FCC Decides that it will No Longer Enforce the Zapple Doctrine – Killing the Last Remnant of the Fairness Doctrine

[Commentary] Zapple is dead. The Zapple Doctrine was an outgrowth of the Federal Communications Commission’s Fairness Doctrine. The Zapple Doctrine required that broadcast stations that give air time to the supporters of one candidate in an election give time to the supporters of competing candidates as well.

Even though the Fairness Doctrine has been defunct for years, having had various manifestations of the Doctrine declared unconstitutional either by the Courts or the FCC, Zapple apparently lived on, or at least a death certificate had never been issued. Thus stations had to be concerned about giving air time to supporters of political candidates for fear of having to provide a similar amount of time to those supporting competing candidates.

Apparently, that uncertainty has now been resolved, as in two just released cases, the FCC’s Media Bureau has declared that Zapple, like the rest of the Fairness Doctrine, is dead. Based on this decision, stations don’t have to worry about on-air statements made by an opinionated talk show host giving rise to equal opportunities to those who favor the candidate opposed by the host. As long as the station does not put the candidate on the air, the equal time (or equal opportunities) rule does not apply.