FCC's Copps wants probe of "60 Minutes" black-out

FCC'S COPPS WANTS PROBE OF "60 MINUTES" BLACK-OUT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Peter Kaplan]
Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps is seeking an inquiry into the blacking out of a politically charged segment of the CBS News magazine "60 Minutes" by a local television station in Alabama. He says he has asked FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to open an inquiry into the February 24 incident at WHNT, a CBS affiliate in Huntsville, Alabama, in which civil rights footage from the 1960s was blacked out. "The FCC now needs to find out if something analogous is going on here," Commissioner Copps said. "Was this an attempt to suppress information on the public airwaves, or was it really just a technical problem?" Chairman Martin responded by saying he would look into the matter but has not indicated yet whether he would issue a letter of inquiry to the station.
http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN0338745620080303

* Copps Pushes for Investigation of WHNT-TV Outage During 60 Minutes
At a National Press Club forum on local TV and public-interest requirements, Copps said, "The FCC needs to find out if something analogous is going on here. Was this an attempt to suppress information on the public airwaves, or was there really a technical problem?" Sources said fellow Democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein "fully supports" the inquiry.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6537704.html?rssid=193

* FCC Is Urged to Investigate Alabama TV Station
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120460000805909629.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace