Posted on 10/23/2015 10:58:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
While it may not sound like it, this story might wind up being good news for future campaigns. As you will recall, Saturday Night Live tossed Hillary Clinton a huge favor a few weeks ago when they had her appear on the show as a friendly bartender talking to her SNL doppelganger. Shortly after that we learned that Donald Trump had been invited to host the show, no doubt including multiple skits for him to star in. For both of these campaigns that’s potentially good news because it’s hits a young audience that probably doesn’t spend their entire day with their eyes glued to either C-SPAN or CNN. How they handle the opportunity is up to them, but if you can’t handle the heat you should stay out of the sketch comedy kitchen. (The folks who run that show hated Sarah Palin and yet she managed to turn an appearance on the show into a huge plus.)
But with Trump taking the stage, the FCC has been roused from their long slumber and will now enforce equal time rules for the campaigns. Or so they think. (National Journal)
The head of the Federal Communications Commission promised Thursday to enforce his agency’s regulations requiring television stations to give political candidates equal opportunities for airtime.
“The rules are pretty clear. Rules are rules,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told reporters Thursday. “I hope that we have developed a reputation as folks who enforce the rules.”
Hillary Clinton’s appearance earlier this month on Saturday Night Live could trigger the so-called “equal-time” rules, as could Donald Trump’s plan to host the long-running NBC comedy show next month. That doesn’t necessarily mean Lincoln Chafee will be the next host of SNL—but it could mean that local NBC affiliates across the country will have to give presidential candidates access to equal TV time.
The rule in question was passed in 1934 when there were approximately five televisions in the country and radio stations generally stuck to “news as news” and they didn’t invite political candidates to do guest appearances on The Shadow. I suppose the intention was a good one, but as the medium has expanded over the years the rules have struggled to keep up. They don’t apply to cable TV, but the network stations are, in theory, supposed to give equal time to “legally qualified” candidates. But even there the implementation of the rules is fuzzy at best. News programs are excluded (which make sense) but they lump late night talk shows in with them. Jimmy Kimmel has a news show? Who knew?
So how will they handle the situation with Trump hosting SNL? He may wind up having thirty or more minutes on screen. The FCC admits that they can’t turn around and force NBC to let the other two Democrats and the remaining 15 Republicans all host the show or even appear on it. So they will have to force “local NBC affiliates” around the country to provide an equal number of minutes to all the rest. Does that sound like a fair deal or anything remotely resembling equality? Trump gets thirty minutes on SNL which gets rebroadcast endlessly in clips on all the cable news shows for days on end and Ted Cruz gets fifteen minutes each on two different cooking shows in Albuquerque and Boise?
SNL is entertainment (depending on your tastes) and they cover political topics. You’re either going to have to ban “legally qualified” candidates from appearing on all such shows or give up the ghost. There’s too broad of a menu of television options today to ever attempt the level of control they’re trying for and all shows are not created equally. Rather than stepping in to enforce this rule, perhaps this is a good opportunity to take a fresh look at either repealing it entirely or at least scaling it back a bit.
“Thou Shalt Not Allow Conservative, that is,
Anti-Revolutionary Points of View, Without Complete and Total Repudiation”
Commandment #3 from the fellow traveler handbook
/s/
IMHO
A preening, ridiculous Obama? A cackling, malevolent Hillary? Joltin’ Joe Biden? That socialist whatshisname with`60s Macusian twaddle reeking from his pores?
Trump should demand that the FCC do just that: make SNL do a freak show as well.
That’s odd. WHERE we they when St. Hillary was on ‘SNL’?
Oh, forgot. The DNC machine controls all.
the EPA
The FCC
Laws are for Republicans and “normal people” to follow.
News flash doooooshes....the time for concern was when Hitlery was on
Somehow, I think Lindsey Graham is behind this little charade. “I am a South Carolina Senator, on the Senate Budget Committee. I can push a plan to drastically REDUCE OR ELIMINATE the funding for the FCC, if fair access rules are not adhered to. Do ya’ll get my meaning yet?
Hillary was on SNL...so why shouldn’t Trump be on there, or any of the others for that fact...good enough for St. SHILL, good enough for everyone!!!
She was on 3 minutes plus. Any Dem can do the same...but there aren’t any candidates....’cept Sanders.
She was on 3 minutes plus.
That’s too much. By all of it.
NBC as a network isn’t licensed by the FCC. Individual stations that broadcast on the public airwaves are. That’s why the FCC has to pressure the local stations, not the NBC network.
(NBC O&Os are an exception, because they are also “local broadcasters.”)
Will the FCC get interested in all the praise and support given to the democrat party by ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, NYT, WaPo, on and on? Will they now be required to give equal time to opposing points of view? Something tells me “no.”
the EPA
The FCC
The IRS
They can perform SNL and if they wish allow all Democrats and Republican runners to appear behind a glass sitting down waving to everyone for part of a show.
I am so going to enjoy it when President Trump puts the word out that Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is always welcome to call or drop by if something is on his mind affecting his State, but that when it comes to Graham it will be ‘Lindsey who?’ LOL
Damn. Lincoln Chaffee dropped out too soon. Hosting SNL would have been his one accomplishment for his entire career.
Well, O’Malley and Chafee. They could really use the 3 minutes.
Yes, I agree. Certainly...
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