NEWS STORY: FCC Rule Alarms Religious Broadcasters

c. 2000 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ In a move causing alarm among religious broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission has issued expanded guidelines on programming requirements of applicants for noncommercial educational television licenses. In a December order concerning the transfer of licenses among stations in the Pittsburgh area, the commission determined that”not all programming, including […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ In a move causing alarm among religious broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission has issued expanded guidelines on programming requirements of applicants for noncommercial educational television licenses.

In a December order concerning the transfer of licenses among stations in the Pittsburgh area, the commission determined that”not all programming, including programming about religious matters, qualifies as `general educational’ programming.” The National Religious Broadcasters has sent an”urgent memorandum”to its members saying the order”singles out religious programming for special scrutiny.” The order, approved Dec. 15 and released Dec. 29, approves the transfer of a license of noncommercial educational television station WQEX in Pittsburgh from WQED in Pittsburgh to Cornerstone TeleVision, a prominent Pennsylvania-based Christian network. In turn, it also assigned the license of WPCB-TV in Greenburg, Pa., from Cornerstone to a Pittsburgh-based subsidiary of Paxson Communications.


In its lengthy opinion and order, the FCC says it is offering guidance regarding programming as it is faced with”the difficult balance”between maintaining the educational nature of programming and the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.”We do not believe that the discussion of religious matters during a program that has as its primary purpose service to the educational, instructional or cultural needs of the broader community disqualifies the program from being a `general educational’ program,”the commission stated.”Conversely, however, not all programming, including programming about religious matters, qualifies as `general educational’ programming.” The commission goes on to state examples of religious programming that would not be considered under the educational category.”Programming primarily devoted to religious exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personally-held religious views and beliefs generally would not qualify as `general educational’ programming,”the FCC said.

It adds that television stations offering educational programs should be”responsive to the overall public as opposed to the sway of particular political, economic, social or religious interests.” More than half of programming on noncommercial educational stations should serve”an educational, instructional or cultural purpose,”the guidance states.

National Religious Broadcasters President Brandt Gustavson wrote the two-page memo alerting the organization’s 1,200 members to what he called a”highly disturbing”order by the commission.”The Commission’s imposition of the new NCETV (noncommercial educational television) programming standard raises significant legal issues, including constitutional ones,”Gustavson wrote in the Tuesday (Jan. 4) memo.”As the FCC’s examples suggest, the order contains a disquieting implication that the government may restrict certain strains of religious speech _ disfavoring more passionate and emotional expressions of faith _ while not constraining others that are more `intellectual’ and drained of human emotion.” Gustavson criticized the agency for making its decision without receiving general public comment and said NRB is considering”various legal options.” Within the commission, there was dissent over the new language concerning religion. In a joint statement, Commissioners Michael Powell and Harold Furchtgott-Roth criticized the programming standard as a”significant departure”that”may open a Pandora’s Box of problems,”including constitutional ones.”Quite simply, the more the commission attempts to generically define which `educational, instructional and cultural’ programming will count for regulatory purposes, the closer it will come to unacceptable content regulation,”Powell and Furchtgott-Roth wrote.

The two commissioners said that under the order, church services _ with the exception of a historic event such as a funeral of a national leader _ would not fit the general qualifications of educational programs.”We ask however, why such programming might not qualify as `cultural’ programming just as a presentation of an opera might?”they asked.”It would be very hard to broad-brush either type of programming as having no intrinsic cultural value.” Four Republican congressmen sent a letter Thursday (Jan. 6) to FCC Chairman William Kennard decrying the”outrageous”decision concerning religious programs.”The Commission has no business _ no business whatsoever _ singling out religious programming for special scrutiny,”they wrote.”The policy you have instituted amounts to an unconstitutional restriction on religious speech.” The letter was signed by Reps. Michael Oxley of Ohio, Chip Pickering of Mississippi, Steve Largent of Oklahoma and Cliff Stearns of Florida.

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The decision has sparked controversy in both the political and religious realms. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has campaigned against the influence of campaign donors with special interests, pressured the FCC to vote on the matter, which affects Paxson Communications, a major contributor to his campaign.

McCain, in a GOP debate in Manchester, N.H., Thursday, defended his actions as spurring on a slow-moving bureaucracy in his role as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.”This was a decision that had been delayed for over 700 days,”he said.”People deserved to know the answer.”

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