NAB: Judging compliance not stations' job
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/30/2002 4:00:00 AM
TV and radio stations shouldn't be forced to determine whether political advertisements and other programming comply with new campaign-finance laws, the National Association of Broadcasters said Thursday.
In comments to the Federal Election Commission, the NAB urged the FEC to declare that stations will not bear the responsibility of judging whether specific ads and shows are prohibited under the new restrictions.
The FEC is considering rules that would implement the campaign-finance reform enacted in March that prohibits corporations and labor unions from "electioneering communications" on behalf of national candidates 60 days before a general election and 30 days before a primary. The FEC is trying to decide what types of programming are considered electioneering communications.
The NAB, which is challenging the law in court, said that even if the law is upheld, only paid advertising should fall under the restriction.
But "good government" groups such as Common Cause and the Campaign and Media Legal Center said there should not be a blanket exemption for public-service announcements and other nonpaid programming.
"You could have corporations and unions paying high production costs for PSAs that cast candidates in a favorable light," Campaign and Media Legal Center attorney Glen Shor said in testimony before the commission.
The FEC held hearings on the proposed rules Wednesday and Thursday.
FEC vice chairman Karl Sandstrom, a Democrat, hinted that he would favor more specific exemptions to reduce the need for case-by-case rulings after a questionable program has aired.
"We can't decide after the fact that someone has committed a felony," he added.
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