Carr continued: “The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.”
Doesn’t FCC still regulate cable? Just they have different regulations regarding network broadcast tv. (Hence Fox News would not get called out for this.)
Due to technical reasons, it is possible to have many, many more cable or satellite channels than over the air broadcast channels.
The FCC is allowed to put “reasonable” restrictions on the content if the over the air channels because of that scarcity.
The default position in the US is that both cable and broadcast have a 1st amendment right to say whatever they want. The FCC is only allowed to infringe on that right for the broadcasters, because they are consuming a scarce public resource.
I’ll preface this by saying, I’m not arguing this is how it should be, this is just how it is.
Freedom of speech/press takes precedence unless there is a very compelling reason to make an exception. The only reason the FCC has any power over political content on the electromagnetic spectrum is because it’s a limited resource. Therefore to keep it fair, there is an exception to freedom of speech that allows the government to regulate it.
Those spectrum limitations do not exist on cable, therefore freedom of speech takes precedence. If Fox News wants to give trump more time than Harris (how they choose to operate their business according to freedom of speech), plenty of other channels exist on cable to give Harris time as well.
Waiting for Fox News to be called out…
doesn’t apply to cable.
Why not? What’s the difference at this point? These rules were made before the Internet existed
Because the FCC’s authority over content is contingent on its authority to license portions of the electromagnetic spectrum for broadcast.
Doesn’t FCC still regulate cable? Just they have different regulations regarding network broadcast tv. (Hence Fox News would not get called out for this.)
Due to technical reasons, it is possible to have many, many more cable or satellite channels than over the air broadcast channels.
The FCC is allowed to put “reasonable” restrictions on the content if the over the air channels because of that scarcity.
The default position in the US is that both cable and broadcast have a 1st amendment right to say whatever they want. The FCC is only allowed to infringe on that right for the broadcasters, because they are consuming a scarce public resource.
I’ll preface this by saying, I’m not arguing this is how it should be, this is just how it is.
Freedom of speech/press takes precedence unless there is a very compelling reason to make an exception. The only reason the FCC has any power over political content on the electromagnetic spectrum is because it’s a limited resource. Therefore to keep it fair, there is an exception to freedom of speech that allows the government to regulate it.
Those spectrum limitations do not exist on cable, therefore freedom of speech takes precedence. If Fox News wants to give trump more time than Harris (how they choose to operate their business according to freedom of speech), plenty of other channels exist on cable to give Harris time as well.
Fox owns and operates broadcast channels just like NBC.
Yes, it would apply to the actual Fox channel, but not Fox News as the top comment said.
My patience for this election is also a limited resource, but the FCC has done fuck-all to protect that.
/s