FCC warns US broadcasters their licenses are a privilege, not a right

Offbeat

TV and radio stations told to review current practices to align with public interest obligations

America's telecoms regulator has issued a public notice to broadcasters reminding them of their public interest obligations, a move that could be viewed as a veiled threat to toe the Trump administration line on content.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document, published May 28, points out that federal law requires broadcasters to operate in the public interest, and that it has been charged with ensuring they only get to hold a license to broadcast so long as they meet that obligation.

It also points out that available broadcast frequencies are a finite resource, so there are inevitably more would-be broadcasters than available spectrum licenses, and it falls to the government to pick the winners and losers when it comes to which organizations get one.

"No broadcaster has a 'right' to use the pubic [sic] spectrum," it states.

In fact, the document goes to great lengths to point out that broadcast spectrum is different from other media, such as newspapers or the internet, where there is no FCC obligation to identify and serve the needs of any particular community.

Unlike essentially all other forms of distribution, "no one can broadcast without a license from the federal government due to the unique technical aspects of the public resource that they operate on."

Broadcasters are prohibited from engaging in news distortion, the FCC says, which is pretty much uncontroversial, as is the requirement to provide equal opportunity to political candidates. They are also prohibited from airing obscene, indecent, and profane content, or broadcasting hoaxes, it says.

But on the latter point, President Trump has labeled as a hoax any suggestion that the Russian government tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, for example. Would news reports discussing this topic therefore be considered to be broadcasting a hoax?

The FCC goes on to claim that US courts have recognized there are limits on First Amendment rights for broadcasters, and if it finds that a media firm has failed to serve the public interest, it may take appropriate action.

This may include unspecified enforcement action; attaching conditions to a renewal application or limiting it to a short-term basis; or requiring a licensee to file an early license renewal application.

The FCC concludes by encouraging broadcasters to "review their current practices and confirm that they fully align with their statutory public interest obligation."

The public notice comes against the backdrop of ABC being ordered to file early license renewal applications for eight owned stations after complaints about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over jokes he made about First Lady Melania Trump.

ABC criticized the move as "unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional," according to reports.