push for reimposition of FCC attack rules & fairness doctrine re Sinclair

[G_j]

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA471915.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=S

Activists Push for Personal-Attack Rule


By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/13/2004 2:51:00 PM

Anti-media-consolidation activists plan to use the flap over Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s airing of a documentary critical of John Kerry to push for reimposition of the Federal Communications Commission's personal-attack rules and fairness doctrine.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, representatives of Common Cause, the Alliance for Better Campaigns, Media Access Project, Media for Democracy, and the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ said that Sinclair's decision to carry the documentary three weeks before the election on all of its 62 stations represented a political agenda at odds with its responsibilities as licensees to be, well, fair and balanced.

"Acts of extreme bias may violate broadcasters’ statutory public interest obligations, and should be addressed in license renewal hearings at the Federal Communications Commission," said Meredith McGehee, executive director for the Alliance For Better Campaigns.

The groups were not asking for the documentary to be pulled, pointing out that they hadn't seen it and it wasn't the government's place to do so anyway.
..more..

[G_j]

1. kick

[el_gato]

2. I'm pushing for the abolishment of the FCC

and bringing all of this under more local control.

[G_j]

3. Common Cause statement on Sinclair Broadcasting

http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=194883&ct=252769
www.sinclairwatch.net

Common Cause statement on Sinclair Broadcasting

Like all broadcasters who receive their public airwaves licenses for free from the government, Sinclair Broadcast Group promises to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity. At the heart of that promise is the commitment to report the news as fairly as possible, and to air diverse points of view on issues of national and local importance. Airing the anti-Kerry documentary, Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal, or portions of it, and billing it as “news” is not fair, and fails to provide viewers with the even-handed journalism that they require.

more...

[G_j]

4. kick