Richard Wiley says the Supreme Court might be much less receptive to a broadcasting regulation like the Fairness Doctrine than it was four decades ago when it upheld the rule.
The name partner at Wiley Rein and former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission spoke today at a panel on the Fairness Doctrine sponsored by the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch. Wiley said that the Court’s decision in 1969 in Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC depended on circumstances — such as the threat of media consolidation — that the Internet and other technological advances have made less compelling.
“It seems to me that the concerns expressed by the High Court in Red Lion are no longer even remotely realistic,” Wiley said.
Wiley led the FCC from 1974 to 1977. He said the commission would receive thousands of complaints a year under the Fairness Doctrine, which was designed to ensure balance in the presentation of public issues and which the FCC repealed in 1987. Some complaints were politically motivated, Wiley said, while others overwhelmed small broadcasters. He called the doctrine a “colossal waste of time.”
Conservatives say they fear the FCC will revisit the Fairness Doctrine under the Obama administration, though President Barack Obama has said he opposes it. Obama has nominated a Harvard Law classmate, Julius Genachowski, to chair the FCC, and the nomination is pending.
The FCC wouldn’t have to bring back the original regulations to be a burden on speech, said Jerald Fritz, senior vice president and general counsel at Allbritton Communications. Allbritton owns WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8 in Washington, as well as The Politico, and Fritz, speaking to about 25 people at today’s panel, said that proposed rules to favor local programming would have similar effects as the Fairness Doctrine.
“The government gets to judge the public interest qualifications of the broadcaster to retain its license,” Fritz said. He added, “I think it will fall on the sword of the First Amendment.”
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, went further. “This localism proposal is a product of the left. This is ACORN, RainbowPUSH,” he said.
I'm not at all certain that the Supreme Court's decision in Red Lion is "no longer even remotely realistic," nor do I beleive the Fairness Doctrine is "a colossal waste of time." I can, however, understand why Dick Wiley feels that way. With all due respect, the Wiley Rein client list explains it all.
Posted by: Jim Rogers | May 14, 2009 at 05:18 PM