Deny the Petition

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
With all due respect to the Media Access Project, says B&C, "What nonsense." The magazine argues that broadcasters take their obligation to the public seriously, that television news directors use the same criteria as other journalists do to determine what is newsworthy, that national elections were more newsworthy that state and local issues in 2004 and that the research used in MAP's license denials is faulty. MAP points out that, in 1984, the FCC eliminated program guidelines for news and public affairs but the Commission reminded stations they still have the “basic responsibility to contribute to the overall discussion of issues confronting the community.” The editorial concludes: "By allegedly ignoring local politics prior to the election, therefore, the stations violated that trust. But that's a judgment that can't be made based on scanning one month's worth of programs and using narrow criteria. We don't believe the stations in Chicago or Milwaukee are negligent or deserve the aggravation of responding to this challenge. We hope the FCC agrees."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6281465?display=Opinion&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

See coverage of MAP's petition