evedance?
I'm surprised they responded at all.
I hate to have to tell you this but that appears to be a canned response. Their site gets an email hit and this automatic response is sent back. Unless you submit a complaint in writing ( as in physical) nothing will happen.
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