Posted on 10/12/2004 10:29:52 AM PDT by LeftCoastNeoCon
Edited on 10/12/2004 11:02:58 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
FCC COMMISSIONER STATEMENT ON SINCLAIR AIRING OF ANTI-KERRY SHOW
Tue Oct 12 2004 13:39:02 ET
FCC COMMISSIONER COPPS CRITICIZES SINCLAIR CORPORATE DECISION TO PREEMPT LOCAL STATIONS FOR POLITICAL BROADCAST
Commissioner Michael J. Copps reacted to reports that Sinclair Broadcast Group will preempt more than 60 local stations across the country to air an overtly political program in the days prior to the Presidential election.
Copps stated: "This is an abuse of the public trust. And it is proof positive of media consolidation run amok when one owner can use the public airwaves to blanket the country with its political ideology -- whether liberal or conservative.Some will undoubtedly question if this is appropriate stewardship of the public airwaves. This is the same corporation that refused to air Nightline's reading of our war dead in Iraq. It is the same corporation that short-shrifts local communities and local jobs by distance-casting news and weather from hundreds of miles away.It is a sad fact that the explicit public interest protections we once had to ensure balance continue to be weakened by the Federal Communications Commission while it allows media conglomerates to get even bigger. Sinclair, and the FCC, are taking us down a dangerous road."
END
The Today Show devoted three days worth of time to Kitty Kelley and her hack job of a book (which contributed to it being #1 on the bestseller list), less than a month and a half before the election, and the libs are upset about this?
Sinclair is reportedly allowing Kerry equal time on their stations if he wants to respond to the documentary.
I wonder if Ollie North would put "Stolen Honor" on during his Sunday "War Stories" time slot. Ollie can't stand Kerry.
FCC has many members. Is this turkey one of the DemonRATS? I think it's evenly divided or do I know what I'm talking about???
Actually that's false, the Today show trimmed back the coverage of Kelley's book to one day and ended up saying she was nuts.
Nominated May 1, 2001; confirmed May 25, 2001; sworn in May 31, 2001. Copps served until January 2001 as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Basic Industries. Copps came to Washington in 1970, joining the staff of Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and serving for over a dozen years as Chief of Staff. He has also held positions at Collins and Aikman Corporation and the American Meat Institute. Before coming to Washington, Copps was a professor of U.S. History at Loyola University of the South. Copps received a B.A. from Wofford College and earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He's a leftie. What more can one expect.
I'm don't think the FCC has the ability to pre-empt a programming decision. That would be outright censorship. I think the FCC has to wait for a member of the public to file a complaint in response to actual, not intended, programming. Then the Commission can take action.
So the broadcasting company might get fined--or their license(s) could even be pulled--after the fact. But I don't think the FCC can prevent the program from airing.
I could be wrong--the FCC might be able to seek an injunction from a court.
Am I MISSING SOMETHING HERE??
The Commissioner of the FCC is COPPS? Right?
and he says:
"It is a sad fact that the explicit public interest protections we once had to ensure balance continue to be weakened by the Federal Communications Commission while it allows media conglomerates to get even bigger. Sinclair, and the FCC, are taking us down a dangerous road.”
WHY is he saying that the FCC?? is weakening the public interest? What am I missing please?
G
Pray for W and Our Troops
I'm pretty sure that the FCC, as a commission, has a number of appointed members. Copps is one of the members, and appears to disagree with the direction the Commission as a whole is taking.
You and me too!! As soon as a show shows ones of those things you mentioned, it's gone in my house. I'll rent movies if I have to, though usually don't since we have a dish, and can usually fond something. It's a shame really, because some of my favorite shows are now ruined!
These Networks prefer to force feed us their ideology. They want us all to live as they do, in one big Reality TV show. But very few viewers are watching.
Did anyone see the comedian on Conan last night? This comedian said they were trying to bring back the sitcom. And that Network TV is (his word) screwed, cuz of their insistance to keep making more reality shows.
That is not in the documentary. It is about the POW's and what they went through because of Queery.
I missed Mark Hyman, gonna have to go to his site and hear it or read it!
This is ONE MAN'S OPINION....*****NOT THE FCC OPINION****
Neither are we, in Kerry's home state, but we get "The Point" on wggb (abc), so therefore I assume that is Sinclair.
FCC CommissionersThe FCC is directed by five Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for 5-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairperson. Only three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them can have a financial interest in any Commission-related business.
See #175
already done here :)
Oh, I CeeBS!! Thanks VERY much for clarifying this for me...I usually am able to figure this out but my mind is "jello, jello, jello...."
Try to remember the files of September...
I can't even count the number of shows we stopped watching. Some of them were later canceled anyway, but we just just decided we didn't have to sit here and be insulted. We'd watch a documentary on migration patterns of wild elk before we'll put up with that.
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