FCC Takes TV for Ride on Rereg Time Machine

FCC TAKES TV FOR RIDE ON REREG TIME MACHINE
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry A. Jessell]
[Commentary] Last month, the Federal Communications Commission voted to require TV stations to fill out standardized forms each quarter showing how much FCC-preferred programming they aired. The principal reason stations need to be concerned is that these “enhanced disclosure” requirements move stations back toward the first quarter century of TV when they had to offer the right kinds of so-called public interest programming in order to get their licenses renewed. There is real danger in the categories of programming on the standardized form. The categories, it seems to me, come real close to the FCC telling stations that this is the kind of programming that they need to air to win license renewal. It’s a wonder that such a regulatory item ever made it on to the FCC agenda, given the Republican majority. The proceeding was launched by Chairman Bill Kennard during the waning days of the Clinton Administration over the objection of then Republican Commissioner Michael Powell. It had been gathering dust for seven years. Although Kevin Martin may fit in with the big-government neocon types in the Bush Administration, he must be a growing embarrassment to the old-fashioned, Reagan-style Republicans. The NAB allowed these rules to fall into place without much fuss. I guess the thinking among the TV broadcasters that run the place is that they do plenty of the kinds of programming that the FCC is looking for and having nothing to hide. Maybe so, but are they going to want to be backed into providing airtime for “independently produced programming” (whatever that means) and religious programming? Good lord. Doesn't an implicit requirement to offer religious programming on the public airwaves violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment? Somebody call a Constitutional lawyer. Broadcasters who shrug their shoulders at this should also consider this. Once all this material is on the Web, anybody will be able to peer into the any station’s file, see what it has been doing and how it stacks up against every other station.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/11/30/daily.6/

-- See also --
Disclosure important, but PIOs needed, too (Benton Foundation)
http://www.benton.org/node/8202