The FCC declared Tues. that the news interview segments on The Ho...

The determination came in response to a request for a declaratory ruling filed by Infinity Bcstg., licensee of WXRK(FM) in N.Y.C., which airs the show. Under the Communications Act, if a licensee allows a legally qualified candidate for public office to use a broadcast station, it must afford equal opportunities to other such candidates for that office. But the Act also says that appearances by legally qualified candidates on certain categories of bona fide news interview programs are exempt. Initially, the FCC found only programs such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation fit the bill, but since has widened its thinking to include shows like the old Donahue program that had interviews. The Commission noted in its decision that shows such as Jerry Springer and Politically Incorrect now qualified. To qualify, the program must be regularly scheduled, the licensee must determine the content, format and participants and the determination must have been made by the station “in the exercise of its bona fide news judgment and not for the political advantage of the candidate for political office.” The FCC said The Howard Stern Show qualified. In releasing the decision, the FCC stressed that it took the action at Infinity’s request, and licensees airing programs that met the statutory news exemption need not seek a formal declaration. Media Access Project was up in arms over the decision. MAP Pres. Andrew Schwartzman said FCC Chmn. Powell was wiping out the core protections of the Communications Act. “First, he tried to eliminate rules protecting the public from media monopolies. Now he has aimed at the equal time laws by trying to expand an exemption enacted to cover programs like Face the Nation.” Schwartzman said the law applied to bona fide news interviews, and “Howard Stern isn’t ‘bona fide’ anything. If we have to take him [Powell] to court 3 times a day, we'll do it, because Chairman Powell is damaging democratic self-governance.” Schwartzman said the decision was all the worse because the FCC didn’t give the public a chance to comment.