The FCC’s 2002 ruling “has remained unchanged and unaltered ever since, and to this day, Appearance remains fully eligible for release under applicable legal standards,” ABC said.
Today’s FCC Media Bureau public notice described the 2002 decision as “a letter from an FCC staff member.” ABC’s petition states that the 2002 letter is a “Declaratory Decision of the Bureau of Mass Media” and “remains in full force and effect.”
ABC challenges the legality of the equal time rule
other than asking for comment on whether or not Appearance is an honest news show, the FCC process allows people to comment on whether the equal time rule is constitutional. ABC’s petition argued that the rule “raises deep First Amendment concerns” because of the restrictions it places on editorial decisions by guests about what to show.
“At the very least, the equal opportunity rule would not have survived constitutional scrutiny without the healthy bona fide freedom of the press that the Commission has practiced for decades,” ABC said.
The FCC Media Bureau’s notice responded to ABC’s constitutional argument by requesting public comment on “whether the federal equal opportunity law, either as a general matter or as applied here, passes appropriate constitutional scrutiny.”
The docket already received several dozen comments today. Most of them are from the people who wrote it Appearance but not a real news show a commentator The FCC said the investigation was “flawed and unwarranted, especially since it did not stem from any formal complaint Appearance in violation of equal time provisions or its long standing status as an honest news program.”
The FCC set June 22 for initial comments and July 6 for reply comments.
