Page 456 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

Regulat ng the A rwaves: “A Toaster w th P ctures” or a Publ c Serv ce? |

1981—FCC replaces the license renewal process, which had required a detailed report,
with a “postcard renewal process.”
1982—FCC extends terms of broadcasting licenses, which previously had been set at
three years. Radio broadcasters’ license terms are raised to seven years, television
broadcasters’ to five years.
1984—FCC eliminates the Anti-trafficking Rule.
1984—FCC raises the 7–7–7 ownership rule to a 12–12–12 rule.
1984—Supreme Court rules in Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women
Voters that the amendment to the Public Broadcasting Act that forbids editorializing
on a noncommercial station violates the First Amendment. This ruling is the first time
the Court finds a broadcasting regulation to be unconstitutional.
1985—FCC eliminates the numerical cap on television station ownership and replaces it
with an “audience reach” limit. The limit holds that no entity can own television
stations that reach more than 25 percent of that national television audience.
1987—FCC repeals the Fairness Doctrine. Congress passes a bill to legislate the Fair-
ness Doctrine, which is vetoed by President Reagan.
1990—Congress passes the Children’s Television Act.
1995—Fin-Syn Rule and the Prime Time Access Rule are eliminated.
1996—Congress passes the Telecommunications Act.
2003—FCC proposes to relax media ownership rules. A widespread public campaign to
fight further deregulation is mounted in response. The FCC receives close to 1 million
e-mails and letters opposing the new rules.
2004—As part of an omnibus spending bill, Congress raises the national ownership limit
of television stations from 35 percent to 39 percent.
2004—In Prometheus Radio Project v. Federal Communications Commission, the U.S.
District Court issues a stay on the FCC’s media ownership rules.
2006—FCC fines 20 CBS stations $550,000 for a 2004 Super Bowl broadcast in which
musician Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed on air.

BriEF ovErviEw oF BroaDCasTing PoLiCy

The federal government has regulated radio since 1912, when Congress gave
the Commerce Department the authority to license users of the electromagnetic
spectrum. Fifteen years later, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which es-
tablished a temporary agency, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), which
was charged with granting broadcasting licenses to applicants who could best
serve the “public interest, convenience, or necessity.” The FRC initially inter-
preted the “public interest” as the “best possible broadcasting reception condi-
tions throughout the United States.” The FRC initially preferred stations that
had the best technical equipment, a policy that favored radio networks and net-
work affiliates, who had the capital and technology to produce quality-sounding
broadcasts. The FRC also favored “general public interest stations” over “pro-
paganda stations,” for example those run by labor unions or political parties.