[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: F.C.C Won' t Prevent Airing of Anti-Kerry Film

[ialterman at nyc.rr.com]

The article below from NYTimes.com 
has been sent to you by ialterman at nyc.rr.com.


Surprise, surprise...F.C.C. Chairman Michael Powell - who just happens to be Colin Powell's son - does not see anything wrong with this.  Hmmm...

Peace.

ialterman at nyc.rr.com


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F.C.C Won't Prevent Airing of Anti-Kerry Film

October 14, 2004
 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 



 

Filed at 2:23 p.m. ET 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Communications Commission
won't intervene to stop a broadcast company's plans to air
a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War
activities on dozens of TV stations, the agency's chairman
said Thursday. 

``Don't look to us to block the airing of a program,''
Michael Powell told reporters. ``I don't know of any
precedent in which the commission could do that.'' 

Eighteen senators, all Democrats, wrote to Powell this week
and asked him to investigate Sinclair Broadcast Group's
plan to run the program, ``Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never
Heal,'' two weeks before the Nov. 2 election. 

Powell said there are no federal rules that would allow the
agency to prevent the program. ``I think that would be an
absolute disservice to the First Amendment and I think it
would be unconstitutional if we attempted to do so,'' he
said. 

He said he would consider the senators' concerns but added
that they may not amount to a formal complaint, which could
trigger an investigation. FCC rules require that a program
air before a formal complaint can be considered. 

Sinclair, based outside Baltimore, has asked its 62
television stations -- many of them in competitive states
in the presidential election -- to pre-empt regular
programming to run the documentary. It chronicles Kerry's
1971 testimony before Congress and links him to activist
and actress Jane Fonda. It includes interviews with Vietnam
prisoners of war and their wives who claim Kerry's
testimony demeaned them and led their captors to hold them
longer. 

In the letter to Powell, the senators -- led by Dianne
Feinstein of California -- asked the FCC to determine
whether the airing of the anti-Kerry program is a ``proper
use of public airwaves'' and to investigate whether it
would violate rules requiring equal air time for
candidates. 

Separately, the Democratic National Committee filed a
complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday
contending that Sinclair's airing of the film should be
considered an illegal in-kind contribution to President
Bush's campaign. 

-------- 

On the Net: 

Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/politics/AP-Kerry-Film.html?ex=1098780223&ei=1&en=55b8ed33c2358853


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