On April 25, 1996, the Fox Broadcasting Company filed with the
Commission a Request for Declaratory Ruling regarding a proposal to present
statements by Presidential candidates over the Fox network prior to the
November 5, 1996 general election. Fox has proposed to offer news event
coverage of back-to-back statements by the major presidential candidates,
as determined by the Commission on Presidential Debates, in a one-hour
block of time on Election Eve, and of ten 60-second position statements by
each candidate in a seven-week period before the election. ABC, CBS, NBC,
PBS and CNN also have announced plans to provide broadcast time to
candidates.
Fox seeks a Commission ruling that its proposed programming would
be exempt from the "equal opportunities" provision of Section 315 of the
Communications Act as bona fide news programming. Section 315 requires
that when a legally qualified candidate appears on a broadcast station
outside the context of bona fide news programming, the station must afford
equal opportunities to all legally qualified opponents. The statute
exempts the following news programming from this requirement: 1) bona fide
newscasts; 2) bona fide news interview programs; 3) bona fide news
documentaries; and 4) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events. Also
before the Commission is a letter dated April 16, 1996 from the Free TV for
Straight Talk Coalition requesting that the Commission hold a public
hearing to "better enable the Commission to discharge its important
function of affording guidance as to the application of the equal
opportunities requirement and the exemptions thereto."
The Fox Request raises important issues regarding broadcasters'
ability under the Communications Act and the Commission's rules to provide
time to political candidates and, specifically, regarding the Commission's
interpretation of the news exemptions to Section 315 obligations. The
Commission seeks comment from interested parties on whether an exemption
for the Fox proposal would be consistent with the statutory language,
legislative history, and judicial and Commission case law regarding the
news exemptions. Also, commenters should address whether the Commission's
current interpretation of Section 315 may limit the ways in which
broadcasters may voluntarily provide time for candidates to speak directly
to voters, and whether programming that broadcasters in good faith deem to
be bona fide news should be exempt from the eq
regardless of format. Interested parties may express their views in
written comments on or before June 3, 1996.
The Commission also will hold an en banc hearing in June to afford
further public exploration of these important issues. Persons interested
in participating in this hearing should express that interest, in writing,
by June 3, 1996, in a letter to Jonathan Cohen, Assistant Chief, Mass Media
Bureau, Room 314, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554. A date and
an agenda for this hearing will be announced in a subsequent Public Notice.
Copies of the Fox request and the Coalition letter may be obtained
from the Commission's Public Reference Room, Room 239, 1919 M Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20554, from the Commission's copy contractor, International
Transcription Services, Inc., Suite 140, 2100 M Street, N.W., Washington,
DC 20037, telephone (202) 857-3800, or from the FCC's World Wide Web site,
www.fcc.gov, in the Mass Media Bureau "informal" directory under
"fox_request.txt" and "coalition_ltr.txt". Comments should be filed with
the Acting Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Room 222, 1919 M
Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20554, not later than June 3, 1996.
For further information, contact Bobby Baker (202-418-1440) or
Jonathan Cohen (202-418-2600) of the Commission's Mass Media Bureau.