ABC plays the victim in FCC complaint over 'The View' |
ABC plays the victim in FCC complaint over ‘The View’
ABC and its Disney parent company are riding their proverbial high horses in filing a complaint against the Federal Communication Commission. ABC claims the Federal Communications Commission is disrupting its First Amendment rights and attempting to “chill critical protected speech.” This fuss centers on whether ABC’s gabfest “The View” is a bona fide news program.
Cue the laugh track — of course it isn’t.
The FCC is trying to enforce Section 315 of the congressionally approved Communications Act of 1934, which requires over-the-air broadcast stations to provide equal on-air opportunity for political candidates. If you give airtime to Smith, you must also give time to his opponent, Jones. A wrinkle in Section 315, however, exempts “bona fide” news programs from the requirement, thus allowing for reportorial discretion and independence.
In January, the FCC tried to get out ahead of what is sure to be a controversial political broadcasting season, issuing advisory guidelines to broadcasters about Section 315. Then, in February, ABC set off this tempest in a teapot when “The View” hosted Democrat James Talarico in the days leading up to Texas’s primary election. At the time, Talarico was running against other Democrats for the nomination for U.S. Senate.
The FCC responded to his appearance on “The View” with a Section 315 inquiry. The FCC apparently has reason to believe “The View,” hosted by a cast of comedians (of both the professional and the unintentionally funny varieties) perhaps doesn’t constitute a bona fide........