Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008 - (Page 20)

The theory behind these exemptions is that the public benefit from political news and informational coverage is so great as to outweigh any risk of favoritism through a slight disparity of exposure. Blatant favoritism on an otherwise exempt program, though, would defeat the purpose of the exemptions and the requirement that the airing reflect the station’s bona fide news judgment. Bona Fide Newscasts and News Interviews A bona fide newscast may be either a regularly scheduled newscast or a special newscast precipitated by a particular and sudden news event. In either case, the program is exempt if it involves a broadcaster’s genuine effort to focus upon a newsworthy event, rather than an effort to advance a candidacy. An appearance by a legally qualified candidate in the course of a news program is not a use. There is an exception, though – when a candidate who is a station employee appears on-air as a newscaster, narrator, reporter or other talent in one of the other exempt categories of programs, the appearance is not exempt and does constitute a use. In determining whether a newscast or a news interview program is bona fide, the FCC considers the following: • • • • • • • • • whether it is regularly scheduled outside the election period; how long it has been broadcast; whether decisions on the format, content and participants are based upon the broadcaster’s reasonable, good faith journalistic judgment rather than on an intention to advance the candidacy of a particular person; whether the selection of persons to be interviewed and topics to be discussed is based on their newsworthiness; whether the normal format of the program is followed on the occasion in question; and whether the broadcaster’s news coverage as a whole manifests any substantial indication of having given favoritism to a particular candidacy. To illustrate, the FCC has ruled the following broadcasts to fall outside the newscast/news interview exceptions: A governor’s interview program in which his staff selected questions to which answers were pre-recorded and subject to editing prior to broadcast, because the broadcaster did not fully control the program content. A one-time program with an incumbent Congressman concerning his experiences in office, since the station had no regularly scheduled interview program, and did not demonstrate that it routinely ran special interview programs of this type. A regularly scheduled segment of a newscast featuring an interview of an incumbent district supervisor, because the moderator often failed to exercise sufficient control and allowed the supervisor to dominate the program and determine its overall direction. The use of material during a newscast which had been supplied to the station by a candidate, since the format and content of the segment was not sufficiently within the exclusive control of the broadcaster. • • Individual segments of a variety or magazine-type show can qualify as exempt interviews even though the show as a whole might not. The FCC has tended to uphold a broadcaster’s judgment as to whether a program segment that satisfies the traditional criteria is a “bona fide news interview.” Programs such as “Larry King,” The “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and even “Howard Stern,” even though primarily oriented toward entertainment and variety rather than current issues and events, have qualified under the exemptions with respect to individual news interview segments that feature political candidates. The FCC has also found that appearances by legally qualified candidates on segments of shows with “specialty” formats such as “Entertainment Tonight,” as well as shows with religious formats, can qualify as exempt under the bona fide news interview exemption. Call-in programs and shows with live studio audience participants will also generally qualify if the producer prepares audience questioners beforehand as to topics considered to be of primary newsworthiness and the host cuts off or rephrases noncompliant questions. News interview programs for which the FCC had previously issued a declaratory ruling as exempt are presumed to continue to meet FCC requirements, but the broadcaster is responsible for ensuring that the exemption standards continue to be met and that each individual program is aired in the exercise of the broadcaster’s good-faith news judgment. News Documentaries The third exempt program category is the appearance of a candidate on a news documentary. The FCC considers a docu- 20 « March 2008

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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