Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008 - (Page 13)

I. Introduction— The Scope of the Political Broadcasting Rules The Federal Communications Commission has regulated political broadcasting from the start. The original draft of the Communications Act of 1934 contained provisions to ensure fair and equitable treatment of candidates for public office and to assure the listening public of a full airing of campaign issues. Over the years, the FCC and the courts have expanded and reinforced these goals. The Communications Act and the Commission’s rules impose certain obligations on broadcasters and bestow certain rights on candidates. At the beginning of this manual is an outline of the most fundamental principles with key terms expressed in BOLD and the sections of this guide describing the principles in parentheses. The political rules apply to all forms of broadcasting. This includes analog and digital radio, television and cable, digital multichannel and most direct broadcast satellite services. The political rules do not apply to ancillary services such as teletext, subscription television, and subsidiary communications authorizations (SCAs), which are generally intended as point-topoint communications of interest to a narrow group of subscribers. In addition, the FCC’s political rules do not apply to newsletters, websites, blogs, program guides and other non-broadcast activities of a broadcaster. There is a separate rule for federal candidates’ access to broadcast stations that does not apply to non-federal candidates. Candidates for President, Vice President and Congress are entitled to access on stations under certain conditions, while candidates for state and local offices are not. Candidates for federal office also have special requirements under the Federal Election Campaign Act for identifying and taking credit for the contents of their ads (see Section XI). Otherwise, all candidates are treated the same under the Communications Act. Noncommercial educational stations are not required to run political programming but may do so (without charge, of course). This choice applies to all candidates (including federal candidates who, as noted in Section III, are entitled to access on commercial stations). To the extent that a noncommercial educational station chooses to run political programming, then it is subject to the same rules regarding equal opportunities, censorship of uses, identification and record keeping as applies to commercial stations, as discussed herein. II. “Legally Qualified” Candidates Only legally qualified federal candidates are entitled to access. 1. The Three Part Test The Communications Act provides a three-part test for a federal candidate to be considered legally qualified. It is up to the candidate, and not the broadcaster, to demonstrate that he or she satisfies each criterion. Public Announcement This requirement can be fulfilled through a public statement or by filing the necessary papers to qualify for a place on the ballot. It is not sufficient for the candidate to simply be expected to run. Thus, an incumbent is not automatically a legally qualified candidate for reelection even though there may have been widespread speculation or even broad hints from the incumbent that he or she will run again. Incumbents are often very careful to avoid making any public announcement until the last moment in order to deny their opponents equal opportunities. As will be discussed in Section V below, newscasts and other types of news and public affairs programming are exempt from the equal opportunities requirement so news coverage of an incumbent’s activities has no impact upon legal qualification. Local Legal Qualifications The candidate must meet the age, residency and other requirements of applicable law to hold the office for which he or she is a candidate. Bona fide Candidate March 2008 « 13

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008

Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008 Contents Introduction – The Scope of the Political Broadcasting Rules “Legally Qualified” Candidates Reasonable Access “Uses” of Broadcast Facilities Exempt Programs Requests for Equal Opportunities Equal Opportunities Lowest Unit Charges The Disclosure Censorship of Uses Sponsorship Identification Political File Contents Access to the Political File The Fairness Doctrine Political Editorials Personal Attacks Issue Advertising News Distortion Conclusion

Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008

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