When the Radio Act of 1927 created the equal-time doctrine requiring media platforms to offer the same treatment for all candidates, they did not account for the number of opportunities modern technological advancement would allow. In her recent Wall Street Journal op-ed AEI Visiting Scholar Babette Boliek says it is time to consider retiring these outdated rules:
Over the years the FCC has continued to broaden exceptions to allow political candidates more leeway. Candidate appearances on “The Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson or “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert have also been categorized as bona fide news events.
Now the biggest issue may be technological. Thanks to new content-distribution methods—cable, satellite and the Internet—the once “scarce” resource of broadcast airtime has given way to an endless array of opportunities.
Holding a small number of broadcast stations and cable and satellite operators to a century-old standard makes little sense. Given the few situations that now trigger the equal-time doctrine, the explosion in available media outlets, and the government’s strained interpretations of the rule, it is hard to imagine how the doctrine yields more speech than it chills.
To read Babette Boliek’s Wall Street Journal article in full, click here.
To arrange an interview with this AEI scholar, please contact AEI Media Services at mediaservices@aei.org or 202.862.5829.
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