Regulation of Broadcast Indecency: Background and Legal Analysis
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Brief of Petitioner for FCC V. Fox Television Stations, 07-582
No. 07-582 In the Supreme Court of the United States ________________ FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Petitioners, v. FOX TELEVISION STATIONS, INC., ET AL., Respondents. _________________ On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit _________________ AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF OF NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS ___________________ Craig L. Parshall Joseph C. Chautin III Counsel of Record Elise M. Stubbe General Counsel Mark A. Balkin National Religious Co-Counsel Broadcasters Hardy, Carey, Chautin 9510 Technology Dr. & Balkin, LLP Manassas, VA 20110 1080 West Causeway 703-331-4517 Approach Mandeville, LA 70471 985-629-0777 QUESTION PRESENTED FOR REVIEW Amicus adopts the question presented as presented by Petitioner. The question presented for review is as follows: Whether the court of appeals erred in striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s determination that the broadcast of vulgar expletives may violate federal restrictions on the broadcast of “any obscene, indecent, or profane language,” 18 U.S.C. § 1464, see 47 C.F.R. § 73.3999, when the expletives are not repeated. i TABLE OF CONTENTS QUESTION PRESENTED FOR REVIEW .................i TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .......................................v INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ............................x STATEMENT OF THE CASE .................................xii SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ..................................xii ARGUMENT ..............................................................1 I. THE FCC’S REASONS FOR ADJUSTING ITS INDECENCY POLICY WERE RATIONAL AND REASONABLE .....................1 A. The Court of Appeals Failed to Give the Required Deference and Latitude to the FCC ..................................................1 B. The FCC Gave Sufficient and Adequate Reasoning Why its Prior Indecency Policy Regarding Fleeting Expletives was Unworkable and Required Adjustment .................................3 1. -
A Producer's Handbook
DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER CHALLENGES A PRODUCER’S HANDBOOK by Kathy Avrich-Johnson Edited by Daphne Park Rehdner Summer 2002 Introduction and Disclaimer This handbook addresses business issues and considerations related to certain aspects of the production process, namely development and the acquisition of rights, producer relationships and low budget production. There is no neat title that encompasses these topics but what ties them together is that they are all areas that present particular challenges to emerging producers. In the course of researching this book, the issues that came up repeatedly are those that arise at the earlier stages of the production process or at the earlier stages of the producer’s career. If not properly addressed these will be certain to bite you in the end. There is more discussion of various considerations than in Canadian Production Finance: A Producer’s Handbook due to the nature of the topics. I have sought not to replicate any of the material covered in that book. What I have sought to provide is practical guidance through some tricky territory. There are often as many different agreements and approaches to many of the topics discussed as there are producers and no two productions are the same. The content of this handbook is designed for informational purposes only. It is by no means a comprehensive statement of available options, information, resources or alternatives related to Canadian development and production. The content does not purport to provide legal or accounting advice and must not be construed as doing so. The information contained in this handbook is not intended to substitute for informed, specific professional advice. -
Digital Television and the Allure of Auctions: the Birth and Stillbirth of DTV Legislation
Federal Communications Law Journal Volume 49 Issue 3 Article 2 4-1997 Digital Television and the Allure of Auctions: The Birth and Stillbirth of DTV Legislation Ellen P. Goodman Covington & Burling Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj Part of the Communications Law Commons, and the Legislation Commons Recommended Citation Goodman, Ellen P. (1997) "Digital Television and the Allure of Auctions: The Birth and Stillbirth of DTV Legislation," Federal Communications Law Journal: Vol. 49 : Iss. 3 , Article 2. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol49/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Federal Communications Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Digital Television and the Allure of Auctions: The Birth and Stillbirth of DTV Legislation Ellen P. Goodman* I. INTRODUCTION ................................... 517 II. ORIGINS OF THE DTV PRovIsIoNs OF THE 1996 ACT .... 519 A. The Regulatory Process ..................... 519 B. The FirstBills ............................ 525 1. The Commerce Committee Bills ............. 526 2. Budget Actions ......................... 533 C. The Passage of the 1996Act .................. 537 Ill. THE AFTERMATH OF THE 1996 ACT ................ 538 A. Setting the Stage .......................... 538 B. The CongressionalHearings .................. 542 IV. CONCLUSION ................................ 546 I. INTRODUCTION President Clinton signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act or the Act) on February 8, 1996.1 The pen he used to sign the Act was also used by President Eisenhower to create the federal highway system in 1957 and was later given to Senator Albert Gore, Sr., the father of the highway legislation. -
Competition in Local Broadcast Television Advertising Markets Kevin Caves and Hal Singer August 4, 2014
Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) 2014 Quadrennial Regulatory Review – Review ) MB Docket No. 14-50 of the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules ) and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section ) 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ) ) 2010 Quadrennial Regulatory Review – Review ) MB Docket No. 09-182 of the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules ) and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section ) 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ) ) Promoting Diversification of Ownership ) MB Docket No. 07-294 in the Broadcasting Services ) ) Rules and Policies Concerning ) MB Docket No. 04-256 Attribution of Joint Sales Agreements ) in Local Television Markets ) ) Competition in Local Broadcast Television Advertising Markets Kevin Caves and Hal Singer August 4, 2014 -2- Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 I. Background ......................................................................................................................... 4 A. The DOJ Asserts That Local Broadcast Television Advertising Is a Relevant Antitrust Product Market ........................................................................................ 4 B. The DOJ’s Position Lacks Empirical Support ........................................................ 5 II. Empirical Evidence Is Inconsistent with the DOJ’s Definition of the Relevant Product Market ................................................................................................................................ -
Social Checks and Balances: a Private Fairness Doctrine
ESSAY Social Checks and Balances: A Private Fairness Doctrine Michael P. Vandenbergh∗ This Essay proposes a private standards and certification system to induce media firms to provide more complete and accurate information. It argues that this new private governance system is a viable response to the channelized flow of information that is exacerbating political polarization in the United States. Specifically, this Essay proposes development of a new private fairness doctrine to replace the standard repealed by the Federal Communications Commission in 1987. A broad-based, multistakeholder organization could develop and implement this private fairness doctrine, and the certification process could harness market and social pressure to influence the practices of traditional and new media firms. A growing literature demonstrates how private governance initiatives can perform the functions of government in the environmental, labor, gun control, animal welfare, and fair trade areas. This Essay argues that private governance initiatives such as the new private fairness doctrine can also bolster the social checks and balances that support the processes of democratic governance. Any intervention into the flow of information creates risks, but so does inaction, and the private fairness doctrine holds out the possibility of improving the information available for public discourse while limiting the risks of government intervention. In the long term, the concept of private governance can also stimulate ∗ Professor and David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School. For helpful comments, I owe thanks to David Adelman, Linda Breggin, Lisa Bressman, Jim Blumstein, Joey Fishkin, Jonathan Gilligan, Jonathan Lipson, Timothy Lytton, Will Martin, Ed Rubin, Ganesh Sitaraman, Kevin Stack, Paul Stern, Rory Van Loo, the Reading Group on Private Regulation, and to workshop participants at Temple University Beasley School of Law, University of Texas School of Law, and Vanderbilt University Law School. -
The Fairness Doctrine Today: a Constitutional Curiosity and an Impossible Dream
COMMENTS THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE TODAY: A CONSTITUTIONAL CURIOSITY AND AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM THOMAS G. K.RATrENMAKER* AND L. A. POWE, JR.** I. THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE Immediately following the Supreme Court's opinion in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC,' which sustained the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Fairness Doctrine,2 a flurry of articles appeared describing how to apply the doctrine vigor- ously to new and different situations.3 Subsequently, especially after the Court's decision in CBS v. DemocraticNational Committee 4 curtailed ac- cess possibilities, and Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo5 refused to sustain right to reply laws for candidates attacked by the print media, most discussions of the Fairness Doctrine have addressed its constitu- tionality.6 While initially interesting, this debate has grown as predict- ably repetitious and unilluminating as a tenth rerun of "Kojak." Furthermore, the debaters appear to have lost track of what the Fairness Doctrine is and how it works. Our purpose is quite simple. We seek to rectify these oversights and, in the process, demonstrate that the Fairness Doctrine is incoherent and unworkable. We will also demonstrate that the doctrine as it oper- * Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. ** Windfohr Professor of Law, The University of Texas. Several people have reviewed earlier drafts of this article and provided especially helpful criticism. Our thanks to Susan Bloch, Roy Schotland, Michael Seidman, and Girardeau Spann of Georgetown and David Anderson, Douglas Laycock, Richard Markovits, and Mark Yudof of Texas. 1. 395 U.S. 367 (1969). 2. 47 C.F.R. § 73.1910 (1983). -
Toward a New Freedom of Expression for Broadcasters
r n'^' DOCUMENT FEMME ,111) 153 269 CS 502 038 AUTHOR Glasser, Theodore L.; Henke, Lucy L. TITLE Toward a New Freedom of Expression fcr Broadcasters. PUB DATE Mar 78 NOTE 26p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Communication Association (Boston, Massachusetts, March 16-18, 1978) 4. EDRS PRICE MF -$O.83 BC-42.06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Accountability; Audiences; *Broadcast Industry; Broadcast Television; *Federal Court Litigation; *Federal Regula+ion; *Freedcx cf Speech; Information Dissemination; Mass Media; News Media; *Programing (Broadcast); Radio IDENTIFIERS *Fairr?ss Doctrine ABSTRACT While the First Amendment guarantees an individ! == -the right to be beard, this is an issue distinct fres assuring the opportunity to be heard. In broadcast media, the opportunity, or access, has been largely determined by tvc factors: econclice, or who owns the means to an audience, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation of the limited frequency spectrum. Historically, the Supreme Court has extended the FCC power beyond license distribution to matters involving programing. Eventually, the "fairness doctr3.ne" evolved to ensure the consumer's right to hear, through a federal evaluation of the broadcaster's fulfillment of editorial responsibilities. However, a reascrable interpretation of - the First Amendment states that the government is tc have no direct control over the process by which people are informed. the means of transmission may be subject to external constraints, while the message is free from any form of intervention. If broadcasters are to be held accountable for their programing, then they must be free to accept responsibility for their expressions. (MAI) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. -
Broadcast License Renewal and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 Lili Levi University of Miami School of Law, [email protected]
University of Miami Law School University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository Articles Faculty and Deans 1996 Not With a Bang But a Whimper: Broadcast License Renewal and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 Lili Levi University of Miami School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/fac_articles Part of the Communications Law Commons Recommended Citation Lili Levi, Not With a Bang But a Whimper: Broadcast License Renewal and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 29 Conn. L. Rev. 243 (1996). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty and Deans at University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Not With a Bang But a Whimper: Broadcast License Renewal and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 Liu LEvi In 1969, public outrage derailed a bill providing that the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission") could not con- sider competing applications for broadcast licenses unless it first found that renewal of the incumbent's license would not be in the public interest.' Citizen groups claimed that eliminating comparative challenges to incumbent broadcasters was "back-door racism" and reinforced the under-representation of minorities in broadcasting.2 They decried the bill as a "vicious ... attempt to limit the efforts of the black community to challenge the prevailing racist practices of the vast majority of TV stations."3 When the FCC thereupon issued a policy statement adopting a similar reform of the comparative renewal process, it was reversed by * Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law. -
Application of the Fairness Doctrine to Ordinary Product Advertisements: National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting V. FCC David L
Boston College Law Review Volume 20 Article 4 Issue 2 Number 2 1-1-1979 Application of the Fairness Doctrine to Ordinary Product Advertisements: National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting v. FCC David L. Sinak Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr Part of the Communications Law Commons Recommended Citation David L. Sinak, Application of the Fairness Doctrine to Ordinary Product Advertisements: National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting v. FCC, 20 B.C.L. Rev. 425 (1979), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol20/iss2/4 This Casenotes is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Application of the Fairness Doctrine to Ordinary Product Advertisements: Na- tional Citizens Committee for Broadcasting v. FCC'---The fairness doctrine in broadcasting imposes a twofold obligation on television and radio broadcast licensees: licensees must broadcast material concerning controversial issues of public importance, and they must broadcast differing views on those contro- versial issues. 2 The doctrine attempts to ensure that a licensee's total pro- gramming presents balanced coverage of important public issues. 3 The fairness doctrine was developed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission),`' and was later incorporated into the Communications Act' and validated by the Supreme Court!' While the FCC considered applying the fairness doctrine to commercial advertising for over thirty years,' it did not do so until 1967. -
Renewal Primer for Television Stations for Renewal Cycle Beginning June 2020
Renewal Primer for Television Stations for Renewal Cycle Beginning June 2020 March 2020 This primer provides detailed guidance on the television station license renewal process.1 Please have those involved in the license renewal process at your station take some time to review these materials. Stations must begin their post-filing announcements on the date that their renewal application is filed. Note that we are happy to set up a call with our clients to walk through this process and answer any questions. We are also glad to handle the mechanics of filing renewal applications through the FCC’s “new” Licensing Management System (“LMS”). SECTION I: THE BASICS The deadline by which a station is required to file its license renewal application is determined by the state in which the station is licensed. Attachment A contains a state-by-state list of license renewal application filing dates and license expiration dates.2 After filing its license renewal application, a station must air post-filing announcements for one month.3 Pre-filing announcements are no longer required.4 Section II of this memorandum provides detailed guidance on the required post-filing announcements, the specific text required, and sample statements for certifying compliance with the public announcement requirements (Attachments B-E). The license renewal application must be filed electronically through the FCC’s Licensing Management System (LMS) platform using FCC Form 2100/Schedule 303-S (“Form 303-S”). A sample copy of the Form 303-S from LMS is available at Attachment F, along with the FCC’s instructions for the form. -
Television and Media Concentration
•• IRIS Special Edited by the European Audiovisual Observatory TelevisionTelevision andand MediaMedia ConcentrationConcentration Regulatory Models on the National and the European Level TELEVISION AND MEDIA CONCENTRATION IRIS Special: Television and Media Concentration Regulatory Models on the National and the European Level European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg 2001 ISBN 92-871-4595-4 Director of the Publication: Wolfgang Closs, Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory E-mail: [email protected] Editor and Coordinator: Dr. Susanne Nikoltchev (LL.M. EUI and U of M) Legal Expert of the European Audiovisual Observatory E-mail: [email protected] Partner Organisations that contributed to IRIS Special: Television and Media Concentration IViR – Institute of European Media Law EMR – Institute of European Media Law Rokin 84, NL-1012 KX Amsterdam Nell-Breuning-Allee 6, D-66115 Saarbrücken Tel.: +31 (0) 20 525 34 06 Tel.: +49 (0) 681 99275 11 Fax: +31 (0) 20 525 30 33 Fax: +49 (0) 681 99275 12 E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] CMC – Communications Media Center MMLPC – Moscow Media Law and Policy Center New York Law School Mokhovaya 9, 103914 Moscow 57 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013 Russian Federation USA Tel./Fax: +7 (0) 503 737 3371 Tel.: +1 212 431 2160 E-Mail: [email protected] Fax: +1 212 966 2053 [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] Proofreaders: Florence Pastori, Géraldine Pilard-Murray, Candelaria van Strien-Reney Translators: Brigitte Auel, France Courrèges, Christopher -
Resolving the Debate on Public Funding for National Public Radio
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Seton Hall University Libraries GIAROLO_PUBLIC BROADCASTING 4/30/2013 8:27 AM Resolving the Debate on Public Funding for National Public Radio Andrew Giarolo* INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 440 IN THE BEGINNING, ALL WAS DARKNESS ................................. 441 A. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1964 ....................... 442 B. The Attacks Begin; NPR Takes Action .................... 445 ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS ........................................................ 447 Alternative I: Revive the Fairness Doctrine ................. 447 Alternative II: Implement the Fairness Doctrine Solely for All Federally-Funded Programs so that Allegations of Bias Can Be Minimized ................... 452 Alternative III: Direct Broadcast License Fees Directly to an Independent, Regulatory Trustee that Directly Subsidizes Public Broadcasting ........ 455 CONCLUSION ............................................................................ 459 * J.D. Candidate 2013, Seton Hall University School of Law. The author wishes to thank Professor Ronald Riccio for valuable input and his loving wife, Laura, for her support and the temporary loan of her great intellect and common sense. 439 GIAROLO_PUBLIC BROADCASTING 4/30/2013 8:27 AM 440 Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law [Vol. 23.2 It is axiomatic that one of the most vital questions of mass communication in a democracy is the development of an informed public opinion through the public dissemination of news and ideas concerning the vital public issues of the day. It is the right of the public to be informed, rather than any right on the part of the Government, any broadcast licensee or any individual member of the public to broadcast his own particular views on any matter, which is the foundation stone of the American system of broadcasting.1 INTRODUCTION Public funding for National Public Radio (“NPR”) has come under fire, yet again.