Completely unexpected: A reply from the FCC!

[Mr Bojangles]

After sending in my complaint to the FCC on October 11th, I got this reply today:

Broadcasters, like all electronic media, have broad discretion in
choosing programming. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and
Section 326 of the Communications Act generally prohibit the Commission
from regulating program content or otherwise engaging in activities that
might be construed as censorship. As a result, the Commission generally
cannot prohibit a station from airing a specific program, and we cannot
stand in the way of Sinclair Broadcasting airing "Stolen Honor: Wounds
That Never Heal" or a program that airs parts of it.

At the same time, the FCC has rules with respect to political
programming. Enforcement of these regulations and policies is initiated
when a candidate for public office files a complaint with the Commission
alleging that a station or cable system has not complied with its
obligations. To date, the Commission has not received a complaint from
any candidate alleging a violation of the Commission's political rules
or policies. We will, of course, take appropriate action if a complaint
regarding this matter is filed. At that point we would determine
whether the program in question constitutes "news".

To the extent some people have suggested that Sinclair's airing of this
program constitutes an in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign, that
is not a matter for the FCC to consider. Rather, complaints in this
regard should be directed to the Federal Election Commission.

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,
Mark Berlin
Policy Division (political office)
Media Bureau

So basically, if I read that correctly, the FCC won't step in and do anything unless Kerry raises a little hell about it.

Do you think that he should? Or would him giving it more than an iota of interest say to the all-important undecideds that there might be some truth to it?

[coreystone]

1. Mark Berlin's direct telephone number is ....

1-202-418-1423!

:-)

[progdonkey]

2. I think if Kerry raises a little hell...

...people will start to assume there is a little truth in the movie. "Why does Kerry not want you to see this film? What's in it that scares him so much?"

The best tactic is to go the FEC route, as that is a simple matter of law. Kerry will be avoiding trying to stop the movie on its specifics, as he would merely have to argue that the motive behind the movie is to help elect Bush. Is there truth in it? Doesn't matter. The fact is that it exists for the sole purpose of harming Kerry, not educating the public.

(I hope that all makes sense; I'm tired and in the middle of a beer....)

[Carolab]

3. Then WHAT

is the purpose of the DNC's complaint to the FEC?

http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/www.democrats.org/pdfs/fec_sinclair.pdf

Must be that it's an in-kind contribution, and the issue is NOT that it is propaganda masquerading as "news" (which is what I had thought). Guess Kerry would have to complain to the FCC and apparently has not done so.

[progdonkey]

9. sort of the same thing

First up, from my post:
Kerry will be avoiding trying to stop the movie on its specifics, as he would merely have to argue that the motive behind the movie is to help elect Bush.

I don't see the point in your question.

Secondly, the airing of a partisan propaganda piece masquerading as news is both an in-kind contribution and an abuse of the public airwaves. The FEC has jurisdiction over the former, the FCC the latter, so of course the DNC would complain about the former with the FEC.

[coreystone]

4. I think there's a little bit of "bureaucratic ping-pong" here, because....

last week I first contacted the FEC. They kicked the ball to the FCC, and, it appears that the FCC would rather be a bench sitter for this one also.


:eyes:

[Mr Bojangles]

5. Naturally

Everyone wants to sit the fence so there's no grudges held, regardless of how the election goes.

LAME.

[vetwife]

6. Yesterday They sent me a PDF file saying call the FTC

REegarding the health consequences on Veterans. Pass the Buck ! It floats, it does not stop anywhere these days !

[countmyvote4real]

7. “Not my problem” (paraphrasing) What else do you expect from *’s FCC?

Frankly, it’s too late for Kerry to make a public fuss about it. The campaign chose to ignore the Swift Boat lyers and let the media propel their message of lies. The propaganda will air and it’s almost a week before the election. WTF can he do about it now other than file complaints to ensure that real equal time is guaranteed in future situations?

Of course, that should not stop our individual protests and boycotts of Sinclair and their advertisers. They need to be held accountable to the principals of equal fairness in an election year as well as how their actions affect their stockholders. We must stop this blatant fascism regardless of the election outcome.

What Kerry shouldn’t do now is to dress up for goose hunting a week before the election. Does he really want to project that he’ll be another “vacation” president when there are other priorities like this Sinclair thing? Oh man, I can’t believe his managers went for that while they brilliantly had Dana Reeves introduce him at another event on Wednesday.

Unless they know that ‘merka is dumber than I think, this was a real case of asking me to ignore the hunting garbage because they think that they have my vote. In truth, they do. But who is going to respond to that charade in a meaningful way? For Christ sake they’re even turning me off now. I would never vote for * , so what is the rest of "merka supposed to thik?

[Demit]

8. regarding Kerry hunting

Is that what you got out of it, seriously? That he looked like he was on vacation?

I think by now everybody in America understands what a photo-op is, and that the purpose is to persuade a faction of the people, or to attack a misperception of some kind. Kerry bagging a goose was supposed to show that he is not against guns per se. That he has no problem with guns used for hunting. The NRA still hates him, so it didn't work on them, but maybe there IS a small number of the public who will begin to see that Kerry is not anti-all guns.

Kerry is a sportsman. In fact, when I saw him in his camos I thought "he is SO much better than Bush in SO many things. He is the real deal." I'm not nuts about hunting and I don't do it myself, but I have no problem cutting slack to someone who does...