Sorry, Mr. President, You Can't Challenge NBC's 'License' Over 'Fake News'

[riversedge]

Oct 11, 2017 @ 11:31 AM 3,058

Sorry, Mr. President, You Can't Challenge NBC's 'License' Over 'Fake News'

From yesterday, ICYMI



https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2017/10/11/trump-threatens-to-challenge-nbcs-license-over-fake-news/#76c46f756a12



...................................A few things. First, assuming Trump is referring to the Federal Communications Commission, the federal agency directed by Congress to regulate broadcasting, it does hear complaints regularly about news reports that viewers believe were misleading or one-sided. But the FCC doesn't do a lot of policing on that front: "The Commission generally will not intervene in such cases because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own," the FCC explains on its website.

If, however, Trump believes there is evidence of "rigging or slanting" of the news, the FCC will review "documented evidence of such rigging or slanting, such as testimony or other documentation, from individuals with direct personal knowledge that a licensee or its management engaged in the intentional falsification of the news."

To date, President Trump has not backed up any of his "fake news" claims with evidence of any kind, leading many to define "fake news" as "a story Donald Trump didn't like."

But let's say he has some evidence. Can he challenge NBC's license? No. NBC doesn't have an FCC license:

We license only individual broadcast stations. We do not license TV or radio networks (such as CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox) or other organizations with which stations have relationships (such as PBS or NPR), except to the extent that those entities may also be station licensees. We also do not regulate information provided over the Internet, nor do we intervene in private disputes involving broadcast stations or their licensees. Instead, we usually defer to the parties, courts, or other agencies to resolve such disputes.

[NastyRiffraff]

1. He's just hurling feces against a wall

hoping some of it will stick.

[onenote]

2. The fact that NBC doesn't have a license to operate as a network is not important

I see it cited all the time, but it really is a red herring. NBC owns TV stations that have licenses. Lots of TV stations. And those stations' licenses can be challenged on the basis of what NBC the network does. Moreover, individual stations that are affiliated with NBC are not insulated from challenge because the content they originate comes from the NBC network -- stations are held responsible for what they put on the air no matter what the source.

The first broadcast license case I worked on was the RKO General case, which began in the mid 1960s and carried over until the early 1980s (which is when I worked on it). RKO ended up losing a station license (and was on the verge of losing other licenses when it sold its stations) for a variety of misdeeds that supported the conclusion that it lacked the "character" to hold a broadcast license. Some of those misdeeds related to the conduct of its broadcast business, such as deceptive, anticompetitive practices, and, most importantly, a lack of candor in its dealings with the FCC. But also cited at various points in the proceedings was misconduct committed by RKO's parent, General Tire, that were unrelated to the broadcast business, such as bribing foreign officials.

That being said, there is no way the FCC is going to act as the "truth" arbiter in a challenge to the licenses held by NBC or by its affiliated stations.

[anneboleyn]

3. Great post. I think his threats are much worse than people realize. He's fucking scary.

The fact that he's taken it upon himself to dismantle Obamacare shows that he is beholden to neither party (so the republicans can't control him at all), and that he's willing to engage in wild, completely unprecedented and/or illegal (Russia, money issues-- we will see) actions as president with NO concern. This plus his utterly reprehensible threats to Puerto Rico (has any president threatened to without emergency care to Americans because his feelings are hurt?! Wtf!) are quite terrible, and it shows how we really have no way of dealing with a completely immoral and out-of-control pres except for impeachment, which is of course a very long process and requires that many individual politicians put their own careers on the line. Ugh.