Subject: Op Ed on FCC ruling...
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 21:35:11 -0500

Federal ruling strikes blow against censorship

by Joshua Gordon
(Mr. Gordon is a cooperating attorney with the New Hampshire branch of the
American Civil Liberties Union)

This commentary ran in both the Manchester(NH) Union Leader and The COncord
(NH) Monitor...

 In a little noticed decision by the Federal Communication Commission last
month, the New Hampshire ACLU proved that WMUR-TV censors what it airs.

 Steve Michael ran for president in February's New Hampshire primary.  His
campaign bought air-time for three ads on WMUR.  One of the ads was critical
of President Clinton's AIDS policy.  The second recommended that viewers
abstain from drugs, but show how to clean a needle with bleach to combat the
spread of AIDS.  The third ad showed two men kissing to demonstrate that
kissing doesn't cause AIDS.

 Federal law requires that if a TV station plays any advertisement for any
candidate in a race, it must play all advertisements for candidates in that
race.  The law clearly forbids stations from censoring ads.  In exchange,
stations are not held responsible for the content of the ads.  The law does
not require that stations give away free ad time -- just that stations can't
censor a candidate's message.

 WMUR had no trouble play the ad critical of Clinton, but claimed the
'Needle' and 'Kissing' ads were "indecent."  WMUR played them several times,
but refused to during programs such as Jerry Springer, Hard Copy, and Rush
Limbaugh, even though these programs regularly feature discussions about drug
use, homosexuality and AIDS.

 The New Hampshire chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a
complaint with the FCC shortly after the primary.  It disputed WMUR's claim
that the ads were indecent and said that regardless of how the ads are
characterized, a TV station cannot censor political speech.  The FCC agreed
with the ACLU and "admonished" WMUR for censorship.

 WMUR is not alone in its censorship; similar cases have come up around the
country.  The most notable involved a congressional candidate in Georgia.
 Running on an anti-abortion message, his advertisements showed aborted
fetuses.  Like WMUR, the Georgia TV station deemed the ads indecent and
refused to play them at the times he bought.  Free-speech advocates
challenged the station, and a federal appeals court said that such censorship
unlawfully "thwarts...a candidates ability to fully and completely inform the
voter," and "inhibits the full and unrestricted discussion of political
issues."

 Whether or not one agrees with Steve Michael's AIDS ads or the Georgia
candidate's anti-abortion ads, the censorship issue is the same.  As a
candidate, you have the right to control your message and your
advertisements, and TV stations do not have the right to interfere with paid
political communications.
 Information is critical in a free and fair democracy.  Most people receive
their information from television, and politics are driven by what makes it
on the air.  New Hampshire citizens don't need WMUR acting like parents,
telling us what is, in their view, OK for use to know.

 WMUR is New Hampshire's only major TV station.  It faces no significant
competition.  Many people have expressed concern that WMUR abuses its
monopoly position by censoring what gets aired.  Democrats have for years
called the station "WGOP'; and during the September primary Republicans
charged that the station in its newscasts favored its former news-director
over other Republican candidates for Congress.

 For Steve Michael, his FCC victory will ensure that he won't face similar
censorship in other states.  For WMUR, its FCC loss means that it will have a
permanent record of censorship, which will be scrutinized when the station
comes up for its periodic re-licensing.  For New Hampshire citizens, the
ACLU's victory proves what many have long suspected -- that WMUR does censor
and needs to be held accountable for its actions.

please send tear sheets to Mr. Gordon
c/o ACT UP Washington
825 5th Street NE, #A
Washington, DC  20002