Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) pushed back on Monday against a contention by a Democratic FCC commissioner that the government should create new regulations to promote diversity in news programming.
Barton was reacting to a proposal made last week by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who in a speech suggested that broadcasters be subject to a new "public values test" every four years.
"I hope … that you do not mean to suggest that it is the job of the federal government, through the [FCC], to determine the content that is available for Americans to consume,” Barton wrote Monday in a letter to Copps.
Copps had suggested that the test would make a broadcaster's license renewal contingent upon proof that they meet a prospective set of federal criteria.
He said outlets should be mandated to do the following: prove they have made a meaningful commitment to public affairs and news programming, prove they are committed to diversity programming (for instance, by showing that they depict women and minorities), report more to the government about which shows they plan to air, require greater disclosure about who funds political ads and devote 25 percent of their prime-time coverage to local news.
The regulations would apply to all news outlets operating on the public airwaves.
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Barton was reacting to a proposal made last week by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who in a speech suggested that broadcasters be subject to a new "public values test" every four years.
"I hope … that you do not mean to suggest that it is the job of the federal government, through the [FCC], to determine the content that is available for Americans to consume,” Barton wrote Monday in a letter to Copps.
Copps had suggested that the test would make a broadcaster's license renewal contingent upon proof that they meet a prospective set of federal criteria.
He said outlets should be mandated to do the following: prove they have made a meaningful commitment to public affairs and news programming, prove they are committed to diversity programming (for instance, by showing that they depict women and minorities), report more to the government about which shows they plan to air, require greater disclosure about who funds political ads and devote 25 percent of their prime-time coverage to local news.
The regulations would apply to all news outlets operating on the public airwaves.
More
3 comments:
Well that wont hurt Fox News very much since most of their shows are not "News" they are labeled as opinion, otherwise the hosts of the shows would have been sued for slander and libel many times over.
As far as the radio goes they dont have to label their shows the same way that TV does so its harder to say what will happen to them.
somebody including all of us better push back. if you will listen to glenn beck he will tell you exactly what's happening with this. he was giving details about this on his radio broadcast this morning. it's really scary to see what our government is up to.
this is not just conjecture; glenn and others have the FACTS. date and time and bill numbers that have already passed. this has been in the works for quite awhile. tune in to becks radio and tv programs and you will hear more about this and much more......
Now I'm definetly AGAINST this crap. Rush/Hannity/Beck et al. all spout garbage on a daily basis, but it is their right to spout garbage and the idealogues right to sit there and soak it up if they want. I seriously hope that when asked Obama speaks out clearly against this. But I know that prior to being offered the chance to do so, the same crew mentioned above will swear out the "socialist muslim hitler is at it again".
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