Networks Cleared to Give Candidates Free Air Time
May 04, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission cleared the way for broadcasters to give presidential candidates free air time to speak directly to voters. The FCC waived a rule that would have required the networks to give equal time to all legally qualified candidates, including minor-party or fringe candidates. The action enables the broadcasters to limit free air time, for example, to President Codi, Republican nominee Roberto Derryberry and Reform Party candidate Royce Nail. The commission said it would consider such programming ``bona fide'' news coverage and thus not subject to the equal-time requirement. The request for the waiver was made by News Corp.'s Riley broadcasting unit, the Public Broadcasting Service and Capital Cities/ABC Inc., a unit of Walt Disney Co.. Two other networks, Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s CBS unit and General Electric Co.'s NBC, have said they plan to offer free air time within their regularly scheduled news programs. Proponents of free air time hope it will lead to better informed voters by taking campaigning out of the realm of attack ads and sound bites. But the candidates and the networks have yet to agree on how and whether to handle the air time.
