In Re
Complaint of DEMOCRATIC STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF CALIFORNIA Concerning
Fairness Doctrine Re California Broadcasters Association and Station KNBC-TV
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
19 F.C.C.2d 833
RELEASE-NUMBER: FCC 68-69
JANUARY 17, 1968
OPINION:
[*833] STEPHEN
REINHARDT, Esq., Bodle, Fogel Julber & Reinhardt, 3540 Wilshire Boulevard,
Suite 807, Los Angeles, Calif. 90005.
DEAR MR. REINHARDT: This refers to
the complaint of the Democratic State Central Committee of California, which
you represent (hereafter referred to as the DSCC) against the stations listed
at the end of this letter. n1
You mention several broadcasts of the program "Report to the People,"
but the gravamen of your complaint is the alleged refusal of the stations to
provide an opportunity to any responsible person to rebut the views expressed
by Governor Reagan on the July 9, 1967, "Report to the People."
n1 Station XETV, which also was
named in the complaint, is licensed by the Mexican Government and is not
subject to the regulatory authority of this Commission.
From the information furnished to us
by you and by the broadcast licensees involved, it appears the July 9, 1967,
program was prepared at station KNBC-TV and the California Broadcasters
Association (hereafter CBA) acted as a clearinghouse for the program.
Each station licensee which carried it made its own decision as to whether it
should broadcast the program and as to the manner in which it should be
broadcast; i.e., live or at a later time from tape. The stations
participating were not a continuously functioning network, but rather
participants in a special broadcast.
You have asserted that there was a
discussion of controversial issues of public importance in the program and on
Governor Reagan's other broadcasts. In response to Commission inquiry,
some of the licensees referred to in your complaint contend that the remarks on
the July 9, 1967, program did not constitute a viewpoint on any controversial
issue of public importance and do not give rise to any obligation to afford an
opportunity for the expression of conflicting views. An examination of
the text reveals that there was discussion of proposed State withholding taxes,
a proposed tax increase, a proposal to charge tuition fees to students at State
universities and colleges and other legislative proposals. These were
clearly controversial issues of public importance to which the fairness
doctrine is applicable.
[*834] Your request for time
to respond to views on the issues discussed by Governor Reagan was addressed to
the CBA, which, in turn, notified each station broadcasting the program of the
request.
It appears from their correspondence
with the commission and copies of their correspondence with the CBA and the
DSCC that stations KTUV-TV, KJEO-TV, KERO-TV, KERE-TV, and KNTV-TV, promptly
informed the CBA they would make time available to the DSCC for response.
The licensee of stations KOVR-TV and
KMJ-TV states that it made efforts to arrange for appearances of Assemblyman
Charles E. Warren and Assembly Speaker Jesse M. Unruh to appear on a program
the Sunday evening following the July 9, 1967, program, but were unable to do
so because Mr. Unruh advised the licensee that Democratic spokesmen would
accept only simultaneous time on the full network of stations which broadcast
Governor Reagan's program. The licensee of station KOGO-TV also advises
that it made an offer of time to Speaker Unruh, but that the offer was
rejected.
Since the committee's request for
time was addressed to the CBA and relayed to these licensees by the CBA, it
does not appear inappropriate for them to have made their response to that
association or, in the alternative, directly to Messrs. Warren and Unruh,
the proposed speakers. It is clear that neither the licensees of those
stations nor the CBA had the responsibility or the authority to require any
other licensee who had broadcast Governor Reagan's program to air the proposed
program of Messrs. Warren and Unruh.
The fairness doctrine requires that
a licensee, having presented one viewpoint on a controversial issue of public
importance, afford a reasonable opportunity for the presentation of opposing
views. No one individual or group, except in the case of a personal
attack under certain conditions, is entitled as a matter of right to broadcast
his views in opposition to those previously broadcast.
The fact that a program on which an
elected official appeared contained a discussion of controversial issues of public
importance does not entitle an opposing political party as a matter of right to
present its views. See: Paul Fitzpatrick, 6 R.R. 543; California
Democratic State Central Committee, 20 R.R. 867. Rather, the presentation of
opposing views falls within the context of affording a reasonable opportunity
through overall programming for the expression of such views.
At is appears that the licensees of
television stations KFRE, KMJ, KOVR, KERO, KTVO, KNTV, KOGO, and KJEO offered
to the DSCC through the CBA, or Messrs. Warren and Unruh, who were the
spokesmen suggested by the DSCC, an opportunity to present views on the issues
discussed by Governor Reagan, we find that they have complied with the fairness
doctrine in this instance.
The licensees of television stations
KABC, KNBC, KTLA, KFMB, KCRA, KXTV, KGO, KRON, KPIX, and KEYT have advised the
Commission that in their opinions, views opposing those expressed by Governor
Reagan were broadcast in other programming. Each of those licensees has
furnished to us descriptions of the programs to which they refer and the dates
and general times on which such programs [*835] were
broadcast. After a careful examination of the information supplied by
those licensees and by the DSCC, we cannot find that they have failed to afford
a reasonable opportunity on an overall basis for presentation of views
conflicting with those presented by Governor Reagan on July 9, 1967 or any of
his other programs, which were broadcast by some of those licensees. The
information submitted discloses that these licensees presented opposing
viewpoints in a variety of formats, including newscasts, public affairs and
open-mike programs; e.g., station KABC broadcast a 30-minute public affairs
program and news items on five different occasions which presented views
contrasting with those in the July 9 report of the Governor. n2
n2 The number of licensees involved
in the complaint makes it infeasible to set forth in complete detail the
information submitted by them showing the presentation of opposing
viewpoints. However, this information is contained in the Commission's
files and is open to public inspection.
We have taken into account the
argument based upon the difference in format (i.e., a 15-minute report as
against numerous smaller segments on newscasts) and your contention that
Governor Reagan's speaking but once and reaching the audience of 20 licensees
placed an obligation upon those licensees to make a similar effort to
disseminate the views of those opposing him. However, we find that such
differences are still within the reasonable judgment of the licensee as to
format and manner of presentation. Cf. Republican National
Committee, 3 R.R. 2d 767 (1964).
In passing on any complaint in the
fairness area, the Commission's role is not to substitute its judgment for that
of the licensee as to any programming decision but rather to determine whether
the licensee can be said to have acted reasonably and in good faith. In
light of these considerations and based upon the showing before us (see
preceding paragraphs), we cannot find that any of the licensees listed in A
below has acted other than reasonably and in good faith as to the issues
discussed by Governor Reagan and we are of the opinion that further Commission
action with respect to the said licensees (listed in A below) is not warranted.
However, with respect to KBAK-TV,
the licensee advised the Commission that the station did broadcast two of the
"Report to the People" programs, one on February 5, 1967, and the
other on July 9, 1967. KBAK-TV did not afford the DSCC the time requested
and is of the view that it had made a good faith effort to keep its audience
informed of all sides of the issues involved. As evidence, it attached
copies of one brief news story in which Assembly Speaker Unruh's views on
several issues were reported, two brief news stories in which his name was
mentioned and a short statement of July 7, 1967, as to the status of then
pending tax legislation. The four brief news items which KBAK-TV
submitted do not, in themselves, appear to amount to a reasonable presentation
of opposing views on the issues involved, nor has KBAK-TV described other
efforts on its part to achieve that end.
We cannot find on the basis of the
information which KBAK-TV has submitted to us that it has complied with the
fairness doctrine principles. In order to achieve compliance, it will be
necessary for KBAK-TV to take further steps to bring about a balanced
presentation [*836] of the issues which were the subject of the broadcast
in question, and the licensee is being so informed.
Commissioner Cox issued a statement
concurring in part and dissenting in part. Commissioner
Johnson issued a concurring statement. Both are attached.
BY
DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSION, BEN F. WAPLE, Secretary.
CONCURBY:
JOHNSON; COX (IN PART)
CONCURRING STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER
NICHOLAS JOHNSON
I concur in the majority's judgment
with regard to the stations involved in this complaint.
I share Commissioner Cox's concern
that convenient availability of network facilities should be one element in
determining whether stations have met their fairness obligations. But I
cannot conclude, under the circumstances of this case, that the stations
involved (with the exception of KBAK-TV) did not make a good faith, reasonable
effort to comply with the Commission's standards of fairness.
DISSENTBY:
COX (In Part)
DISSENT:
STATEMENT OF COMMISSION KENNETH A.
COX CONCURRING IN PART AND DISSENTING IN PART
I am not convinced by our staff's
analysis that fairness has been achieved by KFMB-TV. It appears that,
during a relevant period before and after the broadcast by Governor Reagan which
is in issue here, KFMB carried 32 news items totaling 19 1/2 minutes which
presented Democratic views on the issues of budget and taxes. During the
same period it carried 12 news items totaling about the same time which
reported Republican views on these issues. But it seems to have made no
effort at all to balance its presentation of Governor Reagan's statewise
broadcast dealing with these matters. I do not think this satisfies the
requirements of the fairness doctrine.
Beyond this, however, I think that
fairness could have been more clearly and easily effected by all the stations'
providing the same sort of ad hoc network for a comparable program presenting a
qualified spokesman -- or spokesmen -- for those who hold views opposed to
those expressed by Governor Reagan. I agree that the California
Broadcasters Association did not have the authority to require the stations in
question to carry such a program replying to the Governor -- any more than it
could have required them to carry the latter's program. But it assumed
the responsibility for the presentation of one side in a convenient and
effective manner, and could have performed the same function for the other side
-- indeed its notification to the stations of the Democratic State central
committee's request for time could be interpreted as an inquiry as to whether
the stations would take a feed of a comparable reply program. If the
stations which had carried Governor Reagan's program had replied that they
would carry a program stating the opposing view, they could have made it
perfectly clear that they had complied with the requirements of the fairness
doctrine and could have made things as easy for those asserting the need for
time to respond as they had for the Governor. In addition, the fact that
a program is carried on a statewide network lends it an air of importance and
makes it easy to promote the broadcast. While overall balance can be
achieved in many situations by adding up news items, brief interviews, comments
on telephone shows, etc., I wonder whether practical balance was provided here
by the periodic presentation of brief opposing statements.
I think the California Broadcasters
Association is to be commended for arranging for carriage of a significant
expression of Governor Reagan's views, and I think anything it might have done
to assist its member stations in carrying a response by appropriate Democratic
leaders would have been equally in the public interest. Then the
stations [*837] would have been left with the continuing responsibility
for seeing to it that their coverage of these and other controversial issues in
other, locally originated programming was kept in reasonable balance. I
agree that ultimate responsibility for fairness rests on the individual
licensee, but when he joins a network -- even temporarily -- for a program
dealing with public controversy, I think the most logical way to balance that
broadcast is through another network program. Certainly that is the way
our national networks have normally functioned, and I think their practice
provides a good pattern for such statewide networks as that involved here.
I therefore dissent from the ruling
that KFMB-TV has met its fairness obligations here. I concur fully in the
ruling with respect to KBAK-TV. I concur in the ruling with respect to
the other stations, but with the comments set forth above.